6th Jul 2011 13:30
RWS OBTAINS LOAN FROM ING BANK N.V. AND SBERBANK OF RUSSIA SECURED AGAINST ITS LIBRARY OF VIDEO CONTENT
Moscow, Russia - July 6, 2011- JSFC Sistema ("Sistema") (LSE: SSA), the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS, today announced that ING Bank N.V. ("ING"), the Moscow Bank of Sberbank of Russia ("Sberbank") and CJSC Russian World Studios ("RWS") have signed an agreement to provide RWS, a subsidiary of Sistema, with a loan secured against RWS' own library of video content.
ING Bank and Sberbank will provide RWS with a 3-year secured club loan of RUB 1.2 billion with OJSC Sistema Mass-Media acting as a guarantor. This is an unprecedented transaction for the Russian corporate credit market as it is the first time in the history of the Russian media industry that a loan is to be granted with a library of video content as security.
At the same time, Diederik van Wassenaer, Member of the ING Commercial Banking Management Team, Herman Gref, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sberbank, and Vladimir Evtushenkov, Chairman of Sistema, signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines the principles of strategic cooperation between these three companies for further development of the Russian media industry.
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Russian World Studios (RWS) is the largest private film production company in the Russian market providing various services, including the production and distribution of films and TV content. RWS was founded in 1998 and has completed hundreds of Russian TV and film projects, including 20 projects for international audience by 2010. RWS' viewers are familiar with the characters of their popular soap operas, including "Sea Patrol", "Redhead", "Atlantis", "Zona", "Woman's Word", "The Palm Sunday". The company's content is broadcast on Russia's leading TV channels and abroad: Channel 1, Channel Russia, CTC, 1+1 (Ukraine), Channel 9 (Israel) and other. The company owns two film studios in Moscow and St. Petersburg, providing a wide range of pre-production, production and post-production services enhanced by owning special vehicles and set design workshops. In 2007, RWS merged with Sistema Mass-Media.
Sistema Mass-Media (SMM) is a managing company for Sistema's media assets. Following its reorganization in 2009, SMM was transformed from a telecoms asset into an asset management company, producing and distributing content. Today, SMM is one of the leading players in the content market, actively participating in pay-TV, production and distribution of TV and film content, and new media segments. SMM comprises STREAM, Russian World Studios, Maxima advertising agency, and Digital Broadcasting.
ING Group is a global financial institution of Dutch origin with 150 years experience. The Company provides a wide range of financial services, including banking and investment services, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million customers in more than 40 countries around the world. The ING brand brings together many well-known companies with total Group assets of EUR 1,247 billion (as of December 31, 2010). ING Group is ranked 15th for market capitalization in the Bloomberg list of Europe's biggest financial institutions. Its sound financial position, wide range of products and services, diversified sources of income and robust risk profile provide ING a secure foundation and potential for growth. ING Commercial Banking in Russia operates through CJSC ING BANK (EURASIA) since 1993, providing financial services to over 1200 corporate clients.
Sberbank of Russia JSC is the largest bank in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, and its share includes about 30% of assets of Russian banking system with about 240 thousand employees. Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the founder and the major shareholder of Sberbank of Russia JSC, owning above 60% of voting shares. Other shareholders include about 245 thousand individuals and legal entities. The Bank has the most developed branch network in Russia: 17 territorial banks, about 20 thousand branches and internal organization departments, as well as subsidiary banks in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus, a branch in India, and a representative office in Germany. General license of the Bank of Russia to perform bank operations 1481. Bank's official site - www.sberbank.ru.
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For further information, please visit www.sistema.com or contact:
| Investor Relations | Public Relations | |
| Evgeniy Chuikov | Vsevolod Sementsov | |
| Tel.: +7 (495) 692 1100 | Tel: +7 (495) 730 1705 | |
Sistema is the largest diversified public financial corporation in Russia and the CIS, which invests in and is a major shareholder of companies serving over 100 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, high technology, oil and energy, radars and aerospace, banking, retail, mass-media, tourism and healthcare services. Founded in 1993, the company reported revenues of US$ 7.8 billion for the first quarter of 2011, and total assets of US$ 46 billion as at March 31, 2011. Sistema's global depository receipts are listed under the symbol "SSA" on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema's ordinary shares are listed under the symbol "AFKS" on the RTS Stock Exchange, under the symbol "AFKC" on the MICEX Stock Exchange, and under the symbol "SIST" on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MSE).
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Sistema. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might" the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. In addition, there is no assurance that the new contracts entered into by our subsidiaries referenced above will be completed on the terms contained therein or at all. We do not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, general economic conditions, our competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in our industries, as well as many other risks specifically related to Sistema and its operations.
This document does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, any shares or other securities of JSFC Sistema and/or any of its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, nor shall any part of it nor the fact of its distribution form part of or be relied on in connection with any contract or investment decision relating thereto, nor does it constitute a recommendation regarding the shares or securities of JSFC Sistema and/or any of its subsidiaries and affiliated companies.
Copyright Business Wire 2011
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