Wildberries & Russ Acquires Leading Russian Cosmetics Retailer Rive Gauche Amid Strategic Expansion

Wildberries & Russ (RWB) has officially taken over Rive Gauche, one of the largest cosmetics retail chains in Russia, as reported by the Interfax news agency on Monday, citing publicly available corporate documents.

Having been established following the merger of the e-commerce leader Wildberries and the advertising agency Russ Group last year, RWB has gained complete ownership of Aromalux and UK PS Group, the companies operating Rive Gauche.

While the specific financial details of the transaction were not revealed, the business newspaper Kommersant reported in September that the deal might be valued at as much as six billion rubles (equivalent to approximately $75.7 million).

Previously, both Aromalux and UK PS Group were under the ownership of the Cyprus-based Rive Gauche Group.

This acquisition comes on the heels of a strategic partnership announced in September, which enabled Rive Gauche’s 252 physical stores to connect with Wildberries, allowing for in-store pickup as well as a special section in the online platform’s catalog.

Under this arrangement, RWB gained control over Rive Gauche’s operating entity as collateral.

In 2024, Aromalux reported revenues of 37.4 billion rubles (around $472.2 million), marking a 6% decline from the previous year, while net losses surged nearly threefold to reach 1.5 billion rubles (approximately $18.9 million).

Founded in 1995, Rive Gauche is recognized as Russia’s fifth-largest retailer in the fragrance and cosmetics sector based on revenue, according to analysts from Infoline.