May 18, 2021, Moscow

 

 

Sber, VEB.RF, and RDIF to become Prosveshcheniye shareholders

 

Sber, VEB.RF, and RDIF have reached an equity investment agreement under which they will each hold a 25% stake in JSC Prosveshcheniye. The closure of the deal on RDIF's part is pending approval from its Supervisory Board.

 

The deal is a continuation of many years of joint work to develop contemporary Russian education.

 

One hundred percent of the company's shares were valued for the purposes of the deal at approximately RUB 108 bn. The new shareholder structure is expected to be established in June.

 

Eight directors will be on the Prosveshcheniye Board of Directors, with two representatives each from Sber, RDIF, VEB.RF, and the current Prosveshcheniye shareholders. The current management of the Group will continue to handle operations.

 

Today Prosveshcheniye, well known to all children and parents, is the largest brand on the educational literature market in Russia. The company operates in all regions of Russia and in 190 countries worldwide, with annual print runs of over 130 million copies. Prosveshcheniye also provides direct support to educators and school students. The company's digital platforms count 30 million unique users per month.

 

The parties joined efforts to increase access to Prosveshcheniye's well-established learning content for teachers, students, and parents nationwide. The partners' modern digital technologies, services, and competencies will facilitate the development of next-generation educational content and ensure a personalized approach to each student and new education management tools for teachers.

 

The partnership will also establish the necessary conditions to increase the export potential of educational products and to develop school infrastructure, including through a PPP-based model.

 

We understand that access to quality educational content and to modern teaching methods for every child and every teacher lays the foundation for a successful future. Combining our ecosystem's resources together with those of our partner companies and Prosveshcheniye creates new opportunities for the sector-wide development of education and for the achievement of national development goals.

 

Herman Gref

CEO, Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank

 

The goal of our partnership is to develop a modern learning environment in Russia. Prosveshcheniye went from an educational publishing house to a systemically important company in the industry, providing its clients with a wide variety of solutions: from building new schools to the creation of digital content. The new shareholder composition will enable the company to grow dynamically, contribute to the achievement of national goals, and, in time, become a global education leader.

Igor Shuvalov

Chairman, VEB.RF

 

This agreement sees the partners joining efforts to develop the basis for Russia's future achievements and the country's most valuable asset - human capital. A strong company that plays a key role in the education infrastructure and builds on the best Russian and international practices can take the lead in this area globally. The collaborative work of RDIF and its partners is centered on achieving these goals for all students and teachers and for Russia as a whole.

 

Kirill Dmitriev

CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)

 

The public-private partnership tool has demonstrated that the business sector can become - and is becoming - a serious source of support for the state. Prosveshcheniye Group is a key element of the education system, as well as a national educational integrator, whose products and solutions are used in every single family and school in the country. Today we are talking about pooling our resources to handle the full range of challenges currently facing the state: creating modern education infrastructure, improving quality of education in all of Russia's regions, developing and using digital educational technologies reasonably and efficiently, and formulating new tasks. We firmly believe that the effects of this deal will be seen throughout the country in the very near future.

 

Vladimir Uzun

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Prosveshcheniye Group

 

 

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Sber Press office

media@sberbank.ru

 

PJSC Sberbank is Russia's largest bank and a leading global financial institution. Holding almost one-third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, Sberbank is the key lender to the national economy and one of the biggest deposit takers in Russia. The Government of the Russian Federation represented by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is the principal shareholder of PJSC Sberbank owning 50% plus one voting share of the bank's authorized capital, with the remaining 50% minus one voting share held by domestic and international investors. Sberbank has customers in 18 countries. The bank has a major distribution network in Russia with about 14,000 branches, while its international operations - subsidiary banks, branches, and chapters - include the UK, US, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, India, China, and other countries. It holds general banking license No. 1481 dd. August 11, 2015, from the Bank of Russia. Official websites of the bank: www.sberbank.com (Sberbank Group website), www.sberbank.ru.

In 2020 Sberbank underwent a rebranding, offering financial and non-financial services of the bank and Sberbank Group to individual and corporate customers. Today, the Sber ecosystem is a raft of services for life and daily assistance in handling pressing everyday issues for individual customers and businesses. The Sber ecosystem website: www.sber.ru.

VEB.RF Press service

press@veb.ru, +7 (495) 721-94-90

VEB.RF is a state development corporation that implements national projects in partnership with commercial banks and private investors. The scope of its activities includes providing support for high-tech industry, non-resource exports, modernization of infrastructure, and urban agglomerations. VEB.RF Group's capital amounts to RUB 689.0 bn, with assets of RUB 3,406.1 bn and a capital adequacy ratio of 17.1% (as of December 31, 2020).

RDIF Press service

pr@rdif.ru +7 (495) 644-34-14

 

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF has experience in the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling over RUB 2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ over 800,000 people and generate revenues equating to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from over 18 countries that total over USD 40 bn. Further information can be found at rdif.ru

 

Prosveshcheniye Group Press service

pressa@prosv.ru,+7 (495) 789-30-40

 

Prosveshcheniye is a national educational integrator with 90 years of history. The Group comprises leading educational literature brands. Its key areas of activity are digitizing and exporting education, building and outfitting schools and summer camps for children, training educators, educational and legal consulting, and textbook publishing. Products and solutions by Prosveshcheniye can be found being used by teachers in every school and every family in the country.