Aquarius acquires 67.8% of data storage system developer Aerodisk

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - Russian computer hardware manufacturer Aquarius has acquired a 67.8% stake in Aero Disk LLC (Aerodisk), a developer and producer of data storage and virtualization solutions, the companies reported.

The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal.

"Aerodisk is a significant producer with a strong and ambitious team, a mature company with established processes in every area of operations," Aquarius Production Company LLC president Vladimir Stepanov said in the press release.

"Joint use of resources and competencies will enable us to effectively meet growing demand for innovative solutions and strengthen positions in the sector," he said.

"The deal will help us overcome the gap between the needs of the market and the manufacturing capacity accessible to us," Aerodisk CEO Vyacheslav Volodkovich said, adding that the company would retain the Aerodisk brand and continue working as usual with its customers and partners.

The press release also said that the transaction will not affect Aerodisk's management structure and development of its existing line of products, and the company does not plan to make any changes to current services and partnership programs.

Aerodisk was previously 40.2% owned by management and 59.8% by N.N. Benardos Technopark Electrogefest LLC, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities showed. The latter is wholly owned by Stepanov and is Aquarius's manufacturing facility in Shuya, Ivanovo Region.

Aerodisk reported its first profit in 2022, totaling 239 million rubles, after a net loss of 20 million rubles in 2021 and losses of 40 million-48 million rubles in the previous few years. Revenue almost doubled to 1 billion rubles in 2022 from 521 million rubles in 2021.

Aquarius has manufacturing facilities in Ivanovo and Tver regions. The company modernized the former with 366.5 million rubles of financing from the Industrial Development Fund (IDF); the project cost a total of 460 million rubles.

In June, Aquarius reached an agreement with the IDF for a soft loan of 2.26 billion rubles to localize production of computer hardware at the company's facility in Tver Region. This project is expected to enable Aquarius to expand production capacity to 2.5 million devices per year. The factory will make servers, all-in-one computers, personal computers, automated workstations, convertible laptops, tablets, smartphones and other hardware under the Aquarius brand.

It was reported earlier that Aquarius planned to invest 4 billion rubles in manufacturing in Tver Region by 2025.