Astra Group of Companies

Astra Group of Companies is a player Russian IT market in the field of development software () ON and funds. information protection

Astra software products are used in state and commercial organizations with a staff of 5 to 50,000 people, in state corporations and concerns, in industrial enterprises and critical information infrastructure facilities.

Astra creates system and application software, as well as services that meet the needs of customers when creating and designing IT infrastructures.

Aktivs

2024: Astra Group has grown to two dozen companies. Key Ecosystem Assets

Having set itself the goal of becoming a global system software vendor, Astra Group is forming a large-scale ecosystem around its Astra Linux operating system, including through the implementation of the M&A strategy, the acquisition of third-party software developers and services. In 2023, the group established, acquired, and also increased its shares in a dozen legal entities and in 2024 continued to grow with new companies. Read more here.

Performance indicators

2024: Growth of shipments for 9 months by 98% yoy to RUB 10.1 bln

PJSC Astra Group on October 14, 2024 reported data on shipments for nine months of 2024. 

According to the results of 9 months of 2024, Astra Group shipments reached 10.1 billion rubles. and grew by 98% year-on-year due to the continued scaling of the business, as well as the development of the product and service ecosystem. Up to 50% of shipments traditionally fall in the 4th quarter, in particular in December, but even taking into account the pronounced seasonality of the business, the company was able to demonstrate significant growth.

{{quote 'author=said Elena Borodkina, CFO of Astra Group. | Astra Group continues to follow the planned growth plan and implement the target of three times business growth by the end of 2025 announced in the spring of 2024. The company actively invests in strengthening its own development and team, which is the basis for ensuring sustainable business growth over the medium- and long-term horizon. In August 2024, the company introduced an updated version of the flagship OS - Astra Linux 1.8. Thanks to the use, kernels Linux updated profiles of tool settings information protection and a new design, the system has become more efficient, safer and more convenient.}}

In Q3, several products of the group entered the market: Astra Monitoring, which allows you to receive real-time data on the operation and state of the entire IT loop, and the Astra Cloud cloud platform, which allows you to effectively develop IT systems and implement resource-intensive projects in the cloud environment using vendor products. Following the strategy of expanding the client base in the B2B segment, the group paid special attention to small and medium-sized businesses: configured software complexes and the Helius.Astra software and hardware complex went on sale for them.

On October 13, 2024, Astra Group marked the year since the start of trading in shares under the ticker symbol ASTR. Since the listing, they have traded more than 60% above the IPO price.

In August, Astra Group shares were included in the first quotation list and calculation base of the Moscow Exchange and RTS index, which made it possible to realize the goals set under the SPO. As of October 2024, the company's shares are included in the calculation bases of 11 indices of the Moscow Exchange, including the Moscow Exchange Index, the Moscow Exchange Broad Market Index, the Moscow Exchange Information Technology Index and the Moscow Exchange IPO Index.

Disclosure of financial results under IFRS for the nine months of 2024 is planned at the end of November 2024.

2023

Revenue growth by 77% to 9.5 billion rubles

At the end of 2023, Astra Group raised 9.5 billion rubles, which is 77% more than a year earlier. The net profit of the infrastructure software developer during this time rose by 18% and amounted to 3.6 billion rubles. The company published such data under IFRS in early April 2024.

From the materials of Astra Group, it follows that revenue in 2023 increased due to an increase in sales of the flagship product of Astra Linux by 51% (up to 6.3 billion rubles), an increase in revenues from ecosystem products by 142% (up to 1.75 billion rubles), as well as a twofold increase in revenue from product support (up to 1.4 billion rubles).

The share of ecosystem products in revenue in 2023 amounted to 18.3%, the share of product maintenance services - 14.7%. The number of Ready for Astra ecosystem-compatible solutions in 2023 increased by 45% and exceeded 2.5 thousand units.

Astra Group's EBITDA in 2023 increased by 44% compared to 2022 - 4.2 billion rubles, and EBITDA margin amounted to 43.5%. As noted in the company, net profit margin in 2023 amounted to 38.1%, which creates a stable base for investment in the further development of the group's product ecosystem.

Capital expenditures on the development of IT solutions in 2023 doubled in relation to 2022 and reached 1.4 billion rubles, which, as stated in the press release, was facilitated by the strengthening of the development team and the expansion of the product ecosystem. In 2023, Astra Group spent 375.4 million rubles on participation in conferences and forums against 105.4 million rubles a year earlier. Expenses on marketing advertising and advertising increased from 12 million to 60.3 million rubles.

The number of employees working in the group in 2023 increased by more than 1.5 times - 2275 people, 67% of whom are IT specialists. The number of clients in 2023 reached 22.5 thousand companies.

Astra Group's Report on IFRS 2023

Increase in shipments by 75% to RUB 11.2 billion

Astra Group, a Russian IT market player and infrastructure software (software) manufacturer, shared its 2023 operating results with TAdviser on January 31, 2024. The volume of shipments of the group increased by 75% year-on-year and reached a record, according to company representatives, 11.2 billion rubles. The group managed to achieve this thanks to the active expansion of the business, the development of products and services of the ecosystem.

The growth of shipments was also significantly affected by the expansion of the number of unique customers - by the end of 2023 it exceeded 22.5 thousand, which is 41% higher than in 2022. Another important factor in business growth in Astra Group was the increase in partner solutions compatible with the ecosystem group to more than 2.5 thousand units, which is more than 45% higher than at the end of 2022.

Astra Group shipments up 75% in 2023

As noted in the group, the results of 2023 meet the expectations of the company and most analysts, confirm the effectiveness of the chosen development strategy. The indicators were influenced, among other things, by the expansion of the ecosystem, the development of existing products and automation tools, the strengthening of the service component and the inclusion of new popular solutions in the product portfolio.

In particular, in 2024, Astra Group held two M&A deals: it replenished its own ecosystem with the solutions of the company ReSolut"" - the developer of the service for working source code GitFlic with (analogue) Github and - Knomary one of the participants in the Learning & Development Tech market.

To develop the service direction in the perimeter of Astra Group Tatarstan ICL , a joint venture ICL Astra Services was created together with. It employs more than 150 specialists, the IT main task of which is the implementation of comprehensive IT projects for the implementation and migration to the products of the company's ecosystem.

"On shipments, we set a historic record for the company. At the same time, more than half of sales fell on the fourth quarter, which is explained by the seasonality of our business, which is largely related to the peculiarities of customer budgeting, - said Elena Borodkina, Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance. - I would like to note separately the importance of developing technological cooperation in order to form a common ecosystem of domestic software and hardware products. Together with partners, we provide mutual technological compatibility, and then combine our solutions as part of a single proposal. A broad ecosystem of compatible partner products strengthens our value proposition and provides a net selling effect. "

Revenue growth 3.1 times in the first half of the year

According to the results of the first half of 2023, the revenue of the Astra group of companies increased 3.1 times year-on-year to 3,110 million rubles amid the ongoing transition of companies to Russian IT products, the departure of foreign vendors and state market support. Representatives of the group told TAdviser on September 22, 2023.

Together with the growth of the scale of the business, maintaining efficiency remains a priority of the group: according to the results of six months, net profit increased 2.3 times to 1,163 million rubles. At the same time, the adjusted net profit indicator increased 2.9 times year-on-year to 871 million rubles. EBITDA also increased 3.1 times year-on-year to RUB 1,031 million.

Revenue from ecosystem products (including all products, except for the operating system) in absolute terms increased 2.8 times to 198 million rubles.

The number of customers during the reporting period almost doubled: for example, in the first half of 2023 there were 5.2 thousand companies, while in the same period in 2022 - 3.1 thousand. As of September 2023, the group's client base has more than 19 thousand unique companies, said Elena Borodkina, Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance of the Astra Group.

