Novecon

Russia's Renova Capital investment fund has announced the purchase of a minority stake in the Holiday retail group.

The group operates the Holiday Classic and Sibiriada supermarket chains in the Siberian Federal District. Renova took over 23% of the company for $50 million. The bulk of the funds will be used to develop the chain, take over other regional retailers and launch hypermarkets. Holiday is the largest retail operator in Siberia. The company will have 70 shops in the Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions and the Altai Territory by the year-end. The company's 2005 gross earnings were roughly $180m. The figure is to increase to $380m in 2006.