The country's most popular search engine Yandex NV said Tuesday that its existing shareholders, including co-founder and CEO Arkady Volozh, will sell about 7.4 percent of the firm's shares, a roughly $600 million stake.
Yandex said a total of 24.25 million shares would be offered Tuesday by BC&B Holdings B.V., which holds shares on behalf of Baring Vostok funds; Volozh's affiliate, Belka Holdings; chief technology officer Ilya Segalovich and Emerald Trust.
It did not disclose the price of the offering. Based on Monday's closing price of $25.03 a share, the stake is worth about $607 million.
Yandex will not receive any proceeds from the offering, it said in a statement.
Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are acting as joint bookrunners for the offering and have been granted an option for 30 days to purchase up to an additional 2.4 million shares.
In a separate statement, Yandex also said its board approved a share buyback program for up to 12 million shares, or 3.7 percent of the total, to run between the completion of the secondary share sale and at least Nov. 14, unless extended.
Yandex raised $1.4 billion in an oversubscribed initial public offering priced at $25 per share in New York in May 2011.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
