Russian tech giant Yandex will buy out 100% of Uber's shares in Yandex.Eats, Yandex.Lavka, and Yandex.Delivery, as well as in the business of self-driving vehicles (passenger cars and Yandex.Rovers), by the end of the year. The deal is estimated at $1 billion.

Yandex will also acquire 4.5% interest in the newly restructured MLU joint venture, which will focus on mobility businesses (ride-hailing and car-sharing), giving Yandex a 71% ownership in the venture. Within two years, Yandex plans to buy out the remaining 29% of Uber’s interest at the price of $2 billion if exercised in September 2023.

In addition, Yandex will get an extension of the current license for the exclusive right to use the Uber brand in Russia and certain other countries until August 2030.

The deal marks the company’s plans to bring all its e-commerce businesses together, according to Daniil Shuleyko, the Head of E-Commerce and Ridetech Business Group of Yandex.

“The consolidation of these businesses puts us in a great position to further increase strategic management flexibility, while creating new substantial growth potential for our businesses and cross-platform consumer benefits over the years to come, allowing us to unlock new sources of value for our shareholders,” the Deputy CEO of Yandex Tigran Khudaverdyan said in a statement.

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Tigran Khudaverdyan, Deputy CEO of Yandex
Daniil Shuleyko, Head of E-Commerce and Ridetech group of Yandex

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Yandex.Eats, Yandex.Lavka, Yandex.Delivery

In 2017, Yandex.Taxi and Uber signed an agreement to merge their businesses and operations in Russia as well as in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, completing the merger in February 2018. Yandex invested $100 million, while Uber contributed $225 million in the new structure.

On the right: company structure before the deal. On the left: company structure after the deal. Courtesy of Yandex.

Original (in Russian)