Shares of Positive Technologies

Main article: Positive Technologies

Positive Technologies financials

Main article: Financial performance of Positive Technologies

2024

Additional issue of shares to motivate employees

In mid-September 2024, it became known that Positive Technologies was issuing additional shares. The goal of the program is to motivate employees.

Yuri Marinichev, director of investor relations at Positive Technologies, spoke about the initiative. According to him, at the first stage, the company conducts an additional issue of shares by 7.9%. This procedure is being checked by specialists of the Central Bank against the background of complaints from retail investors. In the future, the volume of additional emissions can reach 15%.

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Фото: Freepik

Potentially in future periods, with the growth of capitalization twice within 1 year, the maximum amount of additional issue can be up to 15%. The goals of this additional issue may be not only an employee motivation program, but also capital-intensive investments: stories related to the construction of our data centers, for example, M&A transactions and other investments that require significant costs, says Marinichev.

The additional share issue is not expected to affect dividend payments. It is planned to complete this procedure by the end of 2024. As of mid-September 2024, all key personnel at Positive Technologies are minority shareholders in the company. The option of using the funds raised for M&A transactions is being considered.

On July 19, 2024, Positive Technologies announced the completion of the placement of a new bond issue. The volume of issue amounted to 5 billion rubles, the coupon rate - at the level of the Constitutional Court + 1.7%. The total demand for paper was twice the supply. The placement of bonds is aimed at realizing the tasks of diversification and improving the reliability of the company's loan portfolio to replenish working capital. The organizers of the issue were PSB and IK Oriole-Capital^[1]%

Share repurchase

In July 2024, Positive Technologies began actively acquiring its own shares in July 2024. At the same time, the organization is preparing for an additional issue of securities in the fourth quarter of 2024.

According to the Business News Agency, PJSC Positive Group, under the leadership of Denis Baranov, carried out a number of transactions to buy its own ordinary shares through a controlled organization. Purchase and sale operations took place on July 12, 26, 29 and 30, 2024.

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Фото: Positive Technologies

This was preceded by an extraordinary meeting of shareholders held on July 10, 2024, at which a decision was made to increase the authorized capital of the company. It is planned to place an additional 5.2 million ordinary shares by closed subscription, with a par value of ₽0,5 each. The right to purchase these shares was received by Positive Technologies JSC.

As part of the capital policy under development, Positive Technologies has set a maximum additional share issue of 15% for each double capitalization growth. At the same time, the first additional issue of shares, scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024, will amount to 7.9% of the current volume.

The company emphasizes that this issue will be the only one in 2024 and takes into account the growth of capitalization for 2023. It is important to note that the growth of capitalization until 2023 will not be taken into account either in this or in subsequent additional issues.

An additional issue of 7.9% is sufficient to implement all our plans for working with our own shares, including plans to motivate contributors who have made a significant contribution to business growth from the moment the company goes public until the end of 2023, - Denis Baranov, CEO of Positive Technologies, commented on the situation.[2]

Plan for the issue of bonds in the amount of 5 billion rubles

Positive Technologies (issuer of PJSC Positive Group) on July 10, 2024 shared with the TAdviser portal its plans to place the next issue of bonds as part of the diversification of the debt portfolio. The output will amount to 5 billion rubles and will be aimed at implementing the tasks of scaling up the business, increasing investment in product development, optimizing the structure of borrowing and replenishing working capital. The bond offering is scheduled for July.

According to Positive Technologies, the securities will be available for purchase by open subscription. The face value of one bond will be 1,000 rubles, the circulation period is 3 years. The coupon is supposed to be paid every 30 days. The coupon rate is variable and depends on the key rate of the Bank of Russia. Management's expected spread to the key rate is 180-190 basis points. The issue is carried out under the Exchange-Traded Bonds Program, registered in September 2023. It will be possible to take part in the placement through most of the leading banks and brokers.

According to Yuri Marinichev, director of investor relations at Positive Technologies, the planned bond issue will be the third for Positive Group companies. To ensure dynamic growth and realize additional development opportunities, Positive Technologies attracts various sources of funding. Thus, the company optimizes the debt structure towards long-term obligations with a reduced level of risk and more favorable terms of attraction, the top manager explained.