According to her, the increase in the client base, in turn, ensured a multiple increase in shipments - funds that the group received from the transfer of rights to licensed products and from the conclusion of contracts for the provision of services. This figure increased to 3.4 billion rubles for the six months of 2023 from 1.4 billion rubles for the same period in 2022. A significant increase in shipments in this reporting period was the continuation of the positive trend of past years: in 2022 they amounted to 6.4 billion rubles, which is 2.6 times more than in 2021, the top manager noted.

The achievement of such indicators became possible thanks to the timely response of the group to structural changes in the Russian market: we relied on the product and service model. They significantly expanded their own product ecosystem, replenishing their software stack with a number of popular solutions. The number of partner software and hardware compatible with our products has seriously increased, and also improved software implementation and maintenance services, "continued Elena Borodkina. - What is important, strengthened our most valuable resource - personnel: over the past two years, the team has grown 2.3 times, from 676 people in the first half of 2021 to 1.5 thousand in the same period of this year.

As of the end of September 2023, the group already employs more than 1.8 thousand high-class specialists, more than 70% of them are IT specialists, added the deputy general director for economics and finance.

History

2024

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Astra Group, infrastructure developer software (), ON on April 19, 2024, shared TAdviser with the results of the secondary public offering of ordinary shares (SPO).

As a result of the closing of the exchange book, the total size of the SPO amounted to 11.7 billion rubles at the placement price - 555 rubles per share. In total, 21 million shares were sold, as a result of which the share of the company's shares in free float increased to 15%. As a result, Astra Group can now qualify for the First Level of Listing and the Moscow Exchange Index.

Astra Group noted increased interest from retail and institutional investors. The total demand of investors has repeatedly exceeded the size of the supply.

"Since the IPO of Astra Group, only six months have passed, but even in such a short period we have been able to demonstrate to the investment community the openness and high efficiency of the business. Our deal has become the largest SPO in the technology sector since 2020 and the largest debut SPO since 2021, "said Ilya Sivtsev, CEO of Astra Group. - We managed to attract significant demand from investors for a quite large volume for such transactions. Moreover, we saw increased interest from institutional investors - about 60% of demand fell on them. Our employees also had high demand, which is a strong argument that our specialists believe in the development of the company. "

The company considers SPO as an important step towards turning Astra Group into one of the blue chips of the Russian stock market and expects as a result of the transaction to expand the shareholder base by including shares in stock indices.

As a result of the secondary public offering of shares, the company and the selling shareholder, as well as its affiliates, assumed standard obligations limiting the alienation and a number of other actions with the company's shares (lock-up) within six months from the date of completion of the SPO.

The main shareholder of the Astra group intends to sell 5-10% of the shares

On April 15, 2024, Astra Group launched a secondary stock offering (SPO) program on the Moscow Exchange. As part of this procedure, the share of the company's shares in free float may grow by 5-10% and reach 15%.

Since the IPO of Astra Group in October last [2023], the company's capitalization has almost doubled, and the number of shareholders has exceeded 112 thousand, says Ilya Sivtsev, CEO of Astra Group, commenting on the launch of SPO. - We regularly communicate with investors and see high long-term interest in our investment history. The increase in free-float is in line with our intentions to expand our shareholder base and hit new investor groups on the radar. This, in our opinion, will contribute to the further growth of the capitalization of a dynamically developing business.

Astra Group launched a secondary stock offering (SPO) program on the Moscow Exchange

Within the framework of the SPO, the selling shareholder - Denis Frolov - will offer a stake in his ordinary shares of Astra Group in the amount of 10.5 million pieces, but not more than 21.0 million pieces, which is 5-10% of the total number of shares of the company. Sale from 5% will allow you to qualify for the first level of listing of the Moscow Exchange. If a 10% stake is sold, the Company will be able to count on getting into the Moscow Exchange Index, which will expand the circle of potential investors who can invest in the company's shares. The proposal does not dilute the shares of existing shareholders.

The press service of the company expects that SPO will help the group strengthen its position in the public equity market due to the influx of new investors into the shareholder structure, an increase in the number of shares in free float, as well as an increase in the liquidity of shares.

Opening of a specialized laboratory in NETI

A specialized laboratory "Astra Group" has been opened at the Novosibirsk State Technical University of NETI. The implementation of the project will train specialists who meet the high requirements of the Russian market in the field of cybersecurity and IT. Thanks to this educational platform, more than 150 students will annually master the demanded digital competencies on domestic IT solutions. Astra Group announced this on April 11, 2024. Read more here.

In Oracle's footsteps. Astra Group relied on a cloud software model and introduced an analogue of Exadata

Astra Group has identified the cloud business for itself as one of the strategic directions for further development. Technical director Anton Shmakov announced this on the first day of the Astra Group investor on April 2, 2024.

Analyzing the experience of world vendors, Astra Group understands that the cloud will be the next wave of growth after import substitution, it will grow much faster. Already, cloud providers are developing at a high pace, and in general, the IaaS market in Russia has reached about 100 billion rubles with an increase of 50% per year, estimates in the company said.

The question is: aren't we entering this market late? We have examples of Western companies that entered the cloud services market among the last. For example, Oracle, which is very slow to harden, but is now very fast. Now it shows some of the highest growth rates of the cloud business, - said Anton Shmakov.

Astra Group's cloud strategy is built on three basic development tracks. The first is a private cloud platform for large customers within their infrastructure based on Astra technologies and products. The second is the public cloud, which is also built on Astra products and technologies and allows large customers to scale their business due to the infrastructure that is located inside the public cloud.

And the third track is interaction with current third-party cloud players, market leaders. Astra Group is already working with them: it offers them its own technologies, a platform, so that they build their cloud platforms on it.

This is a very important step forward for us, because we see the customer's need for cloud solutions and services, and on the other hand, we understand that this is a unique opportunity for the growth of our recurrent revenue and these are new channels of interaction with customers and partners, says Anton Shmakov. - And we believe that this new strategic direction will give a big impetus to our development.

The company plans that in 2027, half of the group's revenue will come from the cloud business model.

On April 1, 2024, Astra Group entered into several options for the purchase of an 80% stake in the cloud service provider VDC Caravan/ Rusonix (Rusonyx) for cash consideration in the amount of 438,800 thousand rubles to 313,100 thousand rubles, depending on the type of option, while receiving the right to purchase the remaining share in the amount of 20% at the value, which will be calculated depending on the market value of Astra Group shares. Read more about the deal here.

Another of the tracks of the group's development is data. Astra Group began investing in this area at the end of 2022, when Tantor Labs, a developer of DBMS and management platform, entered its framework. Now "Tantor Labs" together with "Aquarius" are bringing to the market the Tantor XData software and hardware complex for super-loaded systems. Astra Group expects that he will be able to replace Oracle Exadata.

This market has traditionally been in the hands of Oracle with its Exadata solution. And for more than 10 years, Oracle has formed a fleet of about 700, even more, cars in our market that require replacement, because the company has left the market, and there are risks associated with this, explained Anton Shmakov.

Tantor XData is an enterprise database platform for critical processes under increased loads, with high levels of performance, availability and security, the developers say. It is applicable for managing a large number of databases, for migrating from "heavy" ERP like SAP, managing a large number of 1C installations, etc.

The components of Tantor XData are included in the registers of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Digital Development. The start of sales of the product is scheduled for the 3rd quarter of 2024.

New Independent Director, Member of the Board of Directors - Nikolay Pryanishnikov

The president of the World Class fitness club chains Nikolai Pryanishnikov on his personal page on the VK social network on January 31, 2024 announced that he was leaving the company after the expiration of the contract, and on February 6 there he spoke about his future plans. He will develop as a professional director on the boards of technology companies. So, he was invited to the board of directors of "a young IT company, which is already the market leader, has just successfully conducted an IPO, its capitalization already exceeds 100 billion rubles." Nikolai Pryanishnikov clarified to TAdviser that we are talking about the Astra group of companies and the position of an independent director, a member of the board of directors. Read more here.

Opening of the Astra Laboratory at MITU-MASI

Astra Group and Moscow Information Technology University - Moscow Architectural and Construction Institute (MITU-MASI) on February 2, 2024 announced the start of cooperation and the launch of an infrastructure software laboratory for students. Read more here.

2023

Ilya Sivtsev - winner of the TAdviser IT Prize

General Director of Astra Group Ilya Sivtsev won the IT Prize in the nomination "Best Top Manager of the Year for" - IT market a national award in the field IT of corporate sector. The awards ceremony was held on November 29, 2023 as part of the TAdviser SummIT 2023 summit - events for key industry suppliers and customers involved in managing the largest companies. Read more here [1]

Participation in TAdviser SummIT

Astra Group, one of the leading developers in the field of system and infrastructure software, will take part in TAdviser SummIT, which will be held on November 29, 2023. Speakers and summit participants will discuss trends in business digitalization and put forward their theses on the sustainable infrastructure foundation of modern companies. Read more here.

Expansion of the Department of Science

Astra Group continues to grow its product portfolio and develop the functionality of existing solutions. The presence of its own unique SMTs has always been a distinctive feature of the developer's software, and it was decided to expand the department of science that designs them. The division will have new departments, and its team will be joined by research programmers, researchers and specialists in artificial intelligence and information security. The company announced this on November 22, 2023.

Now, the Department of Science forms three departments: theoretical modeling, artificial intelligence technologies (machine learning) and the design of information protection technologies . These departments have announced the recruitment of specialists for vacancies of researcher programmers - developers of system and application software for OCAstra Linux Special Edition, researchers and engineers - specialists in machine learning and information security.

The availability of protection tools of our own design has always been a distinctive feature of the company's solutions.. Its flagship product, Astra Linux Special Edition, implements a set of mechanisms that, for a number of characteristics, includes mandatory integrity control, mandatory access control, a closed software environment, etc. In order to ensure compliance with high classes of protection and levels of trust of specialized regulatory requirements, and to give users and partners confidence in the reliability and safety of these mechanisms, the Department of Science has been conducting theoretical and applied research for many years on a range of areas, including the development and verification of a formal access control model (MIC-model), the introduction of mandatory integrity control and role-based access control in containerization and virtualization tools .

The expansion of the Astra Group software line, the need to integrate mechanisms for protecting new products, plans to introduce innovative technologies that ensure information security have become the basis for the transformation of the science department. At the same time, other divisions of the company will continue to solve the entire range of tasks related to the development of secure software (SDL practice). These include static and dynamic code analysis, identification and elimination of vulnerabilities, as well as improvement of the tools used for this.

The Department of Science should assume the functions of a design bureau or scientific, R&D it will create, explore, model new technologies and defenses, information carry out their scientific support, - said a corresponding member of the Academy of Cryptography of Russia, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Scientific Director of Astra Group, - Peter the DevyaninHere we very much hope for young specialists, whom we will be glad to see in our team, including participants in the Astra Career program, loving science, not afraid to invent, experiment, generate ideas and introduce them into the practice of domestic information security.

Collaboration Agreement with the University Consortium of Big Data Researchers

A cooperation agreement was signed between Astra Group and the University Consortium. Astra announced this on November 13, 2023. Read more here.

Opening of the Astra Laboratory on the basis of the Siberian State Automobile and Road University

Astra Group, Siberian State Automobile and Road University, DA IT Company, with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications of the Omsk Region, opened Astra Laboratory on October 24, 2023. Read more here.

IPO passed at the upper end of the price range

Astra Group on October 13, 2023 informed TAdviser about the successful conduct of the initial public offering (hereinafter referred to as the "IPO" or "Offer") and the start of trading in ordinary Shares (hereinafter referred to as the "Shares") on the Moscow Exchange.

Offer Options:

• the offer price is determined by the current shareholders of the company in the amount of 333 rubles per share, which corresponds to the upper limit of the price range;
• as a result of the IPO at the specified price per share, the company's market capitalization will amount to 69.9 billion rubles;
• The offer consisted of 10.5 million shares owned by selling shareholders, which corresponds to 3.5 billion rubles at the IPO price, including shares worth 350 million rubles for possible stabilization at secondary trading up to 30 days after the start of trading;
• As a result of the offer, the share of free-float shares will amount to 5% of the company's share capital;
• Priority allocation was provided to small applications of retail investors;
• existing shareholders and affiliates have assumed standard obligations related to the restriction on the disposal of the company's shares within 180 days after the completion of the IPO, which do not apply to the disposal of the Shares for the implementation of a long-term incentive program for group employees;
• trading in the company's shares under the ticker symbol ASTR and the code ISIN RU000A106T36 will begin on the Moscow Exchange on October 13, 2023.

The deal has become one of the largest in recent years on the Russian share capital market, and the company is the first public representative of the Russian infrastructure software market on the Moscow Exchange.

{{quote 'author=said Astra Group CEO Ilya Sivtsev. | Astra opens a new chapter in its dynamic development history: we have become a public company. The successful placement confirms the interest of investors in the Russian IT sector in general and in our investment history in particular. What is particularly important to me as CEO: The IPO enabled the launch of a long-term motivation program for our employees. They are the key driver of the Group's business growth, ensuring the continuous improvement of our product ecosystem. Over 1400 of our employees became shareholders of Astra Group of Companies. I am convinced that this will further unite our team and strengthen it with new high-class personnel in the future. We set ourselves ambitious but achievable goals. We intend to further strengthen our leadership position in the Russian infrastructure software market,}}

The demand for shares of Astra Group within the framework of the IPO is several times higher than the supply

On October 12, 2023, information appeared that the demand for shares of the Astra group of companies within the framework of the initial public offering (IPO) procedure is several times higher than the supply. Interest in the papers of this Russian software developer and information protection tools is shown not only by private, but also by institutional investors.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, referring to information received from sources in the financial market, by October 11, 2023, the book of applications within the framework of the Astra group IPO was re-signed 13 times - for the most part along the upper limit of the price range 300-333 rubles. Portfolio managers are attracted by Astra's prospects in the Russian market against the background of import substitution in the software sector. It is noted that in light of the high interest from investors, the organizers of the IPO initially focused on the upper limit of the price range.

Multiple oversubscription is not uncommon for Russian IPOs, but all such placements were registered before the geopolitical situation became more complicated. In particular, in 2010-2020, during the IPO of Mail.ru, Yandex, TCS Holding and Ozon, the application books were re-signed 5-20 times. At the same time, the volume of placements amounted to $1-2 billion, but a significant part of demand was provided by international investors.

Interest in the securities of the Astra Group of Companies is also due to the fact that, in accordance with the established requirements, Russian state-owned companies are obliged to switch to domestic software by the end of 2024. And this, according to market participants, creates an additional incentive for the purchase of Astra products, which offers certified operating systems on the Linux kernel, virtualization tools, backup and recovery tools, etc. According to Kirill Komarov, head of the investment analytics department at Tinkoff Investments, Astra may occupy about 46% of the Russian infrastructure software market by the end of 2030.^[1]

Astra Group estimated its value before the IPO at 63-69.9 billion rubles

Astra Group announced an indicative price range for the initial public offering (IPO) of ordinary shares, which is set at 300 rubles to 333 rubles per share, which corresponds to the company's market capitalization in the range from 63.0 billion rubles to 69.9 billion rubles.

This approximately corresponds to 22-24 EBITDA indicators for 2022, which amounted to 2.887 billion rubles, or 12-13 revenue indicators, which amounted to 5.395 billion rubles in 2022. EBITDA and Astra's revenue in the first half of 2023 were 3.1 times higher than in the first half of 2022.

For comparison, the capitalization of another Russian public IT company Positive Technologies as of October 5, 2023 is 159.5 billion rubles, which corresponds to 23.5 EBITDA indicators and 11.5 revenues for 2022.

