Russia's Ozon intends to stay public as Nasdaq starts delisting process

Ozon Holdings

16/03/2023 14:48

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      This content was produced in Russia where the law
restricts
coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
    

  
       MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) - Russian e-commerce firm
Ozon  OZON.O  intends to remain a public company, it said on
Thursday, after being informed that the Nasdaq stock exchange
planned to delist its securities.
    Nasdaq suspended trading in the securities of a number of
companies operating in Russia on Feb. 28, 2022, days after
Moscow despatched tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine. On
Wednesday, the exchange notified a handful of Russian companies
of delisting plans.  
    "Going forward, and in any scenario, we act in the interests
of our investors," Ozon said in a statement. "We have of course 
been looking at various listing options since February 2022,
when trading on Nasdaq was suspended and we definitely plan to
maintain a listing on Moscow Exchange." 
    Ozon, which has not been placed under any Western sanctions,
said it would consider appealing Nasdaq's decision.     
    "We believe that we have been and remain in full compliance
with all applicable reporting obligations and qualitative and
quantitative listing criteria of the exchange and met all
additional requests for disclosure by the exchange since the
suspension of trading on February 28, 2022," Ozon said late on
Wednesday.
    Ozon raised nearly $1 billion in an initial public offering
(IPO) in late 2020, a debut that sparked a mini-IPO boom for
Russian firms.
    Internet giant Yandex  YNDX.O , recruiter Headhunter  HHR.O 
and payment service provider Qiwi  QIWI.O  were also notified of
their anticipated delisting from Nasdaq, the companies said. 
    

 (Reporting by Olga Popova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing
by Sharon Singleton)
 ((alexander.marrow@thomsonreuters.com;))