"Positive Technologies is currently actively investing in the growth and scaling of the business. We enter new markets and launch products that can successfully compete with the developments of world leaders in the field of information security, "added Yuri Marinichev.

Recommendations for the payment of dividends in the amount of 3.1 billion rubles

The Board of Directors of Positive Technologies (the issuer of PJSC Positive Group) adopted recommendations for the payment of dividends in the amount of 3.1 billion rubles (or 47.3 rubles per share). Such information was shared with TAdviser by representatives of Positive Technologies on March 15, 2024. The issue of approval of this payment is included in the agenda of the extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, which is scheduled for April 9, 2024.

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Фото: Positive Technologies Official Telegram Channel

As explained in the company, the basis for determining the amount of dividends for the year is the preliminary NIC indicator (will be finalized after 31.03.2024 in accordance with the company's accounting policy) - net profit excluding capitalized expenses. Based on the shipments projected by the end of the first quarter, the NIC amount at the end of 2023 may amount to about 8.5 billion rubles, which is more than 70% higher than the results of the previous year.

Structure of PJSC Positive Group shareholders as of 04.10.2023

The growth of shipments, the high level of profitability of the business and, as a result, profit growth allow Positive Technologies to steadily increase its dividend potential, the company noted.

According to the dividend policy approved in October 2023, Positive Technologies plans to allocate a total of 50% to 100% of the previous year's NIC amount for dividends during the year. As part of the first payment at the end of 2023, it is planned to direct 35% of the NIC amount to dividends.

Positive Technologies shareholders will be able to take part in absentee voting as part of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders from March 18 to April 9, 2024 inclusive. It is proposed to establish April 20, 2024 as the date for compiling a list of persons entitled to receive dividends.

2023

Redemption of the debut issue of bonds in the amount of 500 million rubles

Positive Technologies paid the last coupon and repaid the debut issue of RU000A101YV8 bonds, thus fulfilling in full its obligations to investors in the first issue bonds. The issue was placed in July 2020 in the amount of 500 million rubles with a face value of 1000 rubles and a coupon of 11.5%. The company announced this on July 26, 2023.

Bonds with a maturity of 3 years were placed on an open subscription with an initial focus on large retail investors and package purchases of securities. In total, 500 thousand bonds with a face value of 1,000 rubles were placed, the frequency of coupon payments on them was 91 days. On July 26, Positive Technologies repaid its debut bond issue by paying 12 coupons to investors totaling 150 520 000 rubles for 3 years of circulation. At the same time, during the last 4 coupon payments, the company carried out partial early repayment of bonds in equal proportions of 25% of the issue.

The 2020 bond issue was the company's first step toward publicity. We have built a corporate governance system, ensured business transparency for investors through regular and detailed disclosure of information and financial statements, and established effective communications with market participants and investors. The experience of issuing bonds allowed us to approach the offering of shares in full readiness and successfully carry out a direct listing in December 2021. Since that moment, the company's capitalization has tripled and as of July 2023 exceeds 140 billion rubles, "said Yuri Marinichev, director of investor relations at Positive Technologies. - Full fulfillment of obligations to investors - another confirmation of the status of Positive Technologies as a reliable borrower and issuer of securities. As part of our public strategy, we continue to set ambitious goals to increase the number of investors, enter the main index of the Moscow Exchange, expand analytical coverage and grow the company's capitalization in conjunction with the expansion of our business.

As of July 2023, Positive Technologies has one issue of exchange-traded bonds (ISIN - RU000A105JG1) in the amount of 2.5 billion rubles with a coupon of 10.55% and a frequency of payments 4 times a year. The maturity date of the second issue of bonds is December 3, 2025.

Candidate for entry into the main index of the Moscow Exchange and the RTS index

The Moscow Exchange announced the decisions of the index committee, according to which Positive Technologies shares from June 16, 2023 will be included in the waiting list for inclusion in the Moscow Exchange index and the RTS index. PT announced this on May 31, 2023.

