Businessmen Sergey Solonin and Boris Kim want to sell their majority holding in Qiwi PLC, which provides payment services in Russia, Kommersant reported Sept. 24, citing market sources.
They are also ready to consider selling Qiwi's individual assets, if there are no buyers eager to purchase the controlling stake. Another source told Kommersant he was not familiar with the owners' plan to sell a controlling stake in Qiwi, but he added the group was planning to sell its unit RocketBank LLC and pay-by-installment card business Sovest.
Qiwi announced its plans to sell Rocketbank in August, with the planned sale attracting the interest of telecommunication company VimpelCom, which offers services under the Beeline brand. Qiwi is also close to reaching an agreement on selling Sovest to an unnamed investor, the newspaper said.
Qiwi's press service told Kommersant it had no information about the intention of the majority shareholders to sell their shares. The company confirmed it was involved in negotiations to sell Rocketbank and added it planned to continue investing into Sovest, while considering various options for its further development.
