UPDATE: Yandex owners approve Public Interest Foundation, priority share

(Adds details in last two paragraphs)

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (PRIME) -- The shareholders of Russian Internet company Yandex have approved restructuring of the group’s corporate governance, comprising creation of a Public Interest Foundation (PIF) with a priority share, the company said on Friday in a statement.

“We are grateful for the trust our investors have placed in us, and for such overwhelming support for the changes that the board proposed last month,” said John Boynton, chairman of the board. “This trust springs from our adherence to the highest standards of governance, and we are pleased to have built such strong relationships with our many stakeholders.”

Alexei Komissarov and Alexei Yakovitsky were appointed as non-executive members of the board of directors for terms ending at the annual general meeting to be held in 2023.

The PIF has no economic rights, but some limited governance rights. The company’s Priority Share, currently held by the country’s top lender Sberbank, will be transferred to the PIF and its terms will be amended.

The amended Priority Share will give the PIF the right to block accumulation by a single entity, or a group of related parties acting in concert, of shares representing 10% or more of economic or voting interests in Yandex, compared with the current threshold of 25%.

The Priority Share will also give the PIF the right to make binding nominations of two members of the Yandex NV 12-person board.

The shareholders also approved purchasing the Priority Share from Sberbank for the PIF.

Yandex will introduce the amendments into its corporate structure by the end of March 2020.

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