Russian investment firm Sistema has announced that it has increased its stake in online retailer Ozon.ru, from 21.9% to 31.3%.
The investment means that Sistema Group's total shareholding in Ozon, including the 11.699% stake that it controls via its venture capital fund Sistema_VC, is now up to 42.9%.
The investment has been predominantly used by Ozon to develop its logistics infrastructure, Sistema said in a statement.
Ozon has more than doubled its fulfilment capacity to almost 200,000 square metres, as well as investing in its last-mile delivery infrastructure.
As of the end of 2019, Ozon owned the largest network of parcel lockers in Russia with a total of 6,897 locations, Sistema said.
In addition, it increased its product assortment threefold in the past year, to more than five million SKUs, of which 70% are generated by the company's marketplace sellers.
'Unprecedented Growth'
"We are satisfied with the unprecedented business growth rates demonstrated by Ozon in 2019," commented Alexey Katkov, managing partner at Sistema.
"Expansion of the assortment, active development of the marketplace, the enhancement of delivery channels and growth of the number of loyal customers made it possible for Ozon to strengthen its leading position in the Russian e-commerce market."
He added that funding provided by the group's key shareholders "will enable the company to maintain its high growth pace in 2020 and to continue increasing its market share."
© 2020 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.
