The combined company of Euroset and Svyaznoy has presented its development strategy. As Alexander Malis, who heads the merged structure, explained to CNews, Euroset stores will be transferred to the Svyaznoy brand or to a new brand, a decision on which has not yet been made. The Euroset brand will cease to exist within a year.
Scale of the combined network
The combined network will have 5,500 stores in 1,300 Russian cities, employing 30,000 people. These stores are visited by 2 million customers daily. The number of stores and employees will not be reduced. According to Malis, there are around 400 locations in Russia where the company would like to open stores. After the division of Euroset between VimpelCom and MegaFon last year, there are virtually no places left where stores of the two chains were located next to each other.
The combined company does not intend to focus on selling only MegaFon SIM cards, although MegaFon is a shareholder of the combined company. Currently, these chains sell SIM cards of VimpelCom and Tele2, but not MTS. Malis stated that the company has become even more independent of MegaFon and is ready to cooperate with other mobile operators.
New concept for Svyaznoy
Stores will be positioned as "a place for updating knowledge about the possibilities of the digital world." As part of the merger, a new development concept was presented, according to which Svyaznoy will undergo a rebranding, as well as the introduction of a new approach to sales and customer interaction.
According to Oleg Malis, founder of the SLV group, controlling shareholder of the combined company, Svyaznoy will open up to 500 stores of a new format. Each store under the new brand will see investment of around 1.5 million rubles. The new visual identity for Svyaznoy was created by the agency Ctzn, using the proprietary Svyaznoy Sans font with alternates. User Experience maps were used in developing the new format. In the stores, goods, services and content will be divided into zones: "Home," "Family," "Health," "Work," "Entertainment," etc. Customers will be able to get a set of solutions—from subscriptions to fitness training to "smart" sneakers. The first three stores of the new format opened at the end of last year; in three Moscow stores, customers now have access to virtual reality headsets, projectors, smart home devices, quadcopters and more, as well as lounge areas with sofas for getting acquainted with the products.
History of Euroset and Svyaznoy
Euroset was founded by entrepreneurs Yevgeny Chichvarkin and Timur Artemyev. After the 2008 crisis, the company was sold to Alexander Mamut, who immediately resold 49.9% of the shares to VimpelCom. After some time, Alexander Malis was appointed head of the company. VimpelCom had an option to buy the controlling stake but did not exercise it. In 2012, the company was divided equally between VimpelCom, on the one hand, and MegaFon and its largest shareholder, the USM holding, on the other (subsequently MegaFon bought out USM's share). In 2017, a decision was made to divide Euroset: MegaFon retained the legal entity of the chain and approximately half of its 4,000 stores, while VimpelCom took the other half and paid MegaFon 1.25 billion rubles.
Svyaznoy was created by entrepreneur Maxim Nogotkov. After the 2014 crisis, Nogotkov faced the impossibility of servicing debts to creditors. The debts of the Trellas group, which consolidated Nogotkov's assets, were bought by the Solvers group of Oleg Malis, brother of Alexander Malis. After some time, Oleg Malis established control over Svyaznoy, resolving problems with the remaining creditors. In 2017, immediately after information about the division of Euroset appeared, negotiations began on a future merger of Euroset and Svyaznoy. The deal was concluded in April 2018: MegaFon received 25.1% of the shares of the combined company, with the remaining share belonging to structures of Oleg Malis.
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