"Top managers of Magnit could not convincingly answer the question of the need for a deal with the" SIA Group ". The purchase can become a "bad start" for the company's development after the change of owners, "- said Alexei Krivoshapko, Director of Prosperity Capital Management, one of the minority shareholders of the retail network. Such an opinion the investor expressed on the basis of a conference call of the top management of Magnit with shareholders on Thursday, June 7.

Explain to investors the top management of "Magnet" had after the announcement made on the eve of their further plans. On Wednesday, the retail chain announced that it had entered into negotiations for the acquisition of the pharmaceutical distributor of SIA Group. Both the buyer and the seller have a common owner: from the end of 2015 the pharmaceutical company owns Alexander Vinokurov, he is also one of the founders of the investment Marathon Group, which in late May bought 11.82% of Magnit from VTB Bank. "We are deeply concerned about this development (a transaction with the" Group of Companies "- RBC), and the fact that this is a deal with related parties makes us worry the most," Prosperity Capital Management said in a statement.

According to Krivoshapko, the network management during the conference call assured that the pharmacy network can not be built without its own distributor and that the partner will not deliver the products under its own retailer brand. "However, these arguments raise doubts," RBC's interlocutor notes. - As an investor, Prosperity Capital Management agrees that the development of the pharmacy segment can be a successful strategy. But so far, the "Magnet" only 51 points, and therefore, the investment in the purchase of its own distributor may be redundant. Moreover, the financial situation of the "Group of Companies" raises concerns. " The cost of "SIA Group", given the forecast for its growth this year, may reach 25 billion rubles. without taking into account debt, DSM Group CEO Sergey Shulyak estimated. Analyst of the company "Opening a Broker" Timur Nigmatullin suggested that the debt load of "SIA Group" could reach 10 billion rubles.

Krivoshapko also confirmed the statement made by the fund the day before: "The purchase of SIA would be a deal with interest in the eyes of investors." "Although formally, it does not fit this definition, since Marathon Group has less than 25% of the shares," notes RBC's interlocutor, adding that "Prosperity will work directly with the company's board of directors, management and other shareholders in this transaction ".

"Today we planned to inform the market that Magnit has been developing the pharmacy project for a year and a half, investing considerable funds and organizational efforts in it, and is taking consistent steps in this direction," said Olga Kuzma, executive director of Magnit. . According to her, Magnit already sees positive results of its pilot project in pharmaceuticals.

Own farm distribution is significantly different from logistics for retail, stressed Naumova. "We rely on the maximum integration of the pharmacy with the grocery retail and cosmetics store, and we want to purchase a distributor to form our own procurement and logistics platform," she explained.

"We are confident that in the medium term, investors will see the correctness of this decision," she added.

Khachatur Pambukhchyan, director general of Magnit, has denied any interest in the conversation with investors (the correspondent of RBC familiarized himself with the content of the conversation). According to him, the general director is not required to coordinate such a purchase with the board of directors, nor to disclose plans to investors, but Magnit "adheres to the practice of maximum openness in this case." One of the arguments given by Pombukhchan in favor of the expediency of this transaction is that Magnit's own pharmacies can replace 6,500 pharmacies-tenants. In addition, the company plans to open pharmacies in all of its droheri stores.

Shareholder changes in the "Magnit" network have already raised questions of minority shareholders. The same Prosperity in February, when VTB Group acquired 29.1% of the company from the founder of the network, Sergei Galitsky, called the deal "a bad practice of corporate governance." "They specifically bought a little less [30% of shares] in order not to make [the offer to minority shareholders]. This is absolutely ugly and worst behavior on the part of the state bank, - said then Alexei Krivoshapko. - This indicates that he (VTB. - RBC) did not want to spit on the market and minority shareholders, it's a spit in the face of all investors. This is unacceptable, and this, I think, will still come to them. " The

As the first deputy chairman of the bank VTB Yury Solovyov said, the bank does not plan to increase the share in the retailer after the purchase of 29.1%. "We do not plan, this is enough. Our share suits us, "he said.