Goltsblat BLP has advised PJSC MTS, a prominent telecommunications provider in Russia, on its acquisition of a controlling stake (50.82%) in the Russian retail software developer Oblachny Retail LLC, which operated under the LiteBox brand.
MTS also entered into an option agreement with the Oblachny Retail shareholders under which MTS has both a right and an obligation to purchase, at the request of minority shareholders, their shares at a price based on the company’s 2019 financial results.
According to Goltsblat BLP, "PJSC MTS is a Russian telecommunications operator headquartered in Moscow. The company offers mobile communications (GSM, UMTS (3G) and LTE standards) and landline phone services, broadband Internet access, mobile, cable, satellite and digital TV. Its major shareholder is AFK Sistema, a Russian publicly-traded diversified holding company. Oblachny Retail LLC has been involved in retail software development since 2010. The start-up’s key product is LiteBox, a cloud-based cash register solution featuring end-to-end automation of cash services and online retail operations, including inventory and procurement management, sales and KPI analysis, as well as loyalty program management."
The Goltsblat BLP team was led by Partner Ekaterina Dedova and included Partner Ian Ivory, Senior Associates Dimitri Antipin and Anton Nefedev, Associates Anastasia Kudryashova and Mikhail Filatov, and Junior Associate Ksenia Danshina, among others.
