MOSCOW: Sistema PJSFC, a publicly-traded diversified holding company, announced an increase in its direct ownership stake of Ozon Holdings Limited, the leading Russian multi-category online sales platform, from 19.3% to 21.9% following the acquisition of shares from a number of Ozon minority shareholders.[the_ad id=”31605″]Sistema’s total ownership of Ozon as a result of the acquisition of the shares of minority shareholders has increased to 38.2%. Upon completion of the transactions, Sistema owns 21.9% in Ozon directly and controls an additional 16.3% stake in Ozon through Sistema Group’s venture capital fund Sistema VC.
Ozon’s largest shareholders, Sistema and Baring Vostok, support the company’s recently announced strategy to aggressively grow market share and have provided Ozon with convertible loans in the total amount of RUB 10 billion in order to implement that strategy.
The investments will be used to maintain the achieved growth rates and to develop the warehouse infrastructure (i.e. opening a new 100,000 sq m fulfilment centre in the Moscow region and expanding the logistics infrastructure in Russia’s regions). The loan provided by Sistema totals RUB 5.7 billion.
Ozon is the leading Russian multi-category online sales platform, ranked fourth by revenue in the E-Commerce Index Top 100 for 2018 and among the top five most valuable Russian internet companies according to Forbes.
In 2018 Ozon’s business grew at its fastest rate in the last decade. Full-year gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased by 73% year-on-year and amounted to RUB 42.5 billion.
Andrey Dubovskov, CEO and President of Sistema, said: “The growth of e-commerce is transforming many sectors of the Russian economy, in which our portfolio companies operate, giving new impetus to their development. Given the significant growth potential of e-commerce in Russia, we are committed to increasing our stake in Ozon, the leading market player, and we believe these investments have great potential to increase shareholder value for Sistema.”
Alexei Katkov, Managing Partner at Sistema, said: “The aggressive growth strategy announced by the new Ozon team, with a strong focus on technological development, positions Ozon to become the leader of the Russian e-commerce market. Ozon’s main competitive advantages include a strong team, a vast range of products for sale, a wholly-owned logistics infrastructure, a well-recognised brand, robust customer support, and the 2018 launch of a marketplace for third-party sellers. These factors, combined with support from key shareholders, creates a springboard for continued rapid growth of the business.”