Expansion of the hospitality business
Sistema’s subsidiary Sistema Hotel Management acquired Regional Hotel Chain for RUB 2.6 bn from VIYM, which manages PE funds in the CIS and Europe. The number of rooms of the Сorporation's hotel business increased by 1,379 and the total area by 87,613 sq m. The acquired hotel chain comprises 9 hotels, including Courtyard by Marriott Paveletskaya (Moscow), Holiday Inn Express (Voronezh), and seven Park Inn hotels in Astrakhan, Volgograd, Izhevsk, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Sochi, and Yaroslavl.
New flagship clinic in Moscow
Medsi opened in Moscow high-tech clinical diagnostic center worth RUB 4.5 bn. The center located in Krasnaya Presnya area has become the companу's new flagship medical asset and the largest investment project in its history.
Foundation of Sistema VC
Sistema Venture Capital is established to invest in science-driven technological startups.
Private equity fund with Rusnano
Sistema and RUSNANO established a joint private equity fund, Rusnano Sistema SICAR, with a total size of up to $ 100 mn and specialising in investments in high-tech companies and projects.
Changing ownership stake in MTS
During 2016, Sistema conducted a number of transactions to sell MTS shares, bringing Sistema’s effective stake in MTS’s share capital to 50.03%. As a result of the sales, Sistema raised RUB 18.1 bn in 2016; an additional RUB 4.7 bn was received in the first quarter of 2017 from participating in MTS’s share buyback programme.
New progressive dividend policy
Sistema’s Board of Directors approved amendments to the dividend policy: total dividends recommended for each reporting year will be, at a minimum, the higher of either an amount equal to a dividend yield of at least 6%, or RUB 1.19 per ordinary share.
Exit from the transport business
Sistema sold 50% of SG-trans to a group of unaffiliated buyers for RUB 6 bn. The Corporation remained the owner of a number of assets previously spun off from SG-trans, including SG-trading and real-estate properties.