OREANDA-NEWS. Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) and Uber announced today an agreement to combine their ridesharing businesses in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus and Georgia into a new company (“NewCo”). Uber will also contribute its UberEATS business in the region to NewCo.

In addition, Uber has agreed to invest $225MM and Yandex has agreed to invest $100MM into NewCo, valuing it at $3.725Bn 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, currently the CEO of Yandex.Taxi, will become the CEO of the combined business.

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.

After the closing of the transaction, 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.

“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,” says Tigran Khudaverdyan of Yandex.Taxi. “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. We are excited to expand on this foundation in collaboration with Uber.”

“Not only is this partnership good news for our two companies, it’s also great for riders, drivers and cities across the region. This deal is a testament to our exceptional growth in the region and helps Uber continue to build a sustainable global business,” says Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Head of Uber in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The boards of directors of both Uber and Yandex have approved the transaction. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q4 of 2017.

Today, Thursday, July 13, 2017, Yandex management will hold a conference call and webcast at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (3:00 p.m. Moscow time, 1:00 p.m. London time) to discuss the transaction. Slides for the presentation are available at: