Page 164 - RusRPTSept21

develop its e-grocery delivery service. However, during due diligence, YANDEX did not see the necessary synergies with its own services, according to a source quoted by Kommersant. The end of YANDEX ’s efforts could also have been driven by the chain’s high valuation, according to Kommersant. View: As we previously highlighted, we saw the potential deal as mildly positive for the stock if it were to help YANDEX to quickly reach critical mass in e-commerce and FoodTech in particular, and if the company were to pay a reasonable multiple (i.e. not exceeding where FIVE and MGNT currently trade). If negotiations were indeed ended due to a lack of sufficient synergies and a high valuation, we believe (as in the case of KupiVIP’s called-off acquisition) that no deal is better than a bad one. We see the news as neutral for YANDEX for now.
• Ozon
Russian e-commerce major Ozon Holdings posted 94% year on year growth in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) in 2Q21 under IFRS to RUB89bn ($1.2bn), due to 2.8-fold surge in number of orders, while the number of active buyers went up by 80% to 18mm and order frequency by 40%. To remind, Ozon pulled off a hugely successful IPO on Nasdaq at the end of 2020, raising $1.2bn from investors – more than twice the initial $500mn it was asking for. While the GMV y/y growth rate slowed down as compared to 1Q21, BCS Global Markets analysts attributed it to high comparison base to lockdown 2Q20. Notably, the marketplace (3P) accounted for 62% GMV (up from 47% in 2Q20) and remained a key growth driver. Still, the company continued to carry EBITDA loss, which widened 5-fold y/y to RUB9bn of 10% of GMV, while net loss was up 4.6-fold y/y to RUB15bn (including RUB3bn currency loss), and operating cash flow was negative at RUB20bn. Negative EBITDA was due to a jump in logistics costs (108% y/y) due to capacity expansion, increase in sales and marketing (174% y/y).
• Megafon
Russian mobile major MegaFon exited the capital of AliExpress Russia e-commerce joint venture, selling the 24.3% stake to its parent investment major USM International ofbillionaire Alisher Usmanov, Vedomosti daily reported. As followed by bne IntelliNews, in 2020 Mail.ru with MegaFon and RDIF Mail.ru closed a major deal on AliExpress (AER) ecommerce JV. Chinese Alibaba Group, Russian internet major Mail.ru Group, and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) maintained their stakes in the JV. USM investment held an option on the stake in AliExpress Russia and this option was exercised, the press-service of e-commerce marketplace told Vedomosti. AER operates a cross-border marketplace, and the JV is also developing a local marketplace business. The GMV (excluding services) of AER’s local business, which fully launched in October 2019, jumped by 151% year on year
164 RUSSIA Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com