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Deal with Yandex provides for preservation of Tinkoff brand — banker Tinkov

The integration of the companies will be minimal, according to the Tinkoff Bank founder

MOSCOW, September 23. / TASS /. Banker Oleg Tinkov told TASS on Wednesday that the deal with Yandex provides for the preservation of the Tinkoff brand and the entire bank team.

The integration of the companies will be minimal, Tinkov asserted.

"The deal is still under negotiation ... It provides for the preservation of the Tinkoff brand and the complete preservation of the team with a minimum of integration with Yandex. We see huge synergies in the merger with Yandex, while for clients everything will be the same and even better, like in the case of the Facebook-Instagram deal," he said.

Tinkov added that together with the current chairman of the board of TCS Group, Oliver Hughes, he will continue to develop the bank in Russia. "Oliver and I, and the whole team, remain in the company and will continue to build the coolest and largest private bank in the country," Tinkov said.

At the same time, banker Oleg Tinkov clarified that the possible deal with Yandex would more likely be a merger than a sale. "Now about "selling the bank"...I have not sold anything yet, the deal is being discussed. And this is not a sale, but rather a merger, I respect Yandex immensely, we are the two best IT companies in the country and there may be a lot of synergies!" Tinkov wrote.

The banker also added that he remains at Tinkoff Bank and will continue to be engaged in its activities. "I will definitely stay at Tinkoff Bank and will be engaged in its activities, nothing will change for clients, it will rather become even better," he added.

On September 22, it was announced that Yandex had negotiated acquisition of Tinkoff Bank with TCS Group, the parent company of the bank. The transaction amount will be $5.48 bln or $27.64 per bank share. Yandex confirmed in its turn that the company is holding talks with TCS Group on possible acquisition of 100% in Tinkoff Bank. Final terms of the deal will depend on satisfactory completion of the due diligence and negotiation of final documents, the company added.

On April 2, 2020, Oleg Tinkov left the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tinkoff Bank due to health problems. In March, the banker announced that he was diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia.