Softline followed the closed line – Newspaper Kommersant No. 60 (7505) of 04/07/2023

The Softline group of companies, which remained in Russia after the separation from the global business, is 100% controlled by the ZPIF, which is controlled by the management company Tethys Capital. The founder of the group, Igor Borovikov, will cease to be its beneficiary. Softline’s Russian business may be worth up to 10 billion rubles, experts say, but the deal itself, in their opinion, “does not look final.” Lawyers note that ZPIF as an owner is used primarily to hide the beneficiaries. According to official information, 15% in the group will be received by its employees, whose share in the future will grow to 25-30%.

The Softline group of companies, owned by Igor Borovikov, has announced the transition to the control of a closed-end mutual investment fund (ZPIF) of the management company Tethys Capital. As the company explained, “the decision to sell 100% of the company’s shares was made by Igor Borovikov together with a group of investors.” The founder of the group will leave the composition of its shareholders. It is planned that the transaction will be fully completed by April 30, its volume is not disclosed by the parties.

“The new ownership structure involves the transfer of up to 15% of shares to the ownership of Softline employees, in the medium term, the share of employees’ ownership in management will be 25–30%,” Igor Borovikov specified. According to him, the board of directors and management will manage the business. Tethys Capital declined to comment.

Igor Borovikov founded Softline in 1993. Since 2008, the group has positioned itself as an international group, having moved its headquarters to London. Softline sold solutions from more than 6,000 IT manufacturers, before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions in 2022, it was one of the key suppliers of solutions for Microsoft, Apple, HP, and others. Also in the Softline portfolio are products of Russian brands – Kaspersky Lab , Positive Technologies, etc. At the end of the 2020 financial year, the company’s turnover grew by 8.9%, to $1.8 billion, and in 2021 the company held an IPO on the London and Moscow stock exchanges.

Last spring, according to Forbes, Softline’s income decreased by 30%, in May the company cut employee salaries by 25% (see “Kommersant” dated May 23). In June, Softline announced its intention to divide the business into Russian and international, the procedure was officially completed in October (see “Kommersant” dated October 20, 2022).

In Russia, the structure remained under the Softline Group of Companies brand; Igor Borovikov bought this part of the business for a symbolic $1. The international business changed its name to Noventiq and in February 2023 announced a merger with the American Corner Growth Acquisition Corp.

It is possible that the buying fund is “only a tool in order not to reveal the true beneficiaries of the transaction,” says Vladislav Chukanov, an expert at the Moscow Digital School educational platform. According to him, closed-end mutual funds “are often used, among other things, to reduce the risks of including business beneficiaries in the sanctions lists.”

“Softline in Russia can be valued at 8–10 billion rubles,” says Finam analyst Leonid Delitsyn. In his opinion, the sale will not greatly affect the work of the group, since the structure remaining in Russia is only “beginning to rebuild work on new business models” due to the departure of foreign partners, including establishing new ties with Russian suppliers of IT products. At the same time, the expert admits that now it has become known only about the intermediate stage of the transaction and Softline will still change owners.

Tatyana Isakova, Yulia Yurasova, Ksenia Kulikova