Yandex has completed the sale of the majority of its Russian assets and will now focus on AI investments and its data center in Finland.
The company announced on Friday that it had sold 72 percent of its holdings in Russia to a consortium of investors for $5.2 billion. The sale of the remaining 28 percent will go through in July, Yandex said.
Once known as “Russia’s Google” due to the breadth of services it offered - from cloud hosting and Internet search to ride-hailing and food delivery - Yandex has been looking for an exit strategy from Russia since the war with Ukraine broke out in 2022.
Now based in the Netherlands, it announced in February it had agreed a deal with the new investor, Consortium.First, which is led by Yandex’s management team in Russia and backed by four investment funds - Argonaut, Infinity Management, IT Elaboration, and Meridian-Servis.
As part of the deal, Yandex’s four Russia-based directors have resigned, with chairman John Boynton remaining at the helm, alongside directors Rogier Rijnja and Charles Ryan.
“As we work towards the second closing of this transaction, we are continuing our preparations for the future of the retained group, which will include a portfolio of four international businesses (Nebius AI, Toloka AI, Avride and TripleTen) and other non-Russian assets, including a cutting-edge data center located in Finland and minority investments in other technology businesses,” Yandex said in a statement.
“We expect to provide updates regarding the new senior management team and their strategy for the retained business in the coming months.”
As part of the deal, Yandex’s operations outside Russia will be given a new name, with the Yandex moniker being retained by Consortium.First.
Once the sale is complete, Yandex hopes shares in the renamed company will be able to resume trading on Nasdaq. They have been suspended since war broke out.
“Although we can provide no assurance, we are hopeful that trading may resume following the successful completion of the divestment,” the company statement said.
As well as its Finland facility, Yandex operated five data centers in Russia which have been sold as part of the deal. The newest of these, a 63MW site in Kaluga Oblast, 200 miles south of Moscow, was due to come online last year. Its four other data centers are based in Vladimir, Sasovo, Ivanteevka, and Mytishchi.
