BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/08/2006

Sedmoy Continent to acquire 50% shares of Belarusian retail company ProstoreMarket

Sedmoy Continent OJSC will acquire 50% shares of ProstoreMarket CZAO, a retail company (Republic of Belarus, Minsk), as the Company informs.

The probable cost of the controlling stake will be $5 mln. According to Sedmoy Continent, this will mean the shop chain's entering the international market. The acquisition of an additional stake in the Belarusian company is planned too.

ProstoreMarket CZAO was registered in July 2005. Its core business is retail trade.

In 2005, Sedmoy Continent's net income grew by 69% to $45 million, its proceeds rose by 40% to $713 million. The Company's major shareholder is 7C Invest-Holding CJSC controlled by Alexander Zanadvorov and Vladimir Gruzdev. At the turn of last year 13% of the Company's shares were sold during IPO in the RTS for RUB 2.3 billion. An additional issue has recently been placed, as a result of it, the free-float rose to approximately 25%.

Source:

http://www.akm.ru/eng/news/2006/august/25/ns1766687.htm