MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s two online platforms, retailer Ozon and online cinema ivi, are both considering initial public offerings in the United States later this year, two bankers familiar with the preparations told Reuters on Thursday.
Both companies consider going public to raise cash for further development, sources said, adding that preliminary plans yet to be finalized are targeting this autumn for their deals, yet to be finalised.
ivi declined comments and Ozon did not reply to a request for a comment.
Sources told Reuters earlier this year that Sberbank, Russia’s top bank, was in talks to buy a large minority stake in Ozon. But as the talks have stalled, Ozon’s plan has now shifted towards an IPO, two other bankers said.
(Reporting by Olga Popova and Tatiana Voronova; Additional reporting by Andrey Ostroukh and Nadezhda Tsydenova; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
