The Baring Vostok investment fund, which hoped to divide its assets into Russian and foreign ones at the end of this year, will not have time to complete the processes within the indicated period. The reason for the delay is an issue with Ozon’s market share. This was reported by The Bell (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation).
Baring Vostok announced a business reorganization late last year. The Russia-oriented part of the company was supposed to receive shares in 12 companies, including Ozon, Vkusville and Skyeng.
The assets were to be transferred to Russian management and the process was scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. As a result of the division, two independent structures will appear: Vostok Investments and the international Baring Private Equity fund.
However, according to the publication, the presidential administration intervened in the situation.
Due to the large number of companies involved in the division, it was initially difficult for the legal commission to reach an agreement on the details of such a transaction, the authors of the publication say. The main problem was Baring’s stake in Ozon, which amounts to approximately 28%. Another important shareholder in the market is AFK Sistema.
According to the publication’s sources, the presidential administration does not want to hand over the asset to local fund managers, since, from the administration’s point of view, there are more suitable candidates for this.
In particular, the publication’s interlocutors mention the former director of Megafon and founder of Kismet Capital Group, Ivan Tavrin. However, a source close to the businessman does not confirm interest in the asset.
Furthermore, a senior official admits that some assets involved in the division could even be threatened with nationalization.
Author:
Natalia Gormaleva
Source: RB
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