Russian e-commerce firm Ozon notifies Nasdaq of delisting intention

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian e-commerce firm Ozon said on Friday it had notified Nasdaq of its intention to delist its American depositary shares (ADSs), ending a near-three association with the U.S. exchange.

Ozon, one of Russia's top e-commerce companies, raised nearly $1 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) in late 2020, a debut that sparked a mini-IPO boom for Russian firms.

But trading in Ozon's securities on Nasdaq was suspended soon after Russia despatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022, as were listings of Russian companies on the London Stock Exchange. Ozon had twice appealed unsuccessfully against the delisting

"We have decided to independently delist our securities from the exchange as we have exhausted all available opportunities for appealing the delisting decision," Ozon said in a statement.

"We have no reason to believe that trading of Ozon's ADSs on Nasdaq will resume. This step is aimed at reducing costs associated with providing reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's standards."

Ozon said it planned to file for voluntary delisting by Oct. 30, and that the delisting would not affect its operations.

In late July, Ozon's ADSs began trading on Kazakhstan's Astana International Exchange (AIX), a move that it said could increase liquidity, especially for international investors wanting to trade its securities.

(Reporting by Olga Popova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin Liffey)