Shares of Positive Technologies are one of the few showing stable growth, which correlates with confident business results: since the placement of securities on the stock exchange, quotes have increased by 150%, with the volume of shipments almost doubling in 2022. The key indicator of our success is the rapid increase in the number of co-owners - private investors, of which as of May 2023 there are already more than 165 thousand. There are all prerequisites for the company's shares to enter the main index of the Moscow Exchange. As a result, this will contribute to further growth in capitalization, expansion of the shareholder base and an increase in the volume of free float, "says Maxim Pustovoy, co-owner of Positive Technologies.

The company shows steady business growth (at the end of 2022, shipments increased by 88% - to 14.5 billion rubles), regularly pays dividends. Positive Technologies shares are in the portfolios of more than 165 thousand investors, and the capitalization exceeds 120 billion rubles. The inclusion of securities in the main index of the Moscow Exchange will make them even more attractive and accessible to retail, institutional investors and funds investing in index securities.

The company's shares are included in the base for calculating indices of a wide market, medium and small capitalization, information technology and innovation of the Moscow Exchange. The revision of the base for calculating indices is carried out by the Moscow Exchange on a quarterly basis, the next meeting of the index committee will be held in August 2023.

Increase of minority shareholders in the authorized capital to 13.1%

Positive Technologies on March 28, 2023 shared the results of the implementation of the second window of the acceptance of the offer on the possibility of additional acquisition by SPO participants. Settlements under the deal were completed on March 27, 2023. The minority stake in Positive Technologies increased to 13.1%.

From March 20 to March 24, 2023, Positive Technologies for the second time accepted applications from investors who took part in the company's SPO in September 2022 for the purchase of additional shares at a fixed price of 1,061 rubles. 80 kopecks. All participants in the secondary placement, with the exception of those investors who fully exercised such a right in December 2022, had the opportunity to take advantage of the terms of the previously published offer and purchase one additional share for every four purchased during the SPO. If the offer was partially implemented in the previous window, the offer was available within the remaining limit for each particular investor.

According to the results of processing applications on March 27, 2023, the settlements on the transaction were fully completed, the shares were credited to the accounts of the acquirers. As part of the second window of the offer, investors additionally purchased 88 thousand shares of Positive Technologies for a total of 93.5 million rubles.

Since the completion of SPO Positive Technologies, the only secondary placement on the Moscow Exchange in 2022, only six months have passed. During this time, the company's capitalization increased by 60%, and we entered the top 3 IT companies on the Moscow Exchange in this indicator. By launching an offer mechanism for the purchase of an additional number of shares at a fixed price during the year as part of the SPO, we were confident that such an instrument could become attractive to long-term investors confident in the company's growth prospects, "said Yuri Marinichev, director of investor relations at Positive Technologies. - According to the results of the first two windows of the offer sale, SPO participants exercised their right to purchase shares at a fixed price, independent of current market quotations, by 77%. This suggests that investors are closely monitoring our operations and consistently increasing the number of Positive Technologies shares in their investment portfolios. As a result of the transaction, the share of minority shareholders rose to 13.1%, and we are confident that it will continue to increase at the same time as the number of our shareholders grows.

As part of the offer, no additional shares are issued and the shares of existing minority shareholders are not eroded. The actual final sellers of the offer are the issuer's shareholders who sold the shares during the SPO. The next opportunity to take advantage of the offer will be given to SPO participants during predetermined periods of five working days, which will begin on June 20 and September 20, 2023. In the event of a change in passport data, Positive Technologies recommends that investors inform the investor relations department in a timely manner. If other questions arise about the timing and procedure for participating in the offer, investors can contact their broker through customer support channels.

Second window for the implementation of the offer to acquire shares at a fixed price for SPO participants

Positive Technologies on March 20, 2023 announced that it was opening the second of four windows for accepting an offer on the possibility of acquiring the company's shares at a fixed value of 1061.8 rubles. for SPO participants, held in September 2022.

