Page 24 - bne_newspaper_April_26_2019

bne Tech
April 26, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
Russian retailer O’key reportedly eyed by Yandex.Market online marketplace
Russian struggling mid-cap retailer O’key could be in part acquired by Yandex.Market online mar- ketplace, a joint venture between Russia’s largest bank Sberbank and most valuable digital company Yandex, Kommersant daily reported citing un- named sources close to the deal.
Previously unconfirmed reports claimed that Sberbank seeks to acquire O’key, which the bank denied. Now reportedly Yandex.Market could ac- quire a stake in O’key, with Sberbank financing the transaction. Market capitalization of the retailer stood at about $520mn as of the announcement.
“The scale of the acquisition and strategic ben- efits for Yandex.Market are not clear at this point, but will provide short-term support for O’key,” BCS Global Markets commented on April 23.
O’Key unveiled a new strategy in January 2019, but left investors unimpressed. A new investor that could shake the retailer’s business model is likely to be met positively by the market (the shares jumped by 11% on the previous uncon- firmed Sberbank acquisition news).
The news also followed the dramatic acquisition of another O'key's peer Lenta. As reported by bne IntelliNews, minority shareholders of Russian retailer Lenta sent letters to the management enquiring about an offer to buy the company by retailing peer leading supermarket chain Magnit. There is now some confusion over the deal as bne sources say Magnit did not make a formal offer and has not followed up on its original letter outlining a proposed counter offer.
Facebook and Twitter given nine more months to comply with Russian data-localisation law
Facebook and Twitter have been given nine months by Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, to move Russian users’ data onto servers located physically on Russia soil, reports Adrien Henni of East-West Digital News (EWDN).
Roskomnadzor’s head Alexander Zharov expressed “hope” that the two companies will comply with Russian legislation on personal data storage, and that the authorities will not end up having to block access to their sites, Interfax reported on April 22.
Adopted in 2014 and applicable since September 2015, this legislation requires companies operat- ing in Russia to store Russian users’ or clients’
personal data on servers physically located in the country. Numerous foreign and domestic players were concerned, including global players who tended to store their users’ data in border- less clouds (see white paper by EWDN and EY).
While many businesses — including Alibaba, AliExpress, Apple, and Google — have managed to transfer user data from foreign data centres to Russia, others refused or failed to comply.
In December 2018, Roskomnadzor formally re- quested Twitter and Facebook —, which so far had sent both positive and negative signals on the matter — to provide substantive information on their compliance with the law.