Russian e-commerce operator Ozon has announced that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Oney Bank LLC, boosting its financial services offering.
Ozon, which held an IPO on the Nasdaq in November 202, acquired the business from Sovcombank, a privately-owned financial institution.
It hailed the acquisition as an 'important milestone', saying that the deal provides it with the necessary set of licences to grow and develop its fintech vertical by expanding its financial services offering.
It will use this expanded offering to boost customer engagement and retention, attract more sellers to the Ozon marketplace, promote monetisation across the Ozon platform, and increase the company's total addressable market, it said in a statement.
The group also plans to continue actively cooperating with other banks and fintech companies to develop new products going forward.
'Product Vision'
"The acquisition of a bank enables Ozon to implement our product vision in fintech," said Vahe Ovasapyan, vice president of Ozon Financial Services. "Our goal was to acquire an asset which we can integrate into our fintech business expediently and efficiently. Furthermore, transparency and reliability of the acquisition target were key criteria for Ozon in concluding this transaction."
Ovasapyan added that the business has worked alongside Sovcombank for a number of years, on the development of B2B and B2C products.
"This deal will give us additional flexibility in launching financial services for our customers and marketplace sellers," he said. "This includes faster payment services with lower commissions. I am excited about the near-term development and the long-term outlook for the fintech business at Ozon.”
Ozon began developing its own fintech products in 2018, and today the group's operations include a number of B2B and B2C services that are complementary to its core e-commerce operations, it said.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
