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Yandex.Taxi and Uber to close merger deal after New Year holidays

Yandex.Taxi and Uber announced earlier that the companies agreed to combine their taxi businesses in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan in July 2017

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. Yandex.Taxi and Uber will close the deal to merge the businesses after the New Year holidays. According to Yandex, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has approved the agreement between the companies to combine their ride-sharing businesses in Russia.

"To ensure the smooth operation of services for users and drivers, the parties will close the deal after the New Year and Christmas holidays in January 2018," the company said.

According to Yandex, the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of Belarus has also approved the deal in the country. "The decision of the antimonopoly service of Kazakhstan is still pending," the company said.

Yandex.Taxi and Uber announced earlier that the companies agreed to combine their taxi businesses in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan in July 2017.

According to the report from Yandex, both Yandex.Taxi and Uber app will operate as before, driver apps, on the other hand, will be transitioned to a unified platform. "This combined driver platform will significantly increase the number of available cars, reduce passenger wait time, and boost vehicle utilization. Drivers will be able to perform more trips per hour while passengers will continue to enjoy affordable prices," the company said.

The new company will also operate the UberEATS service in the region.

According to earlier reports, Uber will invest $225 mln and Yandex will invest $100 mln into the joint venture, valuing it at $3.725 bln on a post-money basis. "On a pro forma basis, Yandex will own 59.3% of the merged company, Uber will own 36.6%, and employees will own 4.1%," Yandex said.

Yandex does not rule out the initial public offering (IPO) for the new Yandex.Taxi and Uber and company, Yandex press service told TASS.