Leading Russian online retailer Ozon is preparing for a new $100 million round of investment. Morgan Stanley has been mandated to conduct this next round of financing, as announced yesterday by Russian business daily Kommersant.
“The funds will be used to expand our logistics system and consolidate the e-commerce market in the three areas where our company is active: goods, services and travel services,” confirmed Ozon representative Maria Nazamutdinova in an exchange with East-West Digital News.
In September 2011, Ozon already secured a $100 million investment. A record at that time, the deal was surpassed a few months ago when Lamoda.ru, an online shoes and apparel retailer and Ozon competitor, raised $130 million.
The Ozon holding includes the Ozon.ru online retailer, shoe store Sapato.ru, online travel site Ozon Travel, delivery service O’Courier and B2B service eSolutions. In 2012, the company claimed 7.77 billion rubles ($250 million) in revenues from the sales of goods and services, up 63% from 2011.
In the first half of 2013, Ozon turnover increased by 50% to reach 10.7 billion rubles ($345 million), Nazamutdinova said.
Sales of books and music represent approximately one third of Ozon’s sales. Another third comes from consumer electronics and the rest from a variety of other product categories, including clothing and footwear.
While Ozon was valued at $450 million in the September 2011 round, its current valuation could reach $600-700 million, according to Kommersant’s source.
Nazamutdinova declined to comment on this, but she indicated that the funds raised in 2011 had been used for the acquisition of Sapato, the extension of the company’s fulfillment facilities in Tver, the enlargement of the group’s product range and the development of Ozon Travel.
The principle co-owners of Ozon are Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund, ru-Net Ltd, Index Ventures, Holtzbrinck, Fast Lane Ventures and Japanese online retailer Rakuten.
According to Kommersant, a source at Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund does not rule out the retailer’s IPO in the next two to three years.
- RUSSIAN E-COMMERCE REPORT – East-West Digital News has conducted an in-depth research on Russia’s e-commerce in partnership with leading universities and consultancies. The study includes case studies of Ozon and other significant players, in addition to a full set of market data and practical recommendations to online retailers and investors. To receive free insights or to order the full version, please contact us at [email protected].
