This past February the South-African media group Naspers acquired a 30.7% stake in eSky.ru, a Russian online retailer of children’s goods. The transaction, which amounted to 200 million South African rands (approximately $20 million), has just been made public in the group’s latest financial report.
Esky.ru operates in one of the most dynamic areas of Russia’s e-commerce market. Last year, the children’s goods segment amounted to 24 billion rubles (approximately $750 million), up 43% from the previous year, according to InSales data cited in EWDN’s industry report.
Launched in 2009 by CEO Alexander Piskunov and his partners, the e-retailer passed breakeven the next year. In March 2013 Ru-Net, a Russian tech fund with headquarters in Moscow and New York, invested $6 million in the company in exchange for a 25% stake.
