Page 9 - bne_Tech_06_2019

Leaders
June 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Russia's Sberbank and Rambler outline cooperation mode
Russia's largest bank Sberbank will start promoting online cinema Okko in its branches, and will grant Rambler Group access to acquiring and ID systems of its client base, Kommersant daily said on June 6 following up on the memorandum on operational cooperation signed between the parties on the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
In April Sberbank acquired 46.5% in Rambler Group and said it would invest in the media holding controlled by Alexander Mamut.
Online media assets are in focus in Russia as prior to Sberbank/Rambler deal one of Russia's "big four" operators MobileTeleSystems (MTS) said it considers an acquisition of “the Russian Netflix,” online cinema provider ivi. Yandex internet major reportedly will launch production of its own video content.
Rambler was formed in 2013 as tycoons Alexander Mamut and Vladimir Potanin joined their video assets. The holding includes online and traditional cinemas, anchor portal Rambler.ru, a number
of popular internet publications and portals
such as Lenta.ru, Gazeta.ru, Afisha, and others. In 2016 Mamut bought out Potanin’s stake for about $295mn.
Rambler's Okko is the second-largest online cinema on the Russian market after ivi. Sberbank will promote subscription to Okko on favorable terms, as well as include subscription to Rambler content in its pilot digital content package.
The integration of Rambler resources into Sberbank ecosystem is likely to continue further, the analysts surveyed by Kommersant daily believe. Reportedly, Sberbank will invest RUB11bn, primarily into development of Okko.
The CEO German Gref in 2018 said that Sberbank could in the future drop the "bank" from the name while transforming itself into the Sber ecosystem that covers all basic need of both the corporate and private clients.
On April 23 Vedomosti daily reported that Sberbank officially registered the Sber trademark, in addition to buying domains sber.ru.