Finprombank shareholders acquire control of Wikimart; Tiger's stake declines
MOSCOW. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Two shareholders in Finprombank, including board chairman Anatoly Goncharov, will receive over 50% of shares in online retailer Wikimart with an investment of $40 million. U.S.-based Tiger Global fund's stake will drop below 25%.
Finprombank had less than 20% of Wikimart shares in 2011, Goncharov told journalists. Given the rising tensions around Russia, Tiger made the decision to reduce its stake of about 50%. Tiger's exact stake currently has not been disclosed.
However, the U.S. fund will remain a minority shares and continue to provide expertise to Wikimart, cofounder and co-owner Maxim Faldin said.
"The fact the foreign investors are not ready to provide financing for one reason or another, is an opportunity for Russian investors," Goncharov said, noting that Tiger remains interested in the Russian market.
"It's impossible to lose interest in the Russian market from the economic standpoint. That is, this is politics, not economics," Goncharov said.
Tiger "has seen a lot" since it began investing in Russian companies in 2004, Faldin said. "They know full well they are in this for the long haul," he said, adding "For them, this is a pause connected with the business cycle."
Russia is a major e-commerce market with growth potential which is "absolutely unconsolidated." Nonetheless, he said, cumulative investment in the market remains below $1 billion.
Wikimart plans to use the $40 million it raises from the Finprombank shareholders to purchase Siberian internet retailer terminal.ru. The two companies' operations have already been merged, Faldin said.
Turnover at the post-merger companies will total $0.5 billion in 2015.
Wikimart is an online market where about 6,000 independent retailers offer nearly 2 million different products.