The Sberbank structure has become the owner of 12% of Aquarius, one of the largest Russian manufacturers of computer equipment, two sources from the electronics market told RBC. The deal was closed in the context of Aquarius’ plans to carry out an initial public offering in 2025, explained one of the publication’s interlocutors.
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The investor was SberInvest, another source familiar with the parameters of the deal said. According to RBC, the parties discussed it for a long time and it was closed in the first half of 2024. For Sber, the deal became a long-term strategic investment and the money raised was used to finance Aquarius’ investment program.
Sber is expected to be one of the banks that will organize the Aquarius IPO on the Moscow Stock Exchange, the publication writes. The company’s plans for an initial offering emerged in 2023. Aquarius was set for an initial public offering in November 2024, but the current plan is 2025, one of the people said.
Both companies declined to comment to RBC.
Aquarius was founded in 1989 and was originally a West German Soviet company, Aquarius Systems Integral, but three years later the company became completely Russian, the publication notes. The organization produces computers, laptops, tablets, servers and other similar equipment, with a production capacity of 2.5 million devices per year.
Until 2024, the company occupied about a fifth of the market share of equipment included in the register of Russian radio-electronic products of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (this equipment can participate in government orders), an RBC source in the market said. of electronics. . Information about the company’s financial results for the last year is hidden.
Most likely, Aquarius has raised additional capital to resolve liquidity issues, and Sber is counting on withdrawing capital through a planned initial public offering, says Alexey Zamesov, head of special projects at hosting provider Ru-center.
Nikolai Komlev, Chairman of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Development of the Digital Economy, noted that now all large technology companies are acquiring IT equipment assemblers, chip developers and system integrators to have the most complete solution. and independent of imports. technology stack.
Author:
Bogdan Muzychenko
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