From March 20 to March 24, 2023, investors who took part in the secondary placement of Positive Technologies shares in September 2022 will be able to apply for additional shares of the company at the SPO price based on a previously published offer. All participants in the secondary placement will be able to take advantage of the offer to purchase one additional share for every four securities purchased during the SPO, with the exception of those investors who fully exercised such a right within the first window of the offer in December 2022. The purchase price of shares under the offer is fixed (1061 rubles 80 kopecks) and does not depend on current market quotes.

SPO Positive Technologies became the only secondary placement of shares on the Moscow Exchange in 2022 and took place in conditions of high volatility in the stock market. Nevertheless, about 10 thousand investors took part in the placement, who were confident in the prospects for business growth and capitalization of our company. Since September, stock quotes of Positive Technologies have shown an increase of 60%, which means the value of our offer for investors who participated in the SPO has increased significantly, "said Yuri Marinichev, director of investor relations at Positive Technologies. - During the first window of the offer implementation in December 2022, investors exercised their right to purchase additional shares by 40%. In addition to the starting offer window, SPO participants will have the same opportunity in June and September 2023. We are confident that our steps to increase the free float and develop qualitatively different relations with shareholders will continue to contribute to the growth of capitalization and investment attractiveness of the company.

To exercise their right to purchase additional shares under the offer, investors participating in the Positive Technologies SPO must apply through their broker. Each broker sets the deadline for submitting such applications independently, but in any case it will be no later than 12:00 Moscow time on March 24, 2023. Information about specific deadlines for applications by customers is also carried out by the broker. Questions related to the terms of the offer and the filing of applications, investors can address their broker through customer support channels.

The offeror within the framework of the offer is JSC "Asset of Co-owners." The actual final sellers will be the shareholders of the issuer who sold shares during the SPO, who, in accordance with the existing agreements with Asset of Co-Owners JSC, will fulfill the obligations under the offer for him (Article 313 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The implementation of the offer will increase the number of shares of Positive Technologies in free float without blurring the shares of minority shareholders. Selling shareholders will collect and satisfy applications through their broker - BCS Company LLC, which will be considered the Offer Agent.

2022

The total amount of dividends paid is 1.3 billion rubles

Positive Technologies on November 3, 2022 shared the results of an absentee vote at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on November 1, 2022. Shareholders supported the proposal of the Board of Directors to pay additional dividends for 2021 in the amount of 5 rubles. 16 kopecks. per share. Taking into account the previously made payments, the total amount of dividends paid in 2022 will be 19 rubles. 56 kopecks per share.

The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders approved the payment of dividends to the company's shareholders in the amount of 340.6 million rubles. For the proposed decision, 99.98% of the votes of shareholders who took part in absentee voting were cast. The total amount of dividends paid, taking into account the previously made payment in the amount of 950 million rubles, in 2022 will amount to 1.3 billion rubles. This is equivalent to 100% of the company's 2021 net profit on management reporting.

According to the requirements of the legislation, the technical payment of dividends will be made from the net profit of PJSC Positive Group according to the financial statements for the 9 months of 2022. The date on which the persons entitled to receive the declared dividends are determined is November 14, 2022.

During the SPO, applications for 1 billion rubles were collected

Positive Technologies (issuer of PJSC Positive Group), a player in the Russian cybersecurity market, on September 28, 2022 announced the results of a secondary public offering (SPO - abbr. From secondary public offering). For the period from September 19 to September 27, applications for 1 billion rubles were collected.

About 10,000 investors took part in the SPO despite the difficult market situation. At the same time, more than 90% of the total number of collected applications fell on individuals. All applications were satisfied in full on September 28 at the closing price of trading on September 27, 2022 - 1061 rubles. 80 kopecks Each share buyer received the right to purchase additional shares at the SPO price within the next 12 months. To do this, Asset of Co-Owners JSC announced an irrevocable offer to conclude share purchase and sale transactions.

As part of the SPO, a total of 932.6 thousand ordinary shares owned by major shareholders of the company (out of 2,640,000 shares planned for sale) were sold, which amounted to 1.41% of the total volume of the company's shares. Thus, the volume of SPO amounted to 35% of the maximum planned, so the total number of selling shareholders has been reduced.

