PARIS — Sephora is exiting Russia.

The prestige beauty retailer said Monday that it has inked an agreement to sell the entire shares in its subsidiary within the country to its general manager there.

The move, in response to Sephora in a press release, has been done to favor “continuity for workers.”

The LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned retailer in early March suspended its operations in Russia, after the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

On the time, Sephora issued a press release saying: “Given our increasing concerns in regards to the current context and the complexity to operate, we are going to suspend our activity in Russia until further notice. We’ll close our stores and e-commerce inside the subsequent 24 hours. The security of our local teams is our priority and we are going to proceed to support them on this difficult time.”

Once the cope with the Sephora general manager in Russia closes, the activity will probably be operated under the Russian retail brand Île de Beauté.

Sephora entered Russia originally through franchises, but closed down that operation in 2008. Then Sephora took a minority stake, of 45 percent, in Île de Beauté in October 2008.

Sephora progressively took more shares in Île de Beauté, which was created in 2001. Sephora took full control of the retailer in 2016, after which the Sephora brand was introduced into Russia and the Île de Beauté stores were rebranded Sephora.

Sephora has 88 stores and an e-tail activity in Russia. Those are to be run individually, under the Île de Beauté name, once clearance is given. That is anticipated to be in a couple of weeks, in response to someone near the matter.

In keeping with industry sources, Sephora’s Russian business generated lower than 3 percent of the retailer’s total sales.

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