Page 142 - RusRPTNov20

and to continue to expand after that. To fund this growth, Qiwi placed its debut 3-year RUB5bn bond issue this October, with the coupon fixed at 8.4% per year.
Sberbank will fully acquire internet and media holding company Rambler Group.
Sber initially invested in the firm in 2019, when it acquired 46.5% of Rambler for an estimated 9-11bn rubles ($115-140mn). In July 2020, Sberbank became the largest shareholder in the internet company, increasing its stake to 55% with another 2bn rubles ($25mn). Today, Sber announced that it has concluded a deal with Rambler’s only other owner, Alexander Mamut, to purchase his 45% stake in the firm. The deal will take place in three tranches—the first worth 3bn rubles ($38mn)—and leave Sber the sole owner of Rambler Group.The acquisition is the latest in Sber’s expansion into all things tech. Rambler Group owns a search engine, online movie website Okko, entertainment website Afisha, and newspapers Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru. Sberbank will not, however, receive control over the news outlets, which have a special ownership structure, due to Russian laws that prohibit foreign ownership of news media. Sberbank is roughly 45% owned by foreign shareholders, exceeding the 20% threshold for foreign media ownership.
Sberbank​ expands ecosystem with investment in pharmaceutical company​. Sberbank and Russian pharmaceutical producer R-Pharm acquired 45% of online pharma distributor Eapteka each with 10% remaining with the founder and CEO Anton Buzdalin. Eapteka is #2 in Russia by online sales of medicine. The deal will be closed in 4Q20, subject to approval by the Antimonoply Service. Adding a pharma distribution company to Sberbank’s ecosystem looks logical, given potential synergies with logistics and medical services, albeit it is too early to estimate financial impact.
Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov has sold his stake Sravni.ru, a major Russian finance and insurance marketplace, to Baring Vostok and Goldman Sachs​, ​reports VC.RU​. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, ​reports​ East-West Digital News (EWDN). Sravni.ru defines its mission as: “to help people make the right choices and achieve financial goals.” Its users are assisted in choosing financial and insurance products, including deposits, loans or credit cards, and finding relevant instruments to buy an apartment or make an investment for the future.
Mail.ru Group​ released 3Q20 management accounting results. ​Mail.ru consolidated Deus Craft game studio in 3Q20 and 3Q19 was restated pro-forma; the impact to historical numbers was +3% to revenue, -5% to EBITDA. Revenues came in at RUB26.4bn, +20% y/y. The increase was thanks to MMO games revenue (+34% y/y), with growth mostly normalizing after a 48% jump in 2Q20 caused by lockdowns. As expected, advertising growth saw some recovery vs the previous quarter: +5% y/y (+8% excluding search) vs -5% in 2Q20 Despite solid top-line growth, EBITDA declined 1% y/y (to RUB6.7bn). This was because revenue growth was driven by the games segment (19% margin; less profitable than social networks), while margin in
142 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ November 2020 www.intellinews.com