OREANDA-NEWS. March 23, 2012. RBC OJSC (MICEX-RTS: RBCM) announces the acquisition of a stake in KuponGid (www.kupongid.ru), one of the largest coupon aggregators in Russia and Ukraine.

RBC acquired a 33% stake in the online service and has an option to boost its equity to 73% over the next two years. The transaction, including investment in the development of the project, is valued at USD 500,000. The service is already integrated into Qip.ru entertainment portal, Smotri.com video-sharing service, Loveplanet.ru dating portal, and Readme.ru news aggregator, and will soon be built into QIP instant messenger. In addition, the development of the service's mobile applications will carry on. KuponGid apps for iOS, Android, and Bada (iSkidki application) have already been released.

The KuponGid project was launched in October 2010. Its current daily offering includes over 150 online services selling discount coupons and certificates in major cities of Russia and the CIS. The portal leverages an online audience of over 400,000 people, 90% of which live in Russia. KuponGid is a leading coupon aggregator in terms of featured discount websites, and also in terms of coupons sold in every city where it has a footprint, and the scope of user functions. KuponGid is available through iSkidki application for iPhone and iPad since early 2011, and was launched on Android and Bada-based mobile devices in January 2012. KuponGid draws its revenue from fees payable on coupons and certificates purchased by users referred to discount sites by KuponGid. Additional potential revenue stream for KuponGid can be a charge on clicks and registrations at partners' sites.

“We are glad to announce our entry into the online discount coupon market, since it is a relatively new industry, which still shows an annual growth rate of at least 30%. By acquiring KuponGid and building it into our core non-business outlets and services, we are gaining the opportunity to significantly expand its user base and to boost monetization,” RBC's CEO German Kaplun said.