As part of the IPO, Astra will offer up to 10.5 million shares (which corresponds to 5% of the number of shares issued and outstanding) from existing shareholders, of which about 10% can be used to stabilize the price of shares in secondary trading up to 30 days after the start of trading.

After the IPO, the selling shareholders will retain their predominant share in the share capital: they will continue to participate in the development of the group's business.

The IPO price will be set by selling shareholders following the end of the application collection period, which will begin on October 5, 2023 and end on October 12, 2023.

If the IPO is completed, the company, existing shareholders and affiliates will assume obligations related to the restriction on the alienation of the company's shares within 180 days after the completion of the IPO, which do not apply to the alienation of shares for the implementation of a long-term incentive program for group employees.

It is expected that the start of trading in shares under the ticker symbol ASTR will begin on October 13, 2023 after the announcement of the IPO price and the final inclusion of shares in the second quotation list of securities admitted to trading on the Moscow Exchange. The offer is available for Russian qualified and unqualified investors - individuals, as well as for Russian institutional investors. You can apply for participation through leading Russian brokers. Technical details of the application procedure will be published today on the official website of the Moscow Exchange.

The investment community reacted with great interest to our decision to become a public company, - said Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of Astra Group. - Investors are well aware of Astra's competitive advantages in the industry, as well as the long-term potential of the IT market in general and the infrastructure software segment in particular. Additional drivers of our growth in the medium and long term will be the continuing trend towards import substitution and digitalization of all sectors of the economy, the withdrawal of Western vendors from the Russian market, increasing information security requirements and significant state support. We are confident that these trends create a favorable environment both for the growth of the company and for the entire Russian IT market for years to come

According to Sivtsev, Astra's IPO could be an incentive for other technology companies to enter the stock market.

Now we plan to place a small share of the shares. It is important for us to show the positive dynamics of financial and operational indicators, as well as the results of the implementation of the growth strategy in the status of a public company, to acquaint the investment community with the drivers of our industry. We believe that this will be a powerful catalyst for the company's long-term goal of becoming a global infrastructure software vendor that covers key market needs.

Spending 662 million rubles on the purchase of IT companies Exosoft, Nomari SiAiEs and Resolut

At the end of July 2024, the details of three transactions on the acquisition by the Astra Group of Companies of other IT market participants became known. We are talking about agreements on the purchase of Exosoft, Nomari SiIEs and Resolut enterprises, for which a total of more than 660 million rubles were spent.

All three deals were concluded in 2023. According to CNews, Astra Group acquired a 47.5% stake in Exosoft JSC, paying 210 million rubles for it. This company is developing a platform for integrated IT infrastructure management under the ISPsystem brand. Subsequently, Astra bought another 7.5% stake in Exosoft, which made it possible to get a controlling stake of 55%. In the future, the transaction allowed Astra Group to receive income of about 34 million rubles, including as a result of revaluation of the value of the received asset.

Astra Group of Companies spent 2023 million rubles on the purchase of three IT companies in 662

Nomari SiAiEs, which develops platforms for automation of L&D processes (Learning and Development), acquired a share of 70.2%. The transaction amount turned out to be nominal - 7 thousand rubles, but subsequently Astra made a contribution to the authorized capital of the company in the amount of 120 million rubles. The share of minority co-owners of Nomari SiAiEs is estimated at 89.2 million rubles, and the value of the entire company is at around 297 million rubles. Astra's income from the purchase amounted to 43.4 million rubles.

In the Resolut company (the creator of the GitFlic source code platform), the Astra group initially acquired 26% for 88 thousand rubles, and then bought another 25% for 85 thousand rubles, bringing the share to the control (51%). Astra made a contribution of 99.9 million rubles to the authorized capital of the acquired company. At the same time, the GC recorded income from the purchase in the amount of 36.7 million rubles. In total, as noted by CNews, Astra's investments in three named companies reached 662 million rubles.^[2]

GC Astra bought Knomary

On October 4, 2023, Astra Group, which develops Astra Linux operating systems, announced the acquisition of Knomary. Financial terms and other details of the transaction were not disclosed. It is only known that we are talking about the sale of a 70.2% stake in Nomari SiAiEs LLC. The remaining 29.8% now belongs to the co-founders of the company Alexei Turchenik, Ivan Petukhov and Ivan Prishchepo. Read more here.

Intention to conduct an IPO on the Moscow Exchange in October

Astra Group (PJSC), one of the players in the Russian IT market and a manufacturer of infrastructure software, on October 2, 2023 shared with TAdviser its intention to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) of ordinary shares listed on the Moscow Exchange.

The company expects to start listing and trading in shares in October 2023. As a result, Astra Group of Companies may become the first public company among Russian infrastructure software developers - one of the fastest growing segments of the Russian IT market, the group noted. According to representatives of Astra Group, holding an IPO is a natural stage in the development of the company's business, which will create liquidity of shares in the secondary market, implement a long-term program of motivation for group employees and increase its recognition among potential customers

As part of the IPO, existing shareholders will offer investors their shares. After the IPO, the current shareholders will retain their predominant share in the company's share capital and will continue to take part in the growth of the group's business and further strengthen its position in the Russian infrastructure software market.

If the IPO is completed, existing shareholders and affiliates will assume obligations related to the restriction on the disposal of the company's shares within 180 days after the completion of the initial public offering. At the same time, these obligations will not apply to the alienation of shares for the implementation of a long-term program of motivation for group employees.

As expected in the GC "Astra," according to the results of the IPO, the share of the group's shares in free float (free-float) will be about 5%.

It will be possible to apply for the acquisition of shares through Russian brokers. Astra Group plans to publish the technical details of the application procedure later. Issue documents are available on the official website of the company.

"Five years ago, events took place in the history of the company that laid the foundation for the future transformation of the group into the fastest growing player in the Russian IT market: in particular, we adopted a new strategy involving the transition from monoproduct development to the creation of a comprehensive software platform for infrastructure software products with a developed portfolio of services. In a short period of time, we have become an unconditional leader in the large and rapidly growing infrastructure software market in Russia, "said Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of Astra Group.

Among the factors that formed the basis for the success of the group, the top manager named: the expansion of the group's product ecosystem, continuous work on improving products and services, the development of a network of partners who develop compatible software and hardware products, and, of course, the departure of Western vendors from the Russian market, an increased trend towards import substitution and technological sovereignty, as well as significant support for the industry from the state.

GC "Astra" is again on the verge of a new large stage in its development history. Our intentions to go Moscow public are a logical and logical step. It testifies to the impressive results of the group and the firm confidence that the business will continue to develop and achieve its goals, "Ilya Sivtsev emphasized. "Our team is convinced that the company's IPO on the Moscow Exchange will become another motivating factor for employees, provide additional opportunities for further successful M&A acquisitions, will confirm the stability and sustainability of the group's business for our customers, and will also allow us to pay even more attention to investors the Russian IT market, which has tremendous growth potential."

The company is in numbers. Ecosystem of solutions. Strategic objective

As of October 2023, Astra Group of Companies is:

• Ecosystem of 17 related IT solutions and services with the flagship product OCAstra Linux;
• a manufacturer of operating systems in Russia with a market share in monetary terms of about 75%;
• manufacturer of Russian infrastructure software in Russia with a market share of about 23%;
• 1,900 + employees, about 70% - highly qualified IT specialists;
• > 2000 compatible hardware and software solutions from third-party Ready for Astra partners.

Among the clients are more than 19,000 organizations from leading sectors of the economy.

The company implements a product and service approach: it sells products, and also helps with their implementation and maintenance.

Ecosystem of related solutions:

The strategic goal of Astra Group of Companies is to transform Russian infrastructure software into a national vendor with comprehensive solutions that are not inferior to global counterparts.

