MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian internet giant Yandex’s Dutch holding company on Friday said it planned to divest ownership and control of most of Yandex Group, with the international divisions of some services to be developed outside Russia.
Yandex N.V. said it had started a “strategic process to review options to restructure the group’s ownership and governance in light of the current geopolitical environment”.
“As part of the intended restructuring of the group, the board anticipates that Yandex N.V. will in due course be renamed, with the business to be divested retaining exclusive rights for the use of the Yandex brand,” Yandex N.V. said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and former finance minister Alexei Kudrin addressed the future of Yandex in a late-night meeting, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Yandex N.V. said the strategic process was at a preliminary stage and that any changes would ultimately require shareholder approval.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
