Vyacheslav Prokofiev / TASS

Mobile retailer Svyaznoy has completed its merger with Euroset and is changing its CEO, the company said in a statement. Alexander Malis is leaving his post on June 1, and it will be taken over by Oksana Guskova, Senior Vice President for Commercial Activities of the Group. Previously, she worked at PepsiCo Russia, Wimm-Bill-Dann, Rusagro , Mistral, and in 2018, she moved to Svyaznoy, the company said.

The merger of Svyaznoy and Euroset was completed in May last year. Under the terms of the deal, Oleg Malis's SLV owns 75% minus 1 share of the combined retailer, while MegaFon owns 25% plus 1 share. MegaFon consolidated 100% of Euroset at the end of February 2018. Previously, the retailer was equally owned by MegaFon and VimpelCom. MegaFon bought 50% of the network from VimpelCom, which in turn bought half of Euroset's retail stores - approximately 1,800 stores.

In its report for the second quarter of 2018, Megafon estimated the value of its stake in Svyaznoy at 15.4 billion rubles. Thus, the entire Svyaznoy can be valued at approximately 62 billion rubles.

"This is one of the most complicated deals that has ever been made on the market, not only in Russia. After all, Svyaznoy and Euroset are companies, each of which employed 25,000 people, with complex business processes, very different," Alexander Malis commented on the merger in an interview with Vedomosti in November 2018.

Malis also promised that the Euroset brand would cease to exist and would be replaced by a new brand. A representative of the merged company confirmed these plans.

Alexander Malis to leave Svyaznoy