Sistema becomes largest shareholder of Etalon Group

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Sistema PJSFC (SSA) 
Sistema becomes largest shareholder of Etalon Group 
 
19-Feb-2019 / 19:00 MSK 
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information 
according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group. 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
 
            Sistema becomes largest shareholder of Etalon Group 
 
    Moscow, Russia - 19 February 2019 - Sistema PJSFC ("Sistema") (LSE: SSA, 
         MOEX: AFKS), a publicly traded diversified Russian holding company, 
 announces the acquisition of a 25% stake in ETALON GROUP PLC (together with 
      its subsidiaries, "Etalon Group"), one of Russia's leading real estate 
    development and construction companies, from Viacheslav Zarenkov, Etalon 
    Group's founder and largest shareholder, and his family members, for USD 
                          226.6 million. 
 
          Etalon Group is one of the largest and oldest residential property 
        developers in the Russian market, occupying a leading position in St 
     Petersburg and increasing its presence in the Moscow Metropolitan Area. 
  Etalon Group is a vertically integrated holding that includes all business 
     segments contributing to value creation: from land plot development and 
 construction to regional sales and property management. As of 30 June 2018, 
     Etalon Group's portfolio comprised 39 projects at different development 
       stages, primarily in the highly profitable comfort and business-class 
  segments, with total unsold net sellable area exceeding 2.73 million sq m. 
As of 30 June 2018, Knight Frank valued Etalon Group's real estate portfolio 
 at over RUB 132 billion. In 2018, Etalon Group's real estate sales totalled 
       628 thousand sq m, or RUB 68.7 billion. In 2017, Etalon Group's total 
 revenue amounted to RUB 70.6 billion , and EBITDA reached RUB 13.2 billion. 
 
 Previously, Sistema announced it had divested 51% stake in Leader Invest, a 
   leading Moscow residential real estate developer, to Etalon Group for RUB 
                          15.2 billion. 
 
                          Andrey Dubovskov, Sistema CEO and President, said: 
 
        "Real estate development remains an attractive sector in the Russian 
economy, and Sistema has long sought to build further scale. The combination 
   of Etalon Group and Leader Invest brings complementary property assets in 
  key markets and management expertise under one roof creating a residential 
 real estate market leader with a total portfolio of 4 million sq m. Greater 
   scale benefits and significant operating synergies will strengthen Etalon 
 Group's investment case. Etalon Group's high corporate governance standards 
       and track record of transparency will also ensure that the investment 
       community gains better visibility of this dynamic sector of the local 
                          economy." 
 
 Renaissance Capital and Sberbank CIB acted as financial advisers to Sistema 
 on acquisition of Etalon Group shares and divestiture of Sistema's stake in 
                          Leader Invest. 
 
             *** 
 
       For further information, please visit www.sistema.com [1] or contact: 
 
     Investor Relations         Public Relations 
 
       Nikolai Minashin Sergey Kopytov 
 
Tel: [phone] Tel.: [phone] 
 
  [e-mail]       [e-mail] 
 
             *** 
 
This announcement contains inside information. Full name and position of 
person making the announcement - Nikolai Minashin, Director, Investor 
Relations 
 
             *** 
 
      Sistema PJSFC is a publicly-traded diversified Russian holding company 
    serving over 150 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, 
          children's goods retail, paper and packaging, healthcare services, 
     agriculture, high technology, banking, real estate, pharmaceuticals and 
   hospitality. The company was founded in 1993. Its revenue in 2017 was RUB 
 704.6 billion; its total assets equalled RUB 1.1 trillion as of 31 December 
2017. Sistema's global depositary receipts are listed under the "SSA" ticker 
on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema's ordinary shares are listed under the 
             "AFKS" ticker on Moscow Exchange. Website: www.sistema.com [2]. 
 
ISIN:          US48122U2042 
Category Code: MSCM 
TIDM:          SSA 
LEI Code:      213800JSZ2UUK4QQK694 
Sequence No.:  7560 
EQS News ID:   777753 
 
End of Announcement EQS News Service 
 
 
1: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=f1efd490ef237092d4033512d119fe99&application_id=777753&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 
2: https://link.cockpit.eqs.com/cgi-bin/fncls.ssp?fn=redirect&url=6e566001103bf8b2bd1a5427ea3e04fe&application_id=777753&site_id=vwd&application_name=news 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2019 11:00 ET (16:00 GMT)