Dow Jones Newswire, March 28, 2002

Russian online media and information technology company RossBusinessConsulting will sell 10% of its shares on major Russian exchanges RTS and MICEX in April, the issue's manager Aton Capital investment bank said Thursday.

The issue, which is subject to the prospectus registration with the Federal Commission for the Securities Market, Russia's capital market watchdog, will represent the first time a Russian company has carried out an initial public offering directly on the Russian exchanges, Aton Capital said.

To facilitate the share issue, RossBusinessConsulting is transforming itself into a joint stock company called OAO RBC Information System.

"It has been a profitable company, and is also net cash positive," said Neil Greer, head of international sales at Aton Capital.

RossBusinessConsulting was founded in 1993, and is 100%-owned by its managers. The company posted 2001 net profit of $6.3 million on total revenue of $16.9 million, up from a net profit of $2.6 million on revenue of $8.8 million in 2000.

Aton Capital forecasts the company's 2002 net profit at $8.9 million on revenue of $26 million.

"About 60% of their revenues is media related, the remaining 40% is related to IT," Greer said.

RossBusinessConsulting also provides offshore programming services, making use of Russia's low labor costs to develop software for foreign clients. Aton Capital estimates the company could raise around $10 million, giving RossBusinessConsulting a market of $100 million upon the IPO.

RossBusinessConsulting's domestic IPO will follow a successful share offering in New York by Russia's leading dairy product and fruit juice maker OAO Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD) in February.