The O2O ride-hailing and foodtech JV between Sberbank and Mail.ru Group has welcomed an additional RUB12 bn in financing from both of the parties on equal terms.

Top managers of the O2O JV are confident that food delivery is a promising industry, and not just when it comes to deliveries from restaurants, but with some new domains too, like dark kitchens and dark stores. The same goes for transportation services, which go beyond ride-hailing or car sharing offerings, but let you get from point A to point B most optimally and conveniently.

The investment will be used to scale up the businesses and verticals that were not part of the deal when it was closed in December 2019, including the 2GIS mapping service, the Samokat express e-grocery delivery unit (a 75.6% stake consolidated in May), and other assets.

Ride-hailing and restaurant delivery services Citymobil and Delivery Club remain well-funded and do not need to attract more investment.

The current funding efforts do not affect the KPI-based payments set around the initial assets of the joint venture.

After the additional funding, Sberbank and Mail.ru Group will maintain equal JV stakes of 45.005% each, with the remainder to be potentially allocated for the long-term motivation program to incentivize JV employees.

Lev Khasis, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank:

'The demand for distance services the JV companies offer has witnessed explosive growth over the past six months; in some cases, it soared several times. In fact, we are operating in a market that is growing at a dramatic rate. And we're naturally interested in reinforcing our leadership where our domination is established, and most importantly we seek to take the lead with our brand new services that we are now launching as part of the JV. This is exactly what the new investment will be injected into.'

Boris Dobrodeev, CEO, Mail.ru Group:

'We maintain our ambition to build a leading player on the local foodtech and mobility market. Some business verticals have been stimulated by the pandemic - under different circumstances, it would have taken years to build that audience pool. We would like to take advantage of the opportunities arising within the space, with our O2O unit well-positioned for further diversification and growth. We are confident that many habits established by the pandemic will remain in place and we want our units to be the companies of choice for the satisfaction of key user demands within mobility and foodtech, going well beyond traditional restaurant delivery or ride-hailing services'.

The O2O (online-to-offline) mobility and foodtech joint venture between Sberbank and Mail.ru Group was established in December 2019. It includes the restaurant delivery service Delivery Club, the Samokat express e-grocery delivery unit, the Citymobil ride-hailing service, the YouDrive car sharing service, the Foodplex multifunctional platform for restaurant customers and owners, and the producer of ready food rations Performance Group.

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Sberbank of Russia published this content on 19 August 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 19 August 2020 06:21:10 UTC