Know-How by Beeline

2024: Bankruptcy begins

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has initiated bankruptcy proceedings for Mobiland LLC, which develops a network of mobile electronics stores under the Know-how brand. In early October 2024, the Moscow Arbitration Court granted the application of the Federal Tax Service and introduced a monitoring procedure against the debtor.

According to Interfax, the lawsuit was filed by the inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service No. 28 in Moscow and accepted for production in April 2024. At the time of filing the claim, according to Yandex Kart, the network had 47 outlets.

The official page of the Know-how network in VKontakte

The company's financial position has been deteriorating in recent years. According to the financial statements of Mobiland LLC for 2023, the company's revenue fell by 38.1% to ₽233,4 million, and net profit decreased by 26.3% to ₽7,77 million.

Roman Rukavitsyn, leading legal adviser to the dispute resolution practice of the EBR law firm, noted that the tax authority's filing for bankruptcy is not an unconditional basis for closing the chain's stores and terminating operations. However, such a decision could be made by the beneficiaries and management of Mobile due to the risks of bankruptcy.

Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of the analytical company INFOLine-Analytics, considers the bankruptcy of Know-How an expected trend. According to him, most retailers selling mobile devices are now experiencing significant difficulties due to the pressure of marketplaces, the flow of sales online and competition from large federal networks.

Burmistrov also noted that Know-How was historically positioned as a seller of more expensive equipment, and after the departure of a number of international vendors, the company, having lost their marketing support, needed working capital and experienced difficulties in competing with networks owned by mobile operators.^[1][2]

2013

VimpelCom has agreed to purchase the Ion chain of stores, Vedomosti reported in September 2013, citing an employee of one of the competing chains and a source close to the operator. Upon completion of the transaction, the operator intends to transfer all salons to the Know-how brand.

Know-How is a project for the development of electronic retail, which VimpelCom launched in 2012 together with Ion. The partners intended to open stores in large cities with an area of ​ ​ more than 100 square meters. m, in which digital equipment would be sold and at the same time the Beeline service office would work.

Uu "Iona" 90 own stores, they operate mainly on the territory of shopping centers in Moscow and the Moscow region. According to data provided to Yandex Market, the brand belonged to Mobiland LLC, which, according to the SPARK network, belongs to a private person - Alexei Bachurin, who is the company's general director. From the reporting provided by the company, it follows that its revenue in 2011 under RAS amounted to 746.869 million rubles, and net profit - 1.126 million rubles.

In December 2013, VimpelCom (Beeline trademark) and ION's network of communication salons announced joint cooperation. As part of the agreement concluded by the parties, all ION salons will be transferred to the Know-How from Beeline co-brand. And after a certain period, VimpelCom will have the right to exercise an option to buy a controlling stake in this network, added ION Commercial Director Alexander Bolotov. The financial terms of cooperation were not disclosed^[3]

As a result of the transaction, the ION brand will cease to exist. The services of any cellular operators except Beeline will not be offered in these salons, although earlier ION actively collaborated with Megafon.

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