Sberbank Merchant Banking buys 35% of Pandora jewelry chain in Russia, CIS from Nogotkov
MOSCOW. May 13 (Interfax) - Sberbank's Sberbank CIB has arranged financing of 13.6 billion rubles for PanKlub, the exclusive distributor of Pandora jewelry in Russia and the CIS, Sberbank CIB said in a statement.
The company said part of the funding was presented in the form of a loan, and part through Sberbank Merchant Banking's purchase of 35% stake in the holding company of Maxim Nogotkov, who acquired the rights to develop Pandora in Russia and the CIS.
"Part of this sum was provided to the operating company in the form of credit, issued with the assistance of Sberbank CIB's Loans Department, the remaining part - through Sberbank Merchant Banking's purchase of a 35% stake in the holding company of Maxim Nogotkov. This stake was acquired by Sberbank Investments LLC, a part of Sberbank Merchant Banking, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sberbank of Russia," the statement says.
Sberbank CIB did not disclose how much the loan was for, or the value of the equity portion of the deal.
"The acquisition of a 35% stake is a significant deal for us in the retail and consumer goods sector, and is consistent with our strategy; we believe the consumer sector, real estate, B2B, TMT are among the most promising sectors," Oscar Ratsin, the head of Sberbank Merchant Banking and managing director of Sberbank CIB, is quoted as saying in the statement.
PanKlub, which was founded in 2009, is the exclusive distributor of Pandora jewelry in Russia and ICS countries. The company currently sells its products at 130 single-brand stores and around 100 partner sales points. PanKlub's head office is in Moscow.
According to the SPARK-Interfax database, PanKlub is owned by Cyprus-based Trellas Enterprises Limited. The company had revenue of 1.9 billion rubles in 2012, and net profit of 345.5 million rubles.
Pandora was founded in Denmark in 1992. The company manufactures jewelry from sterling silver and gold with precious and semi-precious stones and Murano glass. Its products are sold in more than 80 countries through 10,300 sales outlets, and the company also has 1,100 single-brand stores.
