Detsky Mir transforming into private company, plans to buy back shares in 2023

MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) - The board of directors of PJSC Detsky Mir plans to consider the decision on gradually transforming the company into a private business, the company said in a statement.

The procedure envisages reorganizing PJSC Detsky Mir, partially transferring shareholders from the public company to the non-public Detsky Mir LLC, as well as offering to sell the PJSC's shares for shareholders who have not transferred to the LLC, the company said.

It is assumed that following completion of the reorganization and the partial transfer of shareholders to Detsky Mir LLC in 2023, the retailer's subsidiary will offer shareholders to sell the shares at market price, which the board of directors should determine to be at least at the average-weighted price of shares on the Moscow Exchange for the six months preceding the date of the offer.

Detsky Mir plans to appeal to the government commission on control over foreign investments in the Russian Federation for permission to remit payments in rubles for shares sold to non-resident investors from "unfriendly" countries to their respectively indicated accounts by bypassing "C" type accounts.

Detsky Mir has also noted that it does not plan to raise the matter of paying interim dividends for 9M 2022, given the high level of market volatility, as well as the need to maintain a sufficient level of financial resources in order to maintain a market position.