Yandex NV (YNV), the Dutch parent of Russian technology firm Yandeks, has completed the sale of its technology businesses in Russia for about $5.4 billion to a consortium of Russian investors. It completed the biggest corporate exit from Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine more than two years ago, Reuters reported today.
No more stake in Russia
The Netherlands-based Yandex specified that it had sold its remaining minority stake of 28 percent as part of the second part of the deal. It received a total of 2.8 billion USD in cash and 162.5 million YNV Class A shares. It has thus fully divested its remaining stake in the Russian companies. YNV shares are traded on the US Nasdaq market, but trading there is suspended due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.
After the sale, YNV was left with four businesses focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in the cloud, data tagging, self-driving cars and education technology. It would continue to operate under the name Nebius Group.
The deal is the result of approximately two years of negotiations. It faced various hurdles and complications, from a mandatory 50 percent discount on the price, as required by Russian law for the sale of Russian assets by parent companies from countries Moscow considers hostile, to the risk of nationalization.
Russia’s Jandeks
Jandeks is a dominant Russian technology company with a range of services that include ride-sharing and food delivery, as well as Internet searches and advertising. The company’s international ambitions, including a plan to launch robotaxi, a driverless taxi service, globally, were thwarted by the February 2022 invasion, which also halted trading in Yandex NV shares on the Nasdaq market in New York.
Yandex, which entered the Nasdaq market in 2011 through its parent company, had a number of Western investors among its shareholders. It has now come under the full control of investors from Russia. Its owner is a consortium made up of managers from Russia’s Jandeks, a fund controlled by oil company Lukoil and three other companies owned by businessmen Alexander Chachava, Pavel Prass and Alexander Ryazanov.
Source: ČTK
