MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – Global retail giant Amazon and Japanese SoftBank have approached Russian conglomerate Sistema about a possible takeover of its online retailer Ozon, said Sistema’s majority owner Vladimir Evtushenkov on Saturday.
Sistema has said it is not immediately clear if talks are still under way or have ended. It has said it was looking for partners to invest in Ozon, in which it holds more than 40% stake.
“The interest to Ozon among foreign investors is very high,” Evtushenkov told reporters after Sistema’s annual general meeting.
“I can tell you that this is the only one company in Russia at which Amazon was looking from the participation point of view,” he said, adding that SoftBank was also interested in Ozon.
Ozon chief executive Aleksandr Shulgin met with his Amazon counterpart, Jeff Bezos, “five or six months ago,” said Evtushenkov.
A spokesman for Sistema declined to comment further.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field