The group's strategic priorities are:

• Growth in sales of ecosystem products
• International development
• Expansion in B2B/SMB
• Strengthening infobesis and innovative R&D
• New Directions: Internal Developments and M&A

Opening of the demo platform for mobile devices on Astra Linux OS

A demo end of Astra Group of Companies has been deployed in a government complex in Moscow City, where the vendor presents mobile devices running OCAstra Linux. Visitors to the booth will be able to get acquainted with the mobile mode of operation of the operating system in practice and make sure that in such an application scenario a level of security, performance and convenience is as high as in desktop or server versions. The company announced this on September 28, 2023.

The exposition is aimed at guests and employees of the IQ-quarter offices, including. Ministry of Industry and Trade Russia

Everyone wishing to test Astra Linux in mobile mode can do this on models released by the Russian company Mobile Inform Group, whose products have repeatedly been tested for compatibility with the domestic OS and are already successfully operated in the public sector and other industries. Together with them, devices from domestic manufacturers iRU and QTECH, as well as from Chinese brands, are available at the stand.

All gadgets are initially in standby mode. You can enable them, run pre-installed applications and test various familiar scenarios in them. The employee of the Astra Group of Companies present at the stand will advise on the equipment and operating system, help connect to the monitor and docking station, and show how to organize a full-fledged workplace.

The interface of the mobile Astra Linux is adapted for touch screens and small diagonals tablets and, smartphones at the same time, it is possible to install an application software version originally intended for the desktop version. In addition, there are a number of programs and utilities specially adapted for mobile mode, and an emulator is available that OS Android will allow you to install APK applications on devices, thereby expanding the ecosystem to ON a global one. The developers optimized OS core to increase energy efficiency and speed of work, and adapted built-in SMTs for mobile use, which provide as high a level of security as in desktop Astra Linux Special Edition PCs and. The " servers graphical kiosk" mode is supported, in which a user who is not authorized can work only with applications assigned to him, a ban on - USB connections is provided, as well as control of external influences: INFORMATION SECURITY the administrator can configure the blocking of the tablet or remove it from it under data certain conditions (for example, when the device was abruptly pulled out of hand, it was lost, etc.). The corporate fleet of such devices can be centrally administered using another product of the Astra Group of Companies - a directory service management system. ALD Pro

Astra Linux occupies a high position among Russian operating systems in the segment of desktop PCs and servers, it is already successfully used by numerous government and commercial customers. The pilot projects implemented in 2023 demonstrated that it is easy for customers to switch to the Astra Linux mobile platform, since they remain compatible with the applications and information systems that they already use. This greatly simplifies the work of employees and reduces the cost of training and adaptation to the new system. We are ready not only to tell, but also to show in practice that on mobile devices our OS is no less convenient, effective and reliable than in other versions. Corporate mobility is an integral part of digital transformation, and it should be based on Russian technologies, "said Shukhrat Makhmadiev, Deputy Head of the Project Management Department of Astra Group.

Entering the Hardware and Software Market

On September 20, 2023, the Astra group of companies announced the launch of a strategic direction for the creation of hardware and software systems. Bringing work on the PAC to a full-fledged product direction was a response to a request from key customers who are interested in ready-made universal, easily integrated into the infrastructure and scalable solutions. The emphasis will be on the development of infrastructure software and hardware systems for specific business scenarios of customers.

The market expects an integrated approach from developers and integrators. Astra Group of Companies is faced with the task of building a full-fledged service around its ecosystem, which will ensure the implementation, migration, and integration of solutions. And hardware and software solutions are no exception. They also need to be accompanied at all stages. The essence of the Astra approach: PAC is not a set of individual solutions, but a single product under which an independent commodity position is started. PAC has one holder and a clear distribution of areas of responsibility in the cooperative chain (software developer, equipment manufacturer, integrator).

The software vendor provides a ready-made software solution for a specific business scenario with a set of documentation and a description of hardware requirements. The OEM partner is responsible for the equipment and pre-assembles the PAC. In this case, one of the integrators authorized by Astra Group of Companies performs the final setting directly at the customer. For their part, Astra Group and OEM-Partner undertake to provide PAC support to the customer, including software and hardware incidents, upgrades, etc. The GC noted that the complex solution is necessarily integrated with the OCAstra Linux MPS, since security is at the head of everything. Any customer has their own requirements for information security, so the compatibility of the PAC with the MPS is provided a priori.

Among the key advantages are the presence of a single point of responsibility for the operation of the complex, qualified support from the vendor in the "one window" mode, proven implementation mechanisms and a full range of documentation, FSTEC certificates for PAC components.

Customers are always interested in solving their own business problems, and the entire technical stack used in the infrastructure is considered primarily from this perspective. As of September 2023, in practice, the customer is brought disparate products from various vendors and separately begin to implement, and as a result - non-working infrastructure, emerging client issues to the reliability of the solution, contacting the service and blurring the areas of responsibility. Our initiative with complexes should give the customer the opportunity to choose a turnkey solution from the vendor and level the risks of the infrastructure stack, "said Alexey Tyurin, Deputy Director of the Astra Group of Companies Implementation and Support Directorate.

Technological independence countries should be built on the basis of its own software and hardware platforms. Among the projects we launched earlier, there are already successful examples of complex solutions that combine domestic processors and operating systems. For their replication and further implementation, serious support is needed as part of the development of priority end-to-end projects, which include computing, digital power and other segments. electronic engineers We are confident that ensuring effective cooperation between vendors, integrators and customers will help build a systematic process for the transition of industrial companies to domestic infrastructure, "said Andrey Klimov, director of key customers at Astra Group.

TAdviser interview with Director of Virtualization and Cloud Services Denis Mukhin

Denis Mukhin, Director of the Department of Virtualization and Cloud Services, Astra Group, answered TAdviser's questions on architecture, capabilities, security, prospects for the development of the software complex of the Brest virtualization tool. Read more here.

Opening of an authorized training center on the basis of Sakhalin State University

On September 14, 2023, a strategic partnership agreement was signed between the Government of the Sakhalin Region, Sakhalin State University and Astra Group of Companies. The parties agreed to create an authorized training center on the basis of the university, open a department, a digital laboratory and start the White Paper project. Read more here.

Agreement with DGAU to create an authorized training center

On September 13, 2023, the Astra Group of Companies and the Far Eastern State Agrarian University announced a strategic partnership by signing a cooperation agreement. Read more here.

Agreement with TMU to create an authorized training center

On September 12, 2023, Astra Group and Pacific state medical University (FSBEI HE) THMU Ministry of Health of Russia secured the partnership by signing an agreement. More. here

Preparing for IPO

On September 12, 2023, it became known about the decision of the Astra group to conduct an IPO on the Moscow Exchange. To do this, the company attracted banking consultants.

According to RBC, citing its sources, Astra plans to list for the fourth quarter of 2023. According to one interlocutor of the publication, investors will be offered a stake in existing shareholders. Another RBC source close to the IPO organizer clarified that it would be less than 10% in order to "give the opportunity to first get acquainted with a business that did not have a public history, create liquidity, put the paper on the radar so that investors can monitor it and make a decision." During the IPO, the group can be estimated at more than 60-80 billion rubles, RBC interlocutors estimated.

According to the representative of Astra, by mid-September 2023, the GC is considering various strategic development options, but it is premature to talk about specific plans.

By mid-September 2023, market demand for a "good" IPO exceeds supply, says Arikapital investment strategist Sergei Suverov. The stock market has grown by 50% since the beginning of the year, growing sectors are in particular demand, he said.

Alfa Capital investment consultant Alexander Abrahamyan believes that Astra's placement could become one of the largest IPOs in Russia in recent years: According to Opening Investments broker Aleksei Petrovsky, Astra is a small company in comparison with the capacity of the entire Russian stock market, so it will be easy for it to find demand for IPOs.

Investors are always interested in new names that have the prospect of business growth, and therefore of rising stock prices. Astra is a fast-growing technology company, and also profitable, he said.[3]

Purchase of a stake in ReSalt

At the end of August 2023, it became known that Astra Group, the developer of the Russian operating system Astra Linux, is creating its own platform for joint development and hosting of open source IT projects. Read more here.

