Nasdaq panel upholds decision to delist HeadHunter, company won't appeal

MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) - A Nasdaq Hearings Panel has upheld a decision to delist the American Depositary Shares (ADS) of HeadHunter (HH) from the U.S. exchange after considering an appeal against the decision by the Russian recruiting service, the company reported in a press release on Wednesday.

HH received the panel's decision on June 6, the company said, adding that it will not appeal the delisting decision a second time.

After the Nasdaq delisting is completed, the Moscow Exchange will remain the main trading market for HH shares.

HH said it is "also considering several strategic alternatives which may be carried out following the delisting, potentially including providing liquidity to the Company's shareholders, redomiciling or restructuring the Company by moving its corporate governance to Russia" from Cyprus. However, the company said it "has not made any definitive plans" to date.

Nasdaq announced in mid-March that it would delist the shares of a number of companies with primary business operations in Russia as of March 24. In addition to HH, notifications were received by Ozon , Qiwi and Yandex . Qiwi and Yandex succeeded in appealing the decision in light of the upcoming restructuring of their businesses. 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.

HH filed a request for a hearing to the Nasdaq Hearings Panel on March 21 to appeal the delisting decision and it was held on April 27.