Ozon.ru buys Russian online retailer Sapato.ru

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Ozon.ru, Russia's leading shopping website, has bought venture-backed Sapato.ru, an online fashion retailer, for an undisclosed sum to expand its offering to shoes and accessories.

Maelle Gavet, chief executive of Ozon.ru which had sales of $200 million last year, told Reuters on Wednesday that low internet penetration rates in Russia left the market ripe for high growth. "It is almost a blank page," he said.

The deal comes amid increasing investor interest in Russia's internet market, helped by high-profile public listings, such as by Yandex, Russia's largest search engine company, and email service Mail.ru.

Sapato.ru, which has operated for 18 months, has 2.5 million monthly visitors. It has raised $20 million from investors including Fast Lane Ventures and Intel Capital.

Fast Lane Ventures said the deal was "a mutually beneficial transaction for both parties".

Ozon.ru itself raised $100 million last year from a consortium including Japanese online retailer Rakuten and Index Ventures, the biggest private investment into the sector in Russia.