Sberbank of Russia : and Yandex close deal to split their assets

Under the terms of the deal, Sberbank has bought out a 25%+1 stake in Yandex.Money for a consideration of RUB2.4 bn at a substantial discount to the market value as the deal was closed at the price according to the shareholder agreement Sberbank and Yandex signed in 2013.

Yandex.Market B.V., which operates in Russia under the brands Yandex.Market, Beru, Superchek, etc., is being handed over in its entirety to Yandex. The value of the transaction is RUB42 bn. The aggregate pre-tax profit of the deal for Sberbank has reached around RUB20 bn.

Herman Gref remains a member of the Yandex Board of Directors until Yandex holds its shareholder meeting where a new Yandex BoD will be elected. However, he does not intend to be part of Yandex's governance board in the future.

Yandex.Money e-payment service will keep operating in the ordinary course of business. Until the end of the year Yandex.Money is set to do a rebrand and approve its development strategy.

Lev Khasis, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank:

'Building an ecosystem is a constant and live process. For us, this reorganization opens up new opportunities for the development of a strategically important e-commerce area and removes several restrictions previously outlined in the Sberbank-Yandex agreements. Yandex.Money has been offering services to businesses and individuals since 2002, it has a huge audience, and we do understand that for many users this service has long become an integral part of their everyday lives. The company will keep evolving further, offering new and convenient solutions for everyday needs of individual customers and businesses.'

Ivan Glazachev, CEO, Yandex.Money:

'The history of projects we ran jointly with Sberbank has proven that they are called-for and enjoy remarkable success among our customers. Among these projects I'd like to highlight the platform for B2B payments and merchant acquiring for corporate customers, as well as our partnership in wallet reloading and user identification. We strive to make our service as seamless, convenient, and useful as possible while seeing huge potential for future growth of the current line of services, as well as creation of new and unique financial products.'

Yandex.Money is a leading e-payments service in Russia. Holding a leading position across B2B and B2C segments, Yandex.Money's e-wallet is utilized by 54.7% online users in Russia (Mediascope, 2020), while Yandex.Checkout is used by 38% of Russian websites (MARC, 2019). Yandex.Money's business enjoyed a several-fold increase after Sberbank acquired its controlling interest. In 2019, the company's turnover soared 13 times to reach RUB502.7 bn, while its EBITDA saw a 16-fold increase to rise to RUB2.9 bn. The company's net profit in 2019 stood at RUB1.9 bn, and its net assets were worth RUB6.9 bn as of December 31, 2019. The company's own funds in its accounts exceeded RUB6 bn.