Moscow, Russia - MTS PJSC (NYSE: MBT, MOEX: MTSS), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, invested RUB 1.15bln in the development of Ozon Holdings (OZON) through an additional share issuance. As a result, MTSs stake in the authorized capital of Ozon will increase from 11.2% to 13.7%.Alexei Kornya, Vice President, Finance, Investment, Mergers and Acquisitions, commented, "Since 2014, we have worked both through our investment in and in partnership with Ozon. During this time, Ozon has seen exceptional revenue growth and improved operational performance. Now, however, is an opportune time to expand, and we believe that Ozon can use the additional resources to increase its reach and further improve its efficiency. All the while, we continue to gain valuable insight into the Internet economy as we boost our own e-commerce efforts and pursue our 3D strategy by expanding the digital services available to our clients. Given our recent acquisitions of Ti ketland.ru and Ponominalu.ru, our investments in OZON support MTS evolution into a strong Internet player by enhancing our position in online retail."
MTS also signed option agreements, which give the Company right to acquire shares within 12 months from the date of signing for up to RUB 582 million, which would allow to increase its stake to 14.7%.
MTS became the shareholder of OZON in April 2014 through acquisition of 10.8% shares for USD 75mln. Then MTS increased its stake to 11.2% throughout a series of transactions with minority shareholders.
Ozon is one of the largest multi-category online retailers in Russia (over 20 categories). The company owns its own logistics network with large warehouses (60 thousand sq.m.). At the end of 2017, the number of unique buyers in OZON doubled and amounted to 3.2 million people.
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For further information, please contact in Moscow:
Joshua B. Tulgan
Director, Department of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations
Mobile TeleSystems PJSC
Tel: +7 495 223 2025
E-mail: ir@mts.ru
Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at www.mtsgsm.com/blog/
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Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ( MTS - NYSE:MBT; MOEX:MTSS), the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS, provides a range of mobile and fixed-line communications services. We serve over 100 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and Belarus, and about 9 million customers of fixed-line services, including fixed voice, broadband internet, and pay-TV. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, MTS is redefining what telecommunications services are by offering innovative products beyond its core network-related businesses in various tech segments, including Big Data, financial and banking services, internet of things, OTT, cloud computing, systems integration and e-commerce. We leverage our market-leading retail network as a platform for customer services and sales of devices and accessories. For more information, please visit: www.mtsgsm.com.
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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as expect, believe, anticipate, estimate, intend, will, could, may or might, and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned Risk Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.
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