Yandex parent company says first phase of Russia divestment deal is complete
Refiles to fix dropped words in para 7
By Mark Trevelyan and Maxim Rodionov
May 17 (Reuters) -The Dutch parent of tech group Yandex YNDX.O said on Friday it had successfully completed the first phase of a $5.2 billion deal to sell the company, often dubbed "Russia's Google", to a consortium of Russian investors.
The Dutch entity, Yandex NV, said its stake in the Russian business has now been reduced to 28% and that this would fall to zero once the second phase completes in the first half of July.
It plans to invest some of the proceeds in its other businesses and return the rest to its remaining shareholders, probably through a share buyback.
Yandex is Russia's dominant tech company with an array of services including ride-hailing and food delivery as well as online search and advertising, where it has gained market share since Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O stopped selling online ads in Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
But Yandex's international ambitions - including the launch of a worldwide fleet of driverless "robotaxis" - were knocked back by the February 2022 invasion, which also halted the trading of shares in Yandex NV on Nasdaq. Many of its employees have left Russia.
Yandex has also sold its news feed and homepage to state-controlled rival VK VKCOq.L as part of moves to depoliticise its Russian business.
Yandex, which went public on Nasdaq in 2011 through Yandex NV and had many Western investors among its shareholders, will now come under the full control of Russian investors.
It is being bought by a consortium made up of senior Yandex Russian management, a fund controlled by oil major Lukoil LKOH.MM and three other companies owned by businessmen Alexander Chachava, Pavel Prass and Alexander Ryazanov.
The consortium this week announced terms for Yandex NV shareholders to either sell their shares or exchange them for shares in the Russian entity, MKPAO Yandex.
The $5.2 billion sale is the largest deal by a Western-held company to exit Russia since the start of the war. It reflects a mandatory discount of 50%, as required by Russian law for the sale of Russian assets by parent companies in what Moscow considers "unfriendly" countries.
Yandex NV said it expected to rebrand itself and would retain a portfolio of four international businesses plus non-Russian assets, including a Finnish data centre, and minority investments in other tech businesses.
It said it also hoped to resume trading in its shares on Nasdaq.
Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov
Editing by Susan Fenton
Activos relacionados
Últimas noticias
Descargo de responsabilidades: Cada una de las entidades de XM Group proporciona un servicio de solo ejecución y acceso a nuestra plataforma de trading online, permitiendo a una persona ver o usar el contenido disponible en o a través del sitio web, sin intención de cambiarlo ni ampliarlo. Dicho acceso y uso están sujetos en todo momento a: (i) Términos y Condiciones; (ii) Advertencias de riesgo; y (iii) Descargo completo de responsabilidades. Por lo tanto, dicho contenido se proporciona exclusivamente como información general. En particular, por favor tenga en cuenta que, los contenidos de nuestra plataforma de trading online no son ni solicitud ni una oferta para entrar a realizar transacciones en los mercados financieros. Operar en cualquier mercado financiero implica un nivel de riesgo significativo para su capital.
Todo el material publicado en nuestra plataforma de trading online tiene únicamente fines educativos/informativos y no contiene –y no debe considerarse que contenga– asesoramiento ni recomendaciones financieras, tributarias o de inversión, ni un registro de nuestros precios de trading, ni una oferta ni solicitud de transacción con instrumentos financieros ni promociones financieras no solicitadas.
Cualquier contenido de terceros, así como el contenido preparado por XM, como por ejemplo opiniones, noticias, investigaciones, análisis, precios, otras informaciones o enlaces a sitios de terceros que figuran en este sitio web se proporcionan “tal cual”, como comentarios generales del mercado y no constituyen un asesoramiento en materia de inversión. En la medida en que cualquier contenido se interprete como investigación de inversión, usted debe tener en cuenta y aceptar que dicho contenido no fue concebido ni elaborado de acuerdo con los requisitos legales diseñados para promover la independencia en materia de investigación de inversiones y, por tanto, se considera como una comunicación comercial en virtud de las leyes y regulaciones pertinentes. Por favor, asegúrese de haber leído y comprendido nuestro Aviso sobre investigación de inversión no independiente y advertencia de riesgo en relación con la información anterior, al que se puede acceder aquí.
