PRESS: MTS CEO says IPO of digital business possible

MOSCOW, Nov 16 (PRIME) -- Major Russian mobile operator MTS may float its unit MTS Web Services in future, President Vyacheslav Nikolayev told daily Kommersant in an interview published on Tuesday.

“Now it’s a 100%-owned subsidiary of MTS, where we are handing over the network and cloud infrastructure, including the data processing centers,” he said.

“The main idea behind the unit, thanks to a merger of several directions, is to create the leader of the Russian market of cloud and digital infrastructure services working in all segments – business-to-operators (B2O), business-to-government (B2G), and business-to-business (B2B).”

MTS Bank is one of the first in line for an IPO. “The bank sets the ambitious goal of joining the top five retail credit institutions of the country in the next several years and to boost its 2022 net profit. It means that from the point of view of business development, probably, yes, MTS Bank will be one of the first ready to ‘unpack’ its value,” Nikolayev said.  

The operator is also considering spinning off service MTS Marketolog, an advertising business based on big data analysis. Its turnover counts billions rubles and “a high margin already now with tens of billions in two to three years,” he said.

Nikolayev said MTS closed its service MTS Fitness and plans to get rid of two brands of ticket operators Ticketland.ru and Ponominalu.ru.

(72.2724 rubles – U.S. $1)

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