The “VARUS” chain has acquired the “KOLO” stores
4 August 18:34
The “VARUS” supermarket chain has announced the acquisition of the “KOLO” neighborhood store chain. The deal was signed on August 4. This was reported by the “VARUS” press office, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Following the merger, the chain will have 374 stores and more than 9,000 employees. The company did not disclose the value of the deal.
“KOLO” has been operating since 2017 and has 254 stores in Kyiv, the Kyiv region, and the Odesa region. According to the company, they serve more than 70,000 customers per day. The chain’s annual turnover is nearly 4 billion hryvnia.
VARUS plans to integrate the logistics and procurement operations of the two chains, as well as their loyalty programs and digital services. For now, the stores will continue to operate as usual, and the integration will be carried out gradually.
VARUS has been operating in Ukraine since 2003. The acquisition of KOLO will expand the company’s presence in the small neighborhood store format.
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- Varus is acquiring 254 KOLO stores in Kyiv, the Kyiv and Odesa regions, and the city of Odesa. The chain’s total retail space exceeds 17,000 square meters.
- “Kolo” stores will continue to operate as usual during the first stage of integration. The companies will gradually consolidate their logistics, procurement, product assortment, digital services, and loyalty programs.
- Varus plans to leverage Kolo’s expertise in neighborhood stores and its own resources in procurement, marketing, and IT, the company added.
Omega LLC, which manages Varus, filed an application to acquire control over Kolo’s operator—Ariteil LLC—on June 4. The Antimonopoly Committee approved the concentration of 100% of corporate rights on July 16. The AMCU’s approval paved the way for the parties to finalize the deal.
“Varus” has been operating since 2003 and has 120 supermarkets, Varus To Go stores, and the online service Varus.ua. The chain is operated by Omega LLC, whose ultimate beneficiaries are Ruslan Shostak and Valerii Kiptik. The company’s revenue in 2025 grew by 20% to 24.1 billion UAH, according to YouControl. Net profit increased by 17.8% to 41.4 million UAH. The company’s revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was 6.6 billion UAH, 21% more than in the same period last year. Profit stood at 1.2 million UAH.
“Kolo” was founded in 2017, and prior to the deal, the business was part of Gennadiy Butkevych’s BGV Group Management. Ariteal’s revenue in 2025 grew by 23.3% to nearly 3.3 billion UAH, while the company reported a loss of 125 million UAH, according to YouControl. In the first three months of 2026, the company’s revenue grew by 19.3% to 715.8 million UAH. The net loss for this period was 42.8 million UAH.
“Varus” is not the first major player to strengthen its presence in the neighborhood store format through M&A in 2026. In June, Vladimir Kostelman’s “Fora” acquired the “Badyoryi” chain. Approximately 180 stores in Kyiv and the Kyiv region came under “Fora’s” management—in addition to the 341 retail locations it already operated in the capital and the region.
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