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Russian technology giant Yandex on Thursday said, “It has entered into a binding agreement with Sberbank to reorganize two of their joint ventures: Yandex.Market, and Yandex.Money.”
In a statement issued, Yandex said, “As per the partnership, Yandex will hold 100 percent shares of Yandex.Market with an equity incentive pool set aside for Yandex.Market management. Whereas, Sberbank will hold 100 percent ownership of Yandex.Money.”
“Yandex.Money service will be rebranded by the end of 2020. Yandex and Sberbank will each continue to provide certain transition services to Yandex.Money and Yandex.Market, respectively, for a period of time following completion,” the statement added.
Adding to the statement the company further said, “Upon completion of the transaction any e-commerce and financial services non-compete obligations between Yandex and Sberbank will be terminated. Maxim Grishakov will remain the Chief Executive Officer of Yandex.Market.”
Speaking on the development, Tigran Khudaverdyan, Deputy CEO of Yandex in his statement said, “We see great strategic potential in the full integration of e-commerce services into the Yandex ecosystem, unlocking significant synergies between Yandex.Market and other Yandex services. We aim to make Yandex.Market one of the leading e-commerce players in Russia, by significantly expanding its assortment, making ordering quick and easy, ensuring faster delivery times, and leveraging our existing logistics infrastructure, as well as our technological know-how.”
Adding to the statement Greg Abovsky, COO & CFO of Yandex said, “We are grateful to Sberbank for their expertise and productive cooperation, which was instrumental in supporting Yandex.Market’s successful development over the last two years. Given the great potential for further growth of e-commerce in Russia, we believe now is the right time for us to fully consolidate operating control over Yandex.Market and accelerate our e-commerce strategy.”
“At the same time, by exiting the Yandex.Money Joint Venture, we enhance our strategic flexibility with respect to opportunities in payments and financial services. The equity offering we are separately announcing today will give us the firepower we need to build one of the leading e-commerce players in Russia, while also maintaining the flexibility to pursue other strategic opportunities,” he added.
“The price comparison service and the marketplace will continue to operate without any changes for our users or merchant partners,” the company said.