Yandex has untangled its Dutch entity from its Russian operations in a $5.4 billion deal, the internet search provider announced on Monday - meaning it should be free to pursue customers outside of Vladimir Putin's domain.

The Born-in-Russia Google analog emerged in 1997 amid the dotcom boom, and by 2023 racked up [PDF] $9 billion in annual earnings. By then, the business encompassed not only its core search engine, but maps, navigation, e-commerce, cloud computing, autonomous vehicles and AI services.

The biz moved its IP out of Russia in 2022 - a strategic gambit "in light of the current geopolitical environment."

That's a polite way of saying "Russia is under heavy sanctions and that spells trouble for us."

In August of 2023, about a year after stepping down as CEO, Yandex cofounder Arkady Volozh publicly denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Volozh will reportedly now become the CEO of the remaining Dutch-based business, which has chosen the name Nebius Group. The Yandex brand will no longer be used by the parent company after July 30.

The agreement for the sale of Yandex's Russian business to a Russian consortium was inked on February 4, 2024. Monday's announcement [PDF] celebrated the final closing of the transaction, at which Yandex offloaded its remaining minority stake of approximately 28 percent for $2.8 billion in cash and 162.5 million parent company class A shares.

According to John Boynton, chairman of parent entity Yandex NV, the two-year endeavor to complete the cross-border divestment included the complete redesign of the group's operations.

He declared, "Today's announcement marks the end of a long and complicated chapter in the life of our company. All connections with Russia have now been severed." ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/07/16/yandex_divests_russian_assets/