Nasdaq allows Yandex to keep listing subject to business restructuring by end of year
MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) - Nasdaq has granted Yandex's appeal against its delisting decision, the Russian tech company said in a statement.
The suspension of trading from February 28, 2022, remains in effect.
The decision to preserve the listing is subject partly to Yandex carrying out its restructuring, involving the splitting of its Russian and international businesses, by the end of this year.
Nasdaq has rejected Russian online marketplace Ozon's appeal against the forced delisting of its American Depositary Shares. The company plans to file a second appeal within two weeks.
Nasdaq said on March 15 that it would delist a number of companies with primary business operations in Russia as of March 24. Notifications were received by Headhunter and Qiwi as well as Ozon and Yandex. In addition, the New York Stock Exchange announced the start of the delisting process for the ADR of Cian Plc, the parent company of Russian online real estate classifieds platform Cian.
Yandex appealed against the delisting decision on March 21. The Nasdaq Hearings Panel heard the appeal on April 27.
Last November, Yandex announced a potential corporate restructuring in which the Russian business would be handed over to management, while Netherlands-based parent company Yandex N.V . might divest its stake in the Russian business. It would also get the international parts of the cloud, autonomous vehicles, education and crowdsourcing businesses. These businesses will also continue to operate in Russia, but under the management of the Russian company.
Yandex said officially for the first time in May that it had received proposals from potential investors for the acquisition of an economic interest in the businesses, and that control will remain in the hands of management. A final decision on the potential composition of investors has yet to be made.
Yandex's largest shareholder is a family trust established by company cofounder Arkady Volozh, which holds 8.5% of Yandex equity and 45.1% of votes. Volozh decided in June 2022 that he would not instruct the trustee as to how to vote such shares going forward and that the trustee would vote such shares in accordance with the recommendations of the board of directors.
The company's free float is 87.9% or 46.5% of votes.