Yandex, Uber to merge online taxi hailing businesses in Russia, CIS

MOSCOW, Jul 13 (PRIME) -- Internet giant Yandex and U.S.-headquartered Uber have agreed to merge their ridesharing businesses in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan into a company, called NewCo, where Uber will contribute its UberEATS business in the region, Yandex said on Thursday

Uber will invest U.S. $225 million, and Yandex will contribute $100 million into NewCo, valuing it at $3.725 billion on a post-money basis. After these investments, and subject to certain adjustments at closing, NewCo will be owned approximately 59.3% by Yandex, 36.6% by Uber, and 4.1% by employees of the company, on a fully diluted basis.

Tigran Khudaverdyan, CEO of Yandex.Taxi, will become the CEO of the combined business.

“This combination greatly enhances Yandex’s ability to offer better quality service to our riders and drivers, to quickly expand our services to new regions, and to build a sustainable business,” Khudaverdyan said. “The combined companies currently perform over 35 million rides a month while growing over 400% year-over-year. Since founding Yandex.Taxi in 2011, we have connected tens of millions of riders and drivers to become the largest and most trusted ridesharing business in Russia and neighboring countries.”

Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said, “This deal is a testament to our exceptional growth in the region and helps Uber continue to build a sustainable global business.”

The boards of directors of both Uber and Yandex approved the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in October–December.

“NewCo will draw on the strengths of Yandex, the search, maps and navigation leader in the region, and Uber, the global ridesharing leader, to develop a fast-growing, sustainable business that best serves the needs of riders, drivers and cities,” Yandex said.

After the closing of the deal, consumers will be able to use both Yandex and Uber apps while the driver-side apps will be integrated, leading to shorter passenger wait times, increased driver utilization rates, and higher service reliability.

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