MTS, one of Russia’s largest telecommunications companies, has taken over the trade finance platform Factorin, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday.
According to publication, the 51% stake cost $ 11.7 million. MTS bought Factorin’s parent company, venture capital fund Digital Horizon, which retains a 25% stake. The rest is held by the Factorin team, according to the publication.
According to the head of Factorin website, the platform is used by 41 banks and companies in Russia, with $ 230 million current offers each month.
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MTS spokesperson Alexey Merkutov told CoinDesk that the purchase will allow the company to expand its range of business-to-business services for business customers, especially in fintech. Fintech products are becoming increasingly important to MTS ‘overall business, Merkutov said.
“In the first quarter of 2021, fintech products generated $ 203 million in additional revenue, which is comparable to the additional revenue from our telecommunications and retail operations,” said Merkutov. “Fintech is now one of our main strategic branches. MTS already offers trade finance services to customers of its MTS bank, and Factorin may be part of this ecosystem in the future.
MTS said it serves 86 million cell phone users and earns $ 6.7 billion in 2020. According to the Annual Report, 2.5 million people use its bank and 2,000 use its corporate cloud computing services. In late 2020, the company launched its own mobile investment app for retail users and a neobank, NUUM, according to the report.
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