Dutch Yandex N.V. sells Yandex to private investors

The Dutch company Yandex N.V. has concluded a deal to sell the business of the Russian Yandex to a consortium of private investors and managers of the company. The amount of the transaction amounted to 475 billion rubles (more than 5 billion dollars – ed.), Azernews reports, citing the company's press release.

Yandex N.V. will cease to be the parent company of the group. By July 31, 2024, it will change its name and stop using Yandex brands.

The new parent company of Yandex will be the international company Joint Stock Company (MKAO) YANDEX, a private independent company whose shares will be traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

According to the authors of the message, Yandex will retain the businesses, services and assets of the Yandex N.V. group with the exception of foreign startups (Nebius, Toloka, Avride and TripleTen) and a data center in Finland. Yandex will grant Yandex N.V. limited rights to use some of its technologies until the end of 2024.

The main owner of the MKAO "Yandex" will be a Closed-end Mutual Investment Fund (ZPIF)

"The first one is headed by Yandex managers, among other shareholders is the structure of the LUKOIL Group. None of the shareholders has a controlling stake," the press release notes.

The Yandex management team, united in the Managers Fund, will receive special shareholder rights and the right of veto when making decisions on special issues at the board of Directors and the general meeting of shareholders. The shareholders of Yandex N.V. and regulatory authorities should agree on the sale of the Yandex business, the conclusion says.

It should be noted that against the background of the news about the sale of the Yandex business, the company's shares fell by 9.3 percent at the beginning of trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange on Monday, February 5.