Selling shareholders collected and satisfied applications within the framework of SPO through their broker - BCS Company LLC, investors submitted applications through the largest Russian brokers.

Each selling shareholder has assumed standard terms limiting the disposal of the company's securities within 180 days of the completion of the SPO. In turn, the company during the same period cannot issue additional shares, with the exception of actions under the employee motivation program. None of the selling shareholders fully or to a material share has left the shareholders.

According to representatives of Positive Technologies, the placement was carried out in conditions unprecedented in terms of market volatility. In this regard, one of the main tasks of SPO to increase free-float was only partially completed. The company will continue to take the necessary steps to increase the maturity of its securities, increase free-float, liquidity and enter the list of blue chips.

Start of secondary public offering

Positive Technologies (issuer of PJSC Positive Group), a player in the Russian cybersecurity market, on September 19, 2022 informed TAdviser about the start of a secondary public offering (SPO, abbr. From secondary public offering), in which large shareholders of the company will offer up to 2,640,000 of their ordinary shares, which is 4% of the total company's shares. At the same time, the SPO will take place without an additional issue of shares, the company said.

The package of securities offered at the SPO will be formed by selling shareholders from the main shareholders and top management, while none of them completely or to a significant share leaves the shareholders.

The price range of placement will be from 1,200 to 1,320 rubles per share. The final price of one share within the framework of the offer will be set by the selling shareholders no later than September 28, 2022. It is not expected to exceed the closing price of the last trading day of the application collection period.

The collection period for applications for participation in the SPO will last from September 19 to September 27, 2022 inclusive, but may be completed earlier by decision of the selling shareholders.

The offer is available for Russian qualified and unqualified investors - individuals, as well as for Russian institutional investors. In addition, each share buyer within the next 12 months will be eligible to purchase one additional share at an SPO price for every four purchased under the SPO. To do this, an irrevocable offer will be announced on the conclusion of share purchase and sale transactions.

Buyers will be able to accept the terms of the offer by submitting appropriate applications to their brokers within 5 trading days, starting from the following dates (acceptance periods): December 20, 2022, March 20, 2023, June 20, 2023. and September 20, 2023, An offer may be accepted once or several times (in different periods of acceptance), but the aggregate number of shares that an SPO participant may acquire may not exceed the maximum number of shares entitled to it under the terms of the offer.

Transactions under the offer are planned within two trading days after the end of the relevant acceptance period.

As a result of the transaction, the share of Positive Technologies shares in free float may exceed 14%, the company predicts.

Selling shareholders have assumed standard terms that limit the disposal of the company's securities within 180 days of the completion of the SPO, and the company may not issue additional shares during the same period, except for actions under the employee incentive program.

Shareholders will collect and satisfy applications within the framework of SPO through their broker - BCS Company LLC.

"We are the only company from the sphere cyber security that entered the stock exchange using the direct placement method, and we want to see among our investors people who are interested in technologies and investments in this industry," said the managing director of Positive Technologies. Maxim Pustovoy- The cybersecurity market in which we operate is growing rapidly and will continue to do so in the coming years, and we, in turn, demonstrate significant business growth annually.

According to Maxim Pustovoy, Positive Technologies shares are included in three indices of the Moscow Exchange and in the first quotation list, and the number of shareholders increased from 1,400 to almost 60,000.

We are forming all the necessary prerequisites for entering the list of "blue chips" and in the main index of the Moscow Exchange, "added the top manager of Positive Technologies.

Conversion of preferred shares into ordinary shares

At the end of May 2022, Positive Technologies announced the decision of shareholders to convert the company's outstanding preferred shares into ordinary ones. The process can take several months.

According to the press service of Positive Technologies, by the end of May 2022, the company's share capital structure consists of 60 million ordinary shares and 6 million preferred shares. The manufacturer of cybersecurity solutions plans to convert preferred shares into ordinary shares in order to increase the transparency of the ownership structure and provide the same amount of rights to all shareholders, the company explained. It is noted that after the conversion, the shares will remain in the ownership of the same shareholder who owned the preferred shares.