Partnership with beeline cloud

The Russian provider of IT services and cloud services beeline cloud (beeline cloud) and the developer of the domestic system and infrastructure software of the Astra Group of Companies have become strategic partners. The agreement is of a long-term nature, answering the business tasks of developing services of both companies and increasing the share of domestic software solutions in the cloud services market. Astra Group of Companies announced this on August 25, 2023. Read more here.

Running a program to search for operating systems vulnerabilities on BI.Zone BugBounty

Astra Group of Companies, a Russian developer of operating systems, on August 24, 2023 announced the launch of a program to search for operating systems vulnerabilities on BI.ZONE BugBounty. The operating system Astra Linux Special Edition will be checked. Within the framework of the partnership with BI.ZONE, Astra will place a public program with cash payments on the platform. Read more here.

Plan for the opening of a laboratory for the study of software products of the Astra Linux family in RTU MIREA

A laboratory for the study of software products of the Astra Linux family will open in RTU MIREA. This was announced on August 9, 2023 by the Astra Group of Companies. Read more here.

Collaboration with MIREA RTU for fullsteck development

In 2022, RTU MIREA and Astra Group signed a cooperation agreement to launch a large-scale program to train IT specialists to work with domestic software and equipment. As a result, the university has already introduced and uses the Russian operational system Astra Linux in the educational process, provided by the industrial partner of Astra Group, which announced this on February 13, 2023. Read more here.

2022

Disclosure of financial results under IFRS: revenue growth by 2.5 times, net profit - by 2.8 times

Astra Group, an infrastructure software manufacturer, shared TAdviser its full audited financial results for IFRS 2022 on July 21, 2023. Earlier, at the end of May 2023, the company disclosed the proceeds of the main legal entity of the Astra group - RusBITech-Astra LLC.

At the end of 2022, IFRS revenue increased 2.5 times year-on-year to 5,395 million. rubles According to representatives of Astra, this is largely due to a significant increase in sales against the background of the ongoing digitalization of the economy transition to, import-independent solutions which have become in great demand after the simultaneous withdrawal Russian of key foreign vendors from the market, as well. state support IT market

The share of ecosystem products (namely, all products except the operating system) in revenue increased to 13.4% compared to 3.7% in 2021. EBITDA increased 2.7 times year-on-year to RUB 2,887 million. EBITDA margin reached 53.5%.

Despite the achieved scale of the business, the expansion of the product ecosystem and the accompanying increase in the team more than tripled, the group retained its focus on efficiency - increased net profit 2.8 times to 3,074 million rubles and improved net profit margin from 50.0% in 2021 to 57.0% in 2022, the company noted.

In general, according to Astra representatives, in 2022 the group's business grew multiply "thanks to an effective business model and an experienced team, 70% of which are highly qualified specialists - developers and engineers." An additional contribution to growth was made by a wide ecosystem of group products that comprehensively covers the needs of customers, as well as a large network of partner solutions compatible with products of the group - at the end of 2022 there were more than 2,500 of them, and as of July 21, 2023 - about 3,500.

According to Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of the Astra Group, the company's performance in 2022 reached the highest levels in the history of the company.

"Five years have passed since the change of shareholders of the Astra group, my assumption of the position of CEO and the adoption of a new strategy involving the transition from the development of a monoproduct to the implementation of a comprehensive product ecosystem with a developed set of services. During this time, the company became a leader in infrastructure software development. Our products are used by about 20,000 organizations from leading sectors of the economy, including financial, oil and gas, energy, industrial and other sectors. The financial results of 2022 confirm the success of our strategy, - Ilya Sivtsev emphasized.

He also added that in 2022 the Russian IT market received a powerful incentive to develop and switch to non-import-dependent products. The current structural changes, according to the expert, are long-term in nature, which favorably affects the group's plans to strengthen its position. In the coming years, Astra plans to invest in the development of its product portfolio, expand its customer base and enter international markets.

2nd place in the TAdviser rating "The largest suppliers of their own IT solutions from the register of domestic software"

Astra Group of Companies is included in the#.D0.9A.D1.80.D1.83.D0.BF.D0.BD.D0.B5.D0.B9.D1.88.D0.B8.D0.B5_.D0.BF.D0.BE.D1.81.D1.82.D0.B0.D0.B2.D1.89.D0.B8.D0.BA.D0.B8_.D1.81.D0.BE.D0.B1.D1.81.D1.82.D0.B2.D0.B5.D0.BD.D0.BD.D1.8B.D1.85_.D0.98.D0.A2-.D1.80.D0.B5.D1.88.D0.B5.D0.BD.D0.B8.D0.B9_.D0.B8.D0.B7_.D1.80.D0.B5.D0.B5.D1.81.D1.82.D1.80.D0.B0_.D0.BE.D1.82.D0.B5.D1.87.D0.B5.D1.81.D1.82.D0.B2.D0.B5.D0.BD.D0.BD.D0.BE.D0.B3.D0.BE_.D0.9F.D0.9E rating "The largest suppliers of their own IT solutions from the register of domestic software," prepared by TAdviser in September 2023 based on the companies' revenue from the implementation of implementation projects and the supply of their own solutions from the register of domestic software for 2022.

Russian virtualization. Review of 15 developers of domestic products

The analytical center TAdviser studied who is who Russian in the funds market, virtualizations analyzed the functional and integration capabilities of the products, assessed the experience of development companies. Among the companies and products studied are ASTRA Group of Companies (products Brest,,,). Termidesk VMmanager Read more about the research here. [2]

Demand rushed up. OS developer Astra expects revenue to double in 2022 and hopes to double it again in 2023

Speaking at the TAdviser SummIT conference on November 29, the general director of Astra Group Ilya Sivtsev shared with the participants the results of the company's development in 2022. The revenue expected for 2022 is about 5 billion rubles, which is more than twice the same figure for 2021.

Ilya Sivtsev noted that Astra has a big business with the power departments of Russia, with federal and regional executive bodies. But growth is not only provided by them. So, for example, the financial sector in 2021 brought about 100 million rubles, i.e. 4% in the total sales of Astra. And now it accounts for just 22% of the business.

A similar situation is in the oil sector, with which Astra practically did not work in 2021, and now this is also a key industry. Significant sales are now both in the fuel and energy complex and in industry.

We believe that first of all, these results are dictated by the concept, the product strategy implemented by Astra Linux Group of Companies. We, like many key technology companies in the world, corporations such as Microsoft or Red Hat, believe that the most correct implementation of the development of our software product is a holistic infrastructure of a different layer of basic software, fully linked to each other, - said the CEO of Astra.

We are talking about everything - from the level of hardware management to business applications. And all the proposed solutions within the Astra ecosystem are linked to each other within the framework of security, monitoring, redundancy.

According to Ilya Sivtsev, in 2022, the Astra ecosystem has about 2 thousand partner solutions. At the same time, in 2021, the entire ecosystem of products around Astra Group, except for operating systems, gave only 2% of the company's turnover, and in 2022 - 18% of all its sales.

And if you look at the current transactions that are already at work, then next year you can expect an indicator of 35% of all sales of the company. Among the leaders of this growth is the Tantor DBMS (the development of the Tantor Laboratory company based on the PostgreSQL open DBMS), says the general director of Astra. At the same time, all growth leaders in the ecosystem belong to the server layer, said Ilya Sivtsev.

This reflects the last three years of investment activity and technological activity of Astra Linux Group of Companies. Almost all of our most interesting projects and key customers use server software products, - says the general director of Astra. - We are not just a manufacturer of a desktop operating system. The Astra server operating system gives about 25% of total sales.

Based on feedback from customers and partners, Astra plans to refine and change its products.

Against the background of the growth in demand at Astra in 2022, the number of employees grew more than 2 times, to 1020 people. Of these, about 70% are technical specialists. Astra cooperates with universities and expects that, starting from 2023, more than 20 thousand university students will be graduated every year who will be able to work with its products.

