Krasnodar, Russia (October 19, 2023): Magnit, one of Russia’s leading retailers, reached an agreement to buy the KazanExpress e-commerce platform. The Company will use the newly acquired asset to launch its own marketplace — Magnit Market.

Magnit reached an agreement to purchase 100% of stock of KazanExpress LLC fr om AliExpress Russia, entrepreneur Sergey Yeremeyev, and KazanExpress founders Linar Khusnullin and Kevin Khanda. The transaction now has to be approved by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service and is expected to be funded with Magnit’s own capital.

KazanExpress’s platform and strong team coupled with the Company’s purchasing power, expansive network of 28 thousand stores, and well-developed logistics infrastructure will enable Magnit to become a prominent player in the rapidly developing marketplace segment. The deal is expected to bring strong synergies for both the Company’s core business and KazanExpress’s operations and boost Magnit in implementing its omnichannel strategy.

The scope of the transaction includes the entirety of KazanExpress's marketplace infrastructure: tech platform, pickup points, warehouses, vehicle fleet, and intellectual properties. In addition to that, Magnit will also get a tried-and-tested pool of 12 thousand sellers represented on the marketplace.

After joining Magnit Group, KazanExpress will be renamed to Magnit Market and continue developing under this banner. The Company intends to utilize the expertise of KazanExpress’s team and the capabilities of its own e-grocery business to further scale the marketplace up.

According to INFOLine, as of the end of 2022, KazanExpress was the fifth largest marketplace in the country in terms of the number of orders. It boasts an audience of 5 million people per month and an assortment of around 1.5 million SKUs in over 20 categories, such as household appliances and electronics, clothing and footwear, beauty and health, detergents and personal care, home care and improvement, children’s goods, sports and leisure products, pet care, books, and more. Magnit will continue working with sellers already listed on the platform as well as develop the product categories and onboard new sellers.

KazanExpress’s pickup point network currently includes over 500 locations in 120 cities. As part of the development of Magnit Market, the Company plans to increase the number and geographical coverage of the pickup points exponentially by opening them in all of Magnit’s store formats, which will enable customers to pick up their orders in a convenient location close to their home and drive additional traffic to the Company’s stores.

Guvenc Donmez, Magnit’s Chief E-Commerce Officer:

By buying KazanExpress, we get a tech solution and assortment that will enable us to launch our marketplace effectively. The possibility to use our own infrastructure, which consists of dozens of distribution centers, thousands of trucks, and the largest store network in the country spanning 28 thousand stores wh ere we plan to open our pickup points, will enable us to quickly step up our presence in this dynamics market segment and become one of the leaders of e commerce in Russia. We plan to make Magnit Market the destination for everything our customers need, from groceries to home improvement products, which can be delivered to pickup points within walking distance from our clients or straight to their door via couriers. We expect our established relationships with the leading suppliers to enable us to create a unique price offering for the most in-demand product categories — a key advantage of Magnit Market will be Magnit’s traditionally affordable pricing.

Andrey Bodrov, Magnit’s Chief Investment and Strategy Officer:

This is a strategic deal for Magnit, it will enable us to expand our presence on the market and drive our business forward in line with our omnichannel and multi-format strategy. Magnit already is one of the leaders in traditional retail and a prominent e-grocery player — entering the marketplace segment will allow us to elevate our customer proposition to a whole new level.

Sergey Grechin, Chief Executive Officer of AliExpress Russia:

AliExpress Russia is the largest marketplace offering customers the opportunity to buy products from other countries. In the future, we will concentrate on building up the cross-border business as our primary focus but will continue developing other areas as well. On the other hand, such a rapidly growing business as KazanExpress needs a greater local focus to facilitate further expansion and rollout. We believe that Magnit has the necessary resources for this and will be able to utilize the team’s talents and determination together with the logistics and infrastructure assets to achieve ambitious goals and market share.

Linar Khusnullin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KazanExpress:

The time has come for our marketplace to go to the next level and extend our offering to the majority of Russian residents. We are happy to continue our journey alongside Magnit, a company that is well known in every corner of Russia, has incredible logistics capabilities and procurement power, and serves millions of loyal consumers. Customers of Magnit and KazanExpress will soon be able to buy everything they need with an even greater level of comfort thanks to an even broader assortment, convenient delivery, and multitude of suppliers.

Magnit buys KazanExpress and launches its own marketplace