TCS Group Holding PLC: Tinkoff acquires a stake in Kassir.ru

Tinkoff acquires a stake in Kassir.ru

Moscow, Russia - 16 July 2018. TCS Group Holding PLC (TCS LI) (the "Group"), Russia's leading provider of online retail financial services via its Tinkoff.ru financial supermarket, has acquired a stake in Kassir.ru.

The acquisition is in line with Tinkoff's strategy of developing its ecosystem to offer customers a greater choice of financial and related services through the Tinkoff.ru platform. The integration of Russia's top entertainment online provider into Tinkoff's ecosystem will make tickets for landmark events directly accessible to Tinkoff customers while offering new solutions through synergies with other Tinkoff services. Kassir.ru will sell tickets directly via the Tinkoff online bank and mobile app, and Tinkoff's customers can expect to enjoy special terms and tailor-made offers.

Kassir.ru is Russia's biggest ticket sales company, and one of the fastest-growing.

In 2017, it sold more than 4.3 million tickets and expanded its regional network by seven offices to the 22 outlets it has currently. With its daily offering exceeding 3,500 events, the platform attracted a total of 70 million visitors last year. In 2017, Kassir's revenues totalled RUB 7.1 bn.

"We are focusing on building out Tinkoff's ecosystem as we seek to provide our customers with a range of daily services beyond financial and insurance products," said Oliver Hughes, CEO of Tinkoff Bank. "The integration of Russia's top ticket sales company into the Tinkoff.ru platform will fulfil another daily customer need, this time in entertainment. This, in turn, strengthens our position in lifestyle services beyond banking. By leveraging synergies with Tinkoff Bank and other Group companies, we will be able to attract new users to our ecosystem. We will also share best practice in business process optimisation and IT to help Kassir.ru further boost its business."

"We are pleased to sign this deal with Russia's most tech-savvy financial player," said Evgeny Finkelstein, Founder and CEO at Kassir.ru. "We will be happy to share our expertise in understanding customer preferences and our entertainment insights with Tinkoff, while Tinkoff's expertise will help us modernise and innovate in IT to give greater momentum to strengthening our market leadership."

In addition to retail banking, Tinkoff's ecosystem currently includes such business lines as Tinkoff Business (SME services), Tinkoff Investments (intuitive and easy-to-use retail platform for stock market operations), Tinkoff Insurance, Tinkoff Mortgage (mortgage broker and underwriter for partner banks), Tinkoff Mobile (mobile virtual network operator) and Tinkoff Travel (platform for flight and rail bookings, hotel deals and car rentals).

The transaction will not entail any changes in Kassir.ru's existing personnel or existing operations. All of its employees and management will continue with business as usual, and all arrangements with partners and counterparties will remain in effect. Kassir's excellent team will continue to manage day-to-day, [customer-facing] [ticket sale] operations.

About the Group

TCS Group Holding PLC is an innovative provider of online retail financial services operating in Russia through a high-tech branchless platform. TCS Group includes Tinkoff Bank, mobile virtual operator network Tinkoff Mobile, Tinkoff Insurance, and Tinkoff Software DC, a network of development hubs across Russia.

The Group was founded in 2006 by the Russian entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since October 2013.

With no retail branches, the Group serves its customers remotely via online channels and its call centre, and operates a network of over 2,500 representatives to ensure smooth delivery of its products. The network covers all of Russia and allows next day delivery to most customers.

The Group's key business is Tinkoff Bank, Russia's first and only direct bank offering both own brand and partner retail financial services via its Tinkoff.ru platform. The product range includes daily banking (credit and debit cards, payments, money transfers), savings, investments, loyalty programmes, travel services, SME services, mortgage platform, and insurance. With its special focus on mobile business, the bank offers mobile applications both for its customer base (Mobile Bank) and beyond it (Traffic Fines, MoneyTalk, Card 2 Card instant money transfers).

As at 1 May 2018, the bank was the second largest player in the Russian credit card market, with a market share of 11.7%. The 1Q18 IFRS net income of TCS Group Holding PLC amounted to RUB 5.7 bn, ROE grew to 68.5%.

Banki.ru, Russia's largest financial news portal, named Tinkoff Bank the Bank of the Year 2016. In October 2016 Tinkoff Bank was named the largest independent global direct bank by Frost & Sullivan. In 2015 and 2016, the Global Finance magazine named Tinkoff Bank as the Best Consumer Digital Bank in Russia. In 2016, the bank also won Global Finance's Best Integrated Consumer Bank Site award and was named the Best Digital Bank in the CEE by Euromoney. The bank's mobile application was recognised as the best in Russia by Markswebb Rank & Report for three consecutive years in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and by Deloitte for four consecutive years from 2013 to 2016.