PRESS: Analysts say Yandex may dissolve owners’ stakes for new bill

MOSCOW, Oct 15 (PRIME) -- Russian Internet company Yandex could skirt the foreign capital limit stipulated by the bill, currently considered by the parliament, if it issues a new class of shares to dissolve shareholders’ stakes, business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday, referring to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report.

The analysts said the company could align its structure with the suggested regulation if it issues class C shares. The bill seeks to cap foreign capital in significant information resources with 20%.

At present, Yandex’ capital is split into shares of class A and class B. The class A accounts for 88.3% of economic interest and 43.1% of voting interest. Foreign shareholders have 42% of votes in Yandex.

The government may be worried by class B shares, a big stake of which belongs to the company’s founder Arkady Volozh. Class B shares cannot be transferred or sold to third parties.

The bank suggests converting a class B share into a class A share and a class C share, which will have nine votes apiece. The move will need an approval of 75% of holders of class A shares. Yandex could also start buying shares from the market, and the company has U.S. $1.2 billion for this, the analysts said.

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