This year showed that Russian products are now in demand in different business segments, including SMB. According to Ilya Sivtsev, in 2023 the emphasis of demand for Astra products will be in industry and small business. Given the high demand, the company expects in 2023 to take the bar for revenue of 10 billion rubles.

The TAdviser SummIT conference, held on November 29, 2022, became one of the largest in the history of its holding: in total, more than 1,000 delegates attended the event. Also at the exhibition within the framework of the summit, the most extensive exhibition of IT solutions in the history of the event was presented: suppliers of products and services deployed more than 40 stands. The conference was attended by the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev, who answered the acute questions of the IT industry. In total, about 90 reports were presented in the plenary part and five parallel sectoral sessions.

Opening an office in St. Petersburg

Astra Group of Companies on November 1, 2022 announced the opening of an office in St. Petersburg to promptly respond to customer and market requests in order to accelerate the import substitution process in the North-West Federal District.

As of November 2022, 26 employees are already working in the office. These are the developers of OCAstra Linux, Brest virtualization tools, Termidesk virtual desktop connection manager, RuBackup backup tools complex, WorksPad mobile application for organizing corporate desktops, RuPost corporate mail systems, engineers, sales and partner managers, presales. The involvement of specialists directly on the ground enables the vendor to respond sensitively to the needs of customers and to understand the specifics of St. Petersburg and the Northwestern Federal District.

Astra Group of Companies has extensive experience in implementing projects for the implementation and transfer of infrastructures to domestic solutions. The tools and methodologies of the transition have been developed. They allow you to maintain the performance of information systems even in the absence of direct analogues of foreign software. Opening your office will significantly facilitate access to these knowledge and opportunities of St. Petersburg organizations of various industries: government agencies and corporations, oil and gas and energy companies, industrial enterprises and others. The vendor is ready for them to conduct pilot projects, deploy demostends, assist in the design of infrastructures based on their products, as well as other domestic developers. The transition of companies to domestic software is a large-scale work, which Astra Group will help to comfortably carry out in a complex, providing a whole interconnected ecosystem of solutions.

Astra Group pays great attention to the training of highly qualified specialists in the field of ICT. For 4 years, the company has managed to build a system of training personnel on system software at all levels of education: from schools to universities and DPO centers. Tens of thousands of students are trained annually, the company cooperates with more than 400 specialized educational organizations. In 2022 alone, Astra Group of Companies has more than 100 new partners and their number is constantly growing. The vendor develops courses, trains employees on the basis of partners from educational organizations, implements a number of programs: Astra School, Astra University, Astra Career and others. All these programs are planned to be actively developed in the Northwestern Federal District. Such work has already begun. The company cooperates with 13 universities in this federal district, as well as with 6 colleges and 7 schools. 62 students from universities in St. Petersburg participate in the Astra Career project, and another 36 in the Astra Scholarship.

Also interesting is the example of GBOU secondary school No. 416 of the Petrodvortsovy district of St. Petersburg, where the complete migration of the administration of the institution and the educational environment to the Astra Linux operating system is implemented. The school uses it and related application software in the process of learning the main course in computer science.

GC "Astra" systematically strengthens its activities in the to import substitution information technology regions. In addition to St. Petersburg, the company has already opened offices in, in and Nizhny Novgorod To the Crimea in, in and in Vladivostok Irkutsk (). Innopolis To Tatarstan work on the ground, the vendor attracts the best professionals from all over. Also, countries many employees in the regions work in the company in a home office environment.

At the beginning of November 2022, the company is actively recruiting specialists:, developers testers architects, Linux engineers and, DevOps specialists in,, etc information security server virtualizations. Astra Group invites individual teams to cooperate on projects or directions for specific tasks. This makes it possible to realize the large-scale tasks that the group of companies faces, including in terms of active development in the regions.

Шаблон:Quote 'author=said Andrey Klimov, Deputy General Director for Sales of Astra Group.

Joining Tantor Labs, the developer of the Russian DBMS

On October 13, 2022, Astra Group of Companies announced the merger of Tantor Labs (Tantor Labs), the Russian developer of Tantor DBMS and the PostgreSQL DBMS management and monitoring platform. As a result of the transaction, Astra Group received a 75% stake, and 25% - the founders of Tantor Labs. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with CEO Ilya Sivtsev

In October 2022, Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of the Astra Group of Companies, spoke in an interview with TAdviser Editor-in-Chief Alexander Levashov about the situation on the Russian operating system market, key risks, business development opportunities and M&A strategy. Read more here.

Obtaining a preferential loan in the amount of 3.8 billion rubles

On September 9, 2022, the Astra group of companies announced the taking of a loan from Sberbank in the amount of 3.8 billion rubles under the state program of concessional lending. The rate is 5%. The developer of the domestic operating system Astra Linux will have to return the loan by the end of 2026.

Astra intends to spend credit funds on the development of its OS, its implementation and adaptation to customer requirements. The project involves import substitution of the customers' IT infrastructure and solving problems arising during the transition to Astra products with software from other vendors, including supporting the equipment used and simplifying the processes of developing and installing application software. Active development will affect automatic installation components and functionality for quick disaster recovery, OS images will appear, predefined and optimized for different types of industry loads, etc., the group noted.

In addition, the implementation of the scale project implies a significant expansion of the company's staff, which, as stated in the Astra Group of Companies, should help reduce the outflow of specialized personnel abroad.

Thanks to the concessional lending program Ministry of Digital Development Astra Group of Companies has additional resources in order to strengthen its basic products, expand their functionality, and start developing new popular areas, "says Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of Astra Group of Companies. - For these purposes, we actively form a highly professional team, increase the staff of technical support and implementation specialists. We offer employees not only competitive working conditions, but also really important, interesting, ambitious tasks.

By September 9, 2022, 64 billion rubles were issued under the concessional lending program for three years. By the end of 2022, it is planned to support projects totaling at least 20 billion rubles, a representative of the Ministry of Digital Development told Vedomosti.

Opening an office in Nizhny Novgorod

In Nizhny Novgorod, Astra Group of Companies opened an office and plans to strengthen the development of an ecosystem of independent software products in the region using its own innovative technological developments. The company announced this on August 16, 2022.

The office of the Astra Group of Companies is located on the street. Gorky 262, BC "Bohemia Palace." It employs 18 employees, and in the near future their number will increase significantly. The employees of the opened office of Astra Group of Companies are high-class Nizhny Novgorod IT specialists directly from the region, including attracted professionals from foreign firms that have left the Russian market.

In early June, in Nizhny Novgorod, agreements were signed between Astra Group of Companies and the Gorky Center for Artificial Intelligence, aimed at strengthening the sphere of information technologies and developing an ecosystem of independent software products in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. In accordance with it, this office of Astra Group of Companies was prepared and opened. Partners want to use the developments of Astra Group of Companies, as well as test and confirm compatibility with software and hardware solutions from other manufacturers.

Joint IT personnel training programs will be created for the digital economy of the Nizhny Novgorod region. It is planned to implement educational, methodological and research projects, exchange experience in their implementation in practical activities. Partner companies will attract new participants in cooperation chains for the joint development of Russian PACS.

Preparing for IPO

On July 7, 2022, it became known about the plans of the Astra Group of Companies to enter the Moscow Exchange. About this "Vedomosti" said the general director of the group Ilya Sivtsev. At the same time, he refused to disclose the terms and amounts that the company plans to attract.

The preliminary estimate of Astra Group of Companies may amount to 17 billion rubles, Leonid Delitsyn, an analyst at Finam Group of Companies, told the newspaper.

This estimate is given by the P/S multiplier (price/revenue) at 8x, but this is a very generous estimate. Microsoft has 10x, but this is a monopoly company, and there are several Linux manufacturers in the country, "the expert explained.

