Yandex in talks to buy Azbuka Vkusa chain - media
MOSCOW. June 11 (Interfax) - Russian Internet company Yandex is holding negotiations to acquire the Azbuka Vkusa retail chain, The Bell reported, citing sources.
The goal of the deal is synergy between the supermarket chain and Yandex.Lavka, one of the paper's sources said. The acquisition would also enable Yandex's foodtech service to expand in the area of prepared food, which Azbuka Vkusa is actively developing.
Yandex.Lavka offers customers prepared food that it makes itself in a business that grew from Partiya Edy, which the company acquired in 2018 and later renamed Yandex.Chef, as well as from partners, including Azbuka Vkusa.
The acquisition could be similar to Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, a deal in which the chain of supermarkets maintained its stores and own brand, the sources said. Azbuka Vkusa's management might also continue to run the offline supermarkets, the sources reckon.
Yandex and Azbuka Vkusa declined to comment.
Azbuka Vkusa has more than 170 stores in various formats in Moscow, Moscow Region and St. Petersburg, online store av.ru, and prepared food delivery service AV Express Menu. The retailer also has food preparation facility and its own farm in Kaluga Region. The company closed the 2019 financial year that ended in March 2020 with revenue of 65.4 billion rubles. It has not yet disclosed results for the 2020 financial year.
Azbuka Vkusa's main operating company is Gorodskoi Supermarket LLC. This company closed 2020 with revenue up 18.3% to 75.2 billion rubles and a net profit of 916.9 million rubles to Russian Accounting Standards, compared to a loss of 316.7 million rubles in 2019.
Azbuka Vkusa's principal shareholders are Maxim Koscheyenko with 25.5%, Oleg Lytkin with 17.1% and Invest AG and Millhouse with 41.1%, the retailer's website reported.