Yandex and Sberbank Join Forces to Boost eCommerce Development
09 August 2017 - 5:00PM
Yandex and Sberbank announced today that the two companies have
signed a non-binding term sheet to form a joint venture based on
the Yandex.Market platform. The companies intend to combine the
technological capabilities of Yandex and the infrastructure and
technologies of Sberbank to develop a leading eCommerce ecosystem.
The non-binding term sheet provides that Sberbank would invest 30
billion rubles (approximately $500M) into Yandex.Market, valuing it
at 60 billion rubles (approximately $1B) on a post-money basis,
before taking into account any potential future synergies. The two
partners will own equal stakes in the joint venture. Up to ten
percent of the company's shares will be allocated for an equity
incentive pool for Yandex.Market management and employees.
Yandex.Market will continue to operate under the current
management team led by Maxim Grishakov, its Chief Executive
Officer. He will join the board of directors of Yandex.Market,
which will also include three other representatives from Yandex and
three representatives from Sberbank.
“This proposed joint venture will create new benefits for our
users. Sberbank’s banking and payments infrastructure will help us
develop simple and secure payment solutions on the Yandex.Market
platform and will allow us to introduce new features, such as
consumer lending,” said Maxim Grishakov, CEO of Yandex.Market. “The
proposed investment will strengthen Yandex.Market’s position in the
eCommerce segment allowing us improve our logistics capabilities,
accelerate the wide-scale introduction of “Checkout on
Yandex.Market” and enhance our value proposition to domestic and
international merchants,” added Maxim Grishakov.
“Sberbank’s role and contribution in the creation of the leading
eCommerce player are important to the development of the Sberbank
ecosystem, in addition to the economy as a whole. This partnership
opens up new opportunities for Russian producers, eCommerce
players, and small and medium businesses, unlocks opportunities for
Russian exports abroad, and creates a new channel for international
participants in the market. We’ve experienced successful
cooperation with Yandex in other areas and we are excited to expand
our partnership into this new strategic direction,” said Herman
Gref, President and Chairman of the Board of Sberbank of Russia,
and a member of the board of directors of Yandex N.V.
“Over 17 years ago we began developing eCommerce services
simultaneously with our first search services. During this time,
Yandex.Market has changed the way consumers select and buy products
online. eCommerce is rapidly changing and today it's more critical
than ever to provide consumers with the ability to buy products on
one site from multiple sources in a single, seamless transaction.
We are at the center of this transition and we believe that this
partnership with Sberbank will allow us to create substantial
value,” said Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer of Yandex.
Yandex.Market is one of the largest players in the Russian
eCommerce market, with over 100 billion rubles GMV in 2016.
Yandex.Market serves a monthly audience of over 20 million users,
giving them access to over 20,000 domestic and international
merchants and 150 million product offerings.
Sberbank and Yandex have signed a non-binding term sheet with
respect to the proposed joint venture. The transaction
remains subject to the negotiation of definitive documentation and
the completion of Sberbank’s due diligence. If and when definitive
documents are signed, the transaction will be subject to regulatory
approval in the Russian Federation. The parties anticipate
that the transaction will close by the end of 2017. There can be no
assurance that the transaction will ultimately close.
About YandexYandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) is a
technology company that builds intelligent products and services
powered by machine learning. Our goal is to help consumers and
businesses better navigate the online and offline world. Since
1997, we have delivered world-class, locally relevant search and
information services. Additionally, we have developed leading
on-demand transportation services, navigation products, and other
mobile applications for millions of consumers across the globe.
Yandex, which has 17 offices worldwide, has been listed on the
NASDAQ since 2011.
About Sberbank:Sberbank is Russia’s largest
bank and a leading global financial institution. Sberbank holds
almost one third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, it is
the key lender to the national economy and the biggest deposit
taker in Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the
founder and principal shareholder of Sberbank owning 50% of the
Bank's authorized capital plus one voting share, with the remaining
50% held by domestic and international investors. Sberbank has more
than 145 million customers in 22 countries. Sberbank has the
largest distribution network in Russia with almost 15,000 branches,
and its international operations include UK, US, CIS, Central and
Eastern Europe, India, China, Turkey and other countries.The Bank
holds the general banking license No.1481 issued by the Bank of
Russia. Official websites of the Bank: www.sberbank.com (Sberbank
Group website), www.sberbank.ru.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
These include statements regarding the closing of the proposed
joint venture and the potential financial and operational
development of the Yandex.Market business. Actual results may
differ materially from the results predicted or implied by such
statements, and our reported results should not be considered as an
indication of future performance. The potential risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the
results predicted or implied by such statements include, among
others, the risk of failure to reach agreement on definitive
documentation, obtain required regulatory approvals and close the
proposed transaction; macroeconomic and geopolitical developments
affecting the Russian economy; competitive pressures, changes in
user preferences, changes in the political, legal and/or regulatory
environment, technological developments, as well as those risks and
uncertainties included under the captions "Risk Factors" and
"Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" in our Annual Report
on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is on file
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is
available on our investor relations website at
http://ir.yandex.com/sec.cfm and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
All information in this release is as of August 9, 2017, and Yandex
undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by
law.
For press inquiries, please contact:
Yandex press office
Ekaterina Lebedeva, Asya Melkumova
+7 495 739-70-00
pr@yandex-team.ru
Sberbank press office
Alexander Baziyan
+7 495 957-57-21
media@sberbank.ru
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