Raiffeisen Bank analyst Sergei Libin suggested that when Astra Group of Companies enters the stock exchange, the group's assessment could range from 10 to 15 billion rubles. According to the expert, high demand for the company's shares should not be expected. Against the background of Russia's military special operation in Ukraine, foreign investors have lost access to Russian exchanges, and this significantly narrows the circle of potential buyers.

According to Leonid Delitsyn, going public in the near future (Vedomosti published an article on July 7, 2022) does not make sense, since due to the growing demand for Russian software, the company's assessment by underwriters may change greatly taking into account financial results for the year.

The company's revenue growth by 17% over the past year is the effect of requests from the state to switch to domestic software, but the current geopolitical situation will increase revenue by 2-3 times. In Coronavirus COVID-19, pharmaceutical companies were in a similar position, "he explained.

By to data Kartoteka.ru July 2022, Ilya Sivtsov owns 20% of the parent company of the RusBITech-Astra group, 80% belong to Denis Frolov. Partners also own the manufacturer of lighting equipment Warton GK "," which previously bought a controlling stake in JSC Baikal electronics"."^[1]

Launch of a digital department for training with domestic software together with MIREA

MIREA - Russian Technological University and Astra Group of Companies, which has combined Astra Linux software products and a number of other domestic IT brands, are starting to implement two educational projects in the IT field at once. Thanks to them, university students will be able to acquire demanded skills and knowledge and in the future get a job in the largest companies in the country. This became known on June 27, 2022. Read more here.

Cooperation with MIREA and Baikal Electronics

On February 17, 2022, RTU MIREA, Astra Group of Companies and Baikal Electronics announced cooperation. The agreements signed by the university and vendors were the beginning of a comprehensive collaboration between a key technological university and domestic developers of microelectronics and software aimed at training IT specialists. Read more here.

Purchase of ISPsystem for 2.5 billion rubles

Astra Group of Companies on March 24, 2022 announced TAdviser the addition of a company ISPsystem to its contour that specializes in the development of platforms for integrated management. As IT infrastructure a result of the concluded transaction, the volume of investments in ISPsystem will amount to 2.5 billion - rubles Astra Group received 70% of the shares, and 30% still belongs to the CEO of ISPsystem. Pavel Guralnik Thus, Astra Group continues to implement its M&A strategy, which started in 2020. More. here

Launch of Astra Consulting project

On March 5, 2022, Astra Group announced the launch of a large-scale Astra project aimed Consulting at introducing domestic IT solutions and supporting customers during migration to. As import-independent ON part of its implementation, the vendor's experts are ready to turn key to solve the problems of import substitution and digitalization of large information infrastructures.

Astra Group specialists will provide full support to customers during the migration and implementation of non-import-dependent software, solving the issues of infrastructure design based on Astra Group products and other domestic vendors, refinement of Open Source solutions for specific requests, as well as adaptation of foreign products to work in an updated system using tools such as VDI, Wine emulation and application delivery. Separately, we can highlight the area involved in implementing the migration of current server and client-server applications of customers to a microservice architecture. This allows you to significantly save resources, as well as ensure scalability and fault tolerance of IT systems.

It is important to promptly ensure the uninterrupted operation of IT infrastructures the Russian enterprises by joint efforts. In recent years, experts of the Astra group of companies have developed tools and methodologies for switching to import-independent technologies, which allow maintaining the performance of systems even during migration-related work and in the absence of direct analogues of those foreign solutions that customers used earlier. Upon completion of the migration project, customers continue to be provided with a full range of technical support and support services.

We not only offer flexible licensing and financial terms for the purchase of our solutions and technical support, but also through a comprehensive approach we can ensure the independence and security of all critical infrastructure services, which will seriously increase the overall import substitution rate for software products of organizations as a whole. Our team has extensive practical experience in implementations. We are ready to take responsibility and guarantee the achievement of specific KPIs, rebuild customer infrastructures. Under sanctions restrictions, these projects will have maximum priority for our company, "said Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of Astra Group.

Asonika Agreement for IT Interoperability

Astra Group of Companies on February 15, 2022 announced the conclusion of an agreement on technological partnership with the ASONIKA Research Institute, which is engaged in modeling radio electronics and is actively engaged in educational activities. The document provides for certification of IT products developed at the Research Institute under the Ready for Astra Linux program, as well as cooperation in the formation, implementation and support of joint solutions. Read more here.

2020

The plan to open a development center in Innopolis and invest 150 million rubles in the SEZ. For 5 years

Astra Linux GC December 4, 2020, it announced that it had received the status of a partner in the Innopolis Special Economic Zone.

As part of the cooperation, the Astra Linux-Innopolis project was launched, which involves the opening of a center for the development of the company's flagship solutions in Innopolis. The key tasks of the center will be to refine and expand the functionality of the developer's products, as well as to provide technical support to republican customers. Astra Linux GC plans to invest about 150 million rubles in the Innopolis SEZ for a period of 5 years and create at least 30 jobs by 2022.

"The focus of our center in the SEZ" Innopolis "will also be on the implementation of the import substitution program in Tatarstan. We have significant experience in this area and a considerable number of successful projects for the transfer of customer information infrastructures to domestic IT solutions. We expect that the activities of the created unit will allow us to build close interaction with republican business and state organizations. As a result, we will be able to identify customer needs faster and better, therefore, more efficiently develop our products taking into account user requests throughout the country, "commented Alexander Gutin, Marketing Director of Astra Linux GC, who represented the company at a meeting of the Innopolis SEZ Supervisory Board.

Creating the Astra Group

Astra Linux GC, a representative of the domestic OS market and virtualization tools, creates the Astra group of companies. This became known on October 30, 2020.

The goal of the project is to form a domestic software stack that will meet the IT needs of customers at various levels: from the operating system to specialized applications.

During the implementation of the import substitution program, it became obvious that the implementation of any software or hardware solution can be effective only in one case: if it occurs within a full-fledged technological stack. Therefore, the Ready for Astra Linux cooperation program was Astra Linux GC created, within the framework of which comprehensive testing of compatibility of products of domestic and foreign IT manufacturers with the Astra Linux family OS is carried out, after which the tested solutions receive official certificates. As of October 2020, Astra Linux GC specialists, together with experts from partner IT companies, have formed a large ecosystem of IT products, which includes more than 500 compatible solutions. Ready for Astra Linux continues to evolve, and significant resources are being invested in it.

Following its strategy, Astra Linux GC takes certain steps to ensure that the domestic market is filled with complexes of software products that will cover all customer needs in terms of import substitution: from basic ON to application solutions. To provide the market with such a stack, the Astra group of companies was created, which at the end of October 2020, together with Astra Linux, already included several independent Russian IT brands: virtualizations the Brest system, the connection manager virtual desktops , "" Thermidesque tools for backup RuBackup , etc.

The management of Astra Linux GC approved an investment program for the next 2 years, allocated a budget for investing participants joining the Astra group. At the end of October 2020, negotiations are already underway on co-financing with more than 10 more companies. Thus, the line will expand, and soon it will add solutions for building a domain infrastructure and products to close many other customer tasks.

Astra Linux GC Group operates in the Russian market, and promoting its development is one of the key priorities. The software stack that is being created will be an addition to the existing ecosystem, and combining the efforts of developers will give customers the opportunity to build infrastructure on the basis of domestic products of various scales.

The key goal of our goal when creating the Astra group is to form a competitive domestic software stack. The company does not seek monopolization and unification under its brand of all possible directions and does not claim to be segments where there are already high-quality and proven Russian solutions: CryptoPro, My Office, Kaspersky and others. The focus of attention of the Astra Group of Companies is those niches where the needs of customers are not fully satisfied. Moreover, we do not plan to make the Astra Linux brand the center of the technology stack: the OS is one of the solutions that has become, along with the rest, part of the IT ecosystem. For example, RuBackup products can be used without any restrictions on any other domestic platforms, - summed up Ilya Sivtsev, General Director of Astra Linux GC[2]

As of November 2020, Astra was an association of legally independent Russian software developers whose products were planned to be developed under independent brands.

Notes