Positive Technologies Office

Positive Technologies shareholders also supported the proposal to expand the company's board of directors to nine people. The expansion of the quantitative composition of the board of directors is dictated by the requirements of legislation in relation to companies whose shareholders are more than 10 thousand persons.

In addition to the seven former board members (Denis Baranov, Yuri Maksimov, Boris Simis, Dmitry Maksimov, Evgeny Kireev, Daniil Rybak and Karina Sargsyan), two more were elected - Managing Director of Positive Technologies Alexey Andreev and entrepreneur Dmitry Pukhov ( independent director).

According to the decision of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, which took place on April 27, 2022, in May Positive Technologies paid dividends in the total amount of 950 million rubles, or 14.4 rubles per ordinary and preferred share. The amount of payments is equivalent to 50% of the company's net profit according to international financial reporting standards.^[3]

2021

Obtaining a listing on the Moscow Exchange

On December 16, 2021, Positive Technologies, a developer of cybersecurity solutions, told TAdviser that PJSC Positive Group (the parent company of the Positive Technologies group) received a listing on the Moscow Exchange.

The ordinary shares of Positive Group were included in the quotation list of the second level on December 16, 2021. The trading date for Positive Group shares will be December 17, 2021. The trade code is POSI. Bidding and settlements will be carried out in Russian rubles.

Positive Technologies also specified that from December 17, 2021, the company's shares will be included in the innovation and investment market (RII) sector of the Moscow Exchange.

In addition, in order to ensure liquidity, Positive Group entered into market making agreements with three Russian brokers that will support bids and sales at auction. Admission to public circulation of Positive Group shares was made exclusively on the Moscow Exchange.

In this public status, we look forward to attracting and motivating talented people in the industry, creating a close-knit community of like-minded co-owners who understand our business and highly appreciate its prospects, noted the chairman of the board of directors of PJSC "Positive Group" Yuri Maksimov.

In December, the company changed its ownership form from JSC to PJSC and registered a prospectus of shares with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The company's share capital is represented by 60 million ordinary shares and 6 million preferred shares. At the same time, all preferred shares belong to one of the main shareholders. The latter include Evgeny Kireev (owns 8.81% of ordinary shares), Dmitry Maksimov (8.8%), Yuri Maksimov (47.08%), Boris Simis (5.5%), Interfax reported.

The company expects that by the time of listing and the beginning of trading in free-float shares will amount to 10.89% of the total volume of ordinary shares. They were issued to current and former employees of the group of companies, as well as its partners from existing shareholders under the gift program.

According to the company, the group's revenue for the first 9 months of 2021 increased by 25% compared to the same indicator in 2020, to 2.6 billion rubles. In 2020, the group's revenue amounted to 5.5 billion rubles, which is 60% more than in 2019. EBITDA increased over the 9 months of 2021 by 10%, to 598 million rubles, and in 2020 it more than tripled to 2.2 billion rubles. EBITDA margin for 2020 increased to 39%, for 9 months of 2021 this figure was 18%.

In November, the company reported that the listing (we are actually talking about a technical listing) would be held by Positive Group JSC (authorized capital - 33 million rubles, data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities), which is the holding company of the Positive Technologies group. At that time, Positive Group had about 10 shareholders who were going to distribute about 10% of the shares between existing (about 1 thousand people) and former (about 500 people) employees of the company.

As of December 2021, the group includes two more companies - Breakthrough Technologies (formed in the spring of 2021) and Asset of Co-Owners (registered in early December).

In April 2021, the US Treasury added six Russian companies to the "black list," which, according to him, provide support to the cyber programs of the Russian intelligence services. Among them was Positive Technologies JSC. In November, the US Department of Commerce included the company in the list of structures against which export restrictions apply in connection with their activities that harm US security. The company, in turn, called the accusations of both the Ministry of Finance and the US Department of Commerce unfounded and did not pose a threat to its business.

Announcement of distribution of shares to employees

In early November 2021, Positive Technologies announced the distribution of shares to all its employees, including those who no longer work for the company. The motivation program will be launched by the Russian developer of information security solutions simultaneously with going public.

