Moscow, Russia — 12 October 2017.
TCS Group Holding PLC (TCSGH), Russia’s leading provider of online retail financial services via its Tinkoff.ru financial supermarket, is pleased to announce the purchase of a 55% controlling stake in CloudPayments, an innovative developer of online payment solutions. The signing ceremony took place today and we warmly welcome our new colleagues in CloudPayments into Tinkoff Group.

The remaining 45% stake will continue to be owned by CloudPayments’ founders and employees, who are firmly committed to the company and will remain to develop the business into the future. TCSGH has the right to acquire the remaining 45% within two years.

The core business of CloudPayments is online merchant acquiring in Russia. However, this transaction also includes all CloudPayments group companies, i.e. its operations in Kazakhstan and Latvia, as well as the online cash register solution for online stores, CloudKassir.

CloudPayments will continue to be led by its co-founders, Dmitry Spiridonov and Konstantin Yan, with all employees remaining with the business. Selected Tinkoff Bank managers will join CloudPayments’ executive board in order to strengthen its team. It is not envisaged that this transaction will entail any changes for CloudPayments’ existing customers or partners.

Together with Tinkoff Group, CloudPayments will further develop its leading technology and servicing platforms whilst leveraging Tinkoff’s wider suite of services, technologies and resources to drive growth. The deal will enable Tinkoff Group to enhance its merchant acquiring business line as part of its growing SME offering.

Oleg Tinkov, the founder of Tinkoff Group, said: «We closely monitor the market and are always willing to invest in up-and-coming businesses. We are pleased to acquire this controlling stake in one of the leading players in the Russian online payments market. CloudPayments is developing at a fast pace, and they have managed to secure a market niche in just three years. We are now joining efforts and resources with one of the most talented teams in the market. This will enable us to further increase our market share in the online payments segment whilst significantly improving our services for SME customers.»

Oliver Hughes, CEO of Tinkoff Bank, commented: «This acquisition is in line with our strategy to enhance our merchant acquiring services as part of our expanding SME platform and will allow us to increase our presence in the online merchant acquiring market. We are pleased to now be working together with the CloudPayments team and will provide all the necessary resources and technology to expand the business further for the combined benefit of our customers and partners.»

Dmitry Spiridonov, co-founder of CloudPayments, said: «We are delighted to become part of Tinkoff Group, the market’s most tech-savvy player. I believe that the upgrade of payment services and the implementation of innovative technologies that support business diversification are the key technological and market trends now. Together with Tinkoff Bank, we will be able to accelerate our infrastructure upgrade process and, consequently, boost our flexibility in leveraging the variety of global payment technologies emerging today.»