Ozon has decided to sublease its premises.

Following its NASDAQ IPO, the marketplace planned to significantly increase its headcount, so in 2021 it signed leases for additional offices, planning to transfer employees to them this year. However, the expansion was postponed, and Ozon decided to sublease its 50,000 square meters of space in various Moscow coworking spaces.

As office real estate analysts commented on the situation, this decision could be perceived as forced. Terminating contracts can result in significant losses for tenants. Specifically, Lyudmila Lukyanova of Forward Legal explained that landlords typically stipulate in the contract that the tenant must pay a penalty equal to several months' rent. This is precisely the amount of time it typically takes to sign a contract with a new tenant. Therefore, if the contract does not allow for unilateral termination, Ozon could face a penalty of approximately 9 billion rubles. Experts calculated that the cost of one workstation in the leased spaces is 35,000-40,000 rubles, and the company intended to accommodate 6,500 of its employees.

According to Kommersant's sources, the marketplace's management decided to resubmit:

• 24,600 sq. m. in the Business Club (a coworking space located in the Iskra-Park business center in the North-Eastern Administrative District), where it was planned to create jobs for 3,500 employees;

• 23,000 square meters in a building on Ovchinnikovskaya Embankment, owned by Enka, intended for another 3,000 employees.

The company planned to expand its staff and began searching for a 220,000 square meter property to house its headquarters. It plans to move there by 2025. However, the search has not yet been successful. Meanwhile, Ozon signed three-year leases for space in various districts of the capital. It was granted 8,200 square meters of space in Moscow City coworking spaces, including F2 ( Federation Tower ) and Space 1 ( Mercury Tower ). Today, the marketplace operates approximately 85,000 square meters.

Ozon's main shareholders are AFK Sistema and Baring Vostok. However, the company's performance may not have been as successful as planned. Its shares have fallen 38.84% in 2021, resulting in a current price of $18.11 per share. Back in November 2020, the marketplace's CEO, Alexander Shulgin, stated that Ozon was unprofitable, a status that would not change for a couple of years.

According to independent expert Andrey Novikov, it will be impossible to quickly find a legal entity capable of subleasing such a large amount of office space. Ksenia Kharkevich, Director of the Office Real Estate Department at ILM, holds a contrary position. She believes that the Iskra Park offices will be quickly leased, as there is currently a shortage of occupancy-ready space on the market. However, she believes that if Ozon had the legal ability to terminate the lease, it would not have refused. According to CBRE, the vacancy rate in the complexes where Ozon's leased offices are located does not exceed 6%, and there are no options larger than 20,000 square meters available.

Initially, all counterparties declined to comment on this matter. However, Evgeny Ovchinnikov, Ozon's Director of Real Estate, later reported that the initial contracts with landlords already included the possibility of subsequently subleasing the premises. He added that the company had considered this as a potential scenario.