In order to bring our plans to life, we need the most valuable personnel of the industry to work for us and us. Therefore, we will make all our employees shareholders, not only current, but also some former ones, "Vladimir Zapolyansky, Marketing and Corporate Communications Director of Positive Technologies, told Forbes.

Positive Technologies Says Stock Handout to All Its Employees, Including Exes

According to him, the company is also considering "motivating the shares of the participants in our community, even if they do not work and have never worked for Positive Technologies." As a result, it is planned to collect a kind of the most valuable talents of the industry, which will be invested in the development of the company's products and services, Zapolyansky noted.

The company expects to hold an IPO in Russia in the spring of 2022, its founder Yuri Maksimov said in a conversation with the American Forbes. He admitted that the upcoming listing of the IT company will be affected by the US sanctions against it.

They certainly influenced our plans for an IPO. Because American funds very often participate in IPOs and tend to invest in high technology. And they obviously won't be on the [investor] list, "he noted.

Positive Technologies in 2021 took 15th place in the ranking of the most expensive Runet companies according to Forbes. Its cost in compiling the list was estimated at $580 million, but the company itself estimates itself at $1 billion. By mid-2021, more than 2 thousand companies in 30 countries of the world used Positive Technologies products.^[4]

Preparing for an IPO at the Moscow Exchange

In mid-March 2021, it became known about the plans of Positive Technologies to place their shares on the Moscow Exchange. We are talking about the first IPO of an information security company on the capital's trading platform.

According to Kommersant, Positive Technologies intends to place about 10% of the shares and raise $200-300 million, taking into account the company's estimated valuation of $2-4 billion.

The first information security company on the Moscow Exchange. Positive Technologies prepares for IPO

According to the Telegram channel SecAtor, Positive Technologies estimates itself at $1 billion, but in the ranking of the most expensive Runet companies according to Forbes, it is estimated at $580 million. The fact that Positive Technologies is preparing for an IPO confirms that it is looking for a public relations specialist whose tasks will include "participation in a project to prepare the company for an IPO," Kommersant notes.

By March 2021, shares of technology companies such as Yandex or Mail.ru Group are traded on the Moscow Exchange, but there are no technological security specialists there, Andrei Konusov, general director of Avanpost, told the publication. This is the most promising segment, and the IPO will arouse investor interest, believes Oleg Zhelezko, founder and managing partner of Da Vinci Capital Management.

According to Anton Shulgi, head of the group for work with technological and media companies Deloitte in the CIS, the volume of accommodation is small: perhaps this is how the company wants to provide liquidity for the personnel motivation program. At the same time, competitors Positive Technologies are still skeptical of such plans.

The bureaucratization of public companies often prevents quick decisions, and this is a critical condition for the development of innovations in the cybersecurity market, "said Evgeny Kaspersky, founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab.

According to him, Kaspersky Lab has enough internal resources for financing and does not need to attract additional investments, so it does not plan to list its shares on the stock exchange.^[5]

2020: RUR 500 mln bond issue

On July 16, 2020, Positive Technologies announced plans to issue bonds worth 0.5 billion rubles. Some of the funds raised will go to the international expansion of the Russian manufacturer of information security technologies.

As reported on the company's website, bonds with a 3-year maturity are planned to be placed on the Moscow Exchange by open subscription with an initial focus on large retail investors and package purchases of securities. In total, 500 thousand bonds with a face value of 1000 rubles will be placed, the frequency of coupon payments on them will be 91 days.

Positive Technologies will issue bonds worth 0.5 billion rubles to work abroad

According to Maxim Pustovoy, Operating Director of Positive Technologies, the funds raised during the bond issue will be used in three directions.

• scaling sales of existing products and services both in the main markets in Russia and the CIS, and in the far abroad;
• expanding the portfolio of products and services within the framework of the company's unified solutions platform being developed;
• investment in the development of new, innovative products at an early stage of development.

By the end of 2020, Positive Technologies plans to complete the preparation and audit of the consolidated IFRS reporting, as well as receive a credit rating from one of the Russian agencies. As a result of these actions, it is planned to transfer securities to the second level of listing. At the same time, the exact dates of the company's debut on the Moscow Exchange are not named.^[6]

Notes