Deriglazov Brothers Sell Nearly Half of Their Stake in Meloman

The Deriglazov brothers have sold a significant portion of their assets in the Meloman holding to Aqniet Group, the company behind the Europharma and ArzanPharm pharmacy chains, reports Orda.kz, citing Forbes.kz.

Kairat Itemgenov, chair of Aqniet Group’s supervisory board and majority shareholder, is ranked 18th among Kazakhstan’s wealthiest businessmen.

The company confirmed the acquisition and outlined plans to expand the brand. These include opening new stores in popular tourist areas, expanding product offerings with souvenirs and national-themed merchandise, and increasing the global presence of Kazakh literature.

Publishing and promoting domestic literature can boost tourism — just as Orhan Pamuk’s novels have drawn visitors to Istanbul and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet made Verona a global symbol of love. To increase the number of publications of Kazakh authors in three languages, we have launched an offtake contract program that guarantees the publication of their works,  the company stated.

The transaction amount was not disclosed, but Alexandr Deriglazov described it as complex.

We sold three of our Moscow-based companies and four in Kazakhstan. This includes the stores without the premises — our owned properties,  for example, the Meloman store on Gogol Street, 58, in Almaty, were not included in the deal. We sold our Meloman and Marwin brands, multimillion-dollar contracts with giants like Lego, Sony Pictures, and Sony PlayStation, contracts with shopping malls, goods that were already in warehouses and stores, and our technologies,  the businessman said.

The decision to sell was driven by the high costs associated with servicing bank loans.

We grew from a small business and, all this time, relied on bank loans to develop our projects. In recent years, our loan servicing costs have been too high, and net profit did not reach our target. Therefore, we decided to sell part of our assets, pay off Halyk Bank in full, and continue developing the remaining projects. Start, so to speak, from scratch. For now, we have no plans to launch new ventures,  said Deriglazov.

The deal excludes the holding’s film distribution division, which operates in the Caucasus and Central Asia, the Comfort retail chain (with stores in Almaty, Oskemen, Altai, and Semey), and the Sunrise tourism business.

Original Author: Aliya Askarova