Ozon, a Russia-based online retailer backed by diversified conglomerate Sistema, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company is aiming to go public either later this year or early in 2021 and is targeting a valuation of $3bn to $5bn, people familiar with the matter told WSJ. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been hired as underwriters for the offering.
Founded in 1998, Ozon began as an online bookstore but has since grown its offering to a full suite of consumer products, much like US peer Amazon.
The company has experienced significant sales growth this year, including 200% in Q2 alone, as the pandemic drove consumers to increasingly shop for everyday items online. Its sales have particularly increased outside of Moscow, which now makes up 45% of its total business.
Ozon plans to spend more than $300m on logistics over the next several years as it looks to open at least five new fulfilment centres.
The offering would come after Ozon secured $150m in a March 2020 round co-led by Sistema and private equity firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners that included investment firm Princeville Global. The company had received $154m from Sistema and Baring Vostok in April 2019.
Sistema and mobile network Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) invested $150m in Ozon in 2014, adding to a total of $270m in earlier funding that included $100m from e-commerce firm Rakuten, Ru-Net, Index Ventures and Alpha Associates in 2011.
MTS sold its shares to Sistema for $119m in February 2019 while HV Holtzbrinck Ventures invested an unknown amount in Ozon in 2007 but exited in 2019. Networking technology provider Cisco’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Cisco Investments, also lists Ozon in its portfolio.
