Oleg Tinkov’s proposal to the founder and head of the Yandex group, Arkady Volozh, to merge assets, which at first was perceived as a joke, seems to have led to serious consequences: Yandex reported that negotiations with TCS Group Holding PLC (Tinkoff) on a possible purchase companies.
Yandex confirmed that the company can buy up to 100% of TCS Group. The deal is valued at nearly $5.5 billion, and the Russian tech giant could pay for the purchase either in cash or with its own shares.
According to Kommersant , TCS Group, in addition to Tinkoff Bank, includes Tinkoff Insurance insurance company, Tinkoff Travel service, Tinkoff Capital investment company, Tinkoff Mobile, Tinkoff Development Center and Tinkoff Education. As of August 2020, Tinkoff Bank ranks 16th in Russia in terms of assets, closes the top ten in terms of deposits and the top twenty in terms of loans issued.
40.4% in TCS Group belongs to the founder of Tinkoff Bank Oleg Tinkov, for whom this year is very difficult: he is undergoing treatment for leukemia, suffered from coronavirus and is awaiting a court decision on extradition to the United States, because there he is suspected of hiding assets worth a billion dollars.
Kommersant recalls that Tinkov made a proposal to the founder of Yandex, Arkady Volozh, to merge the business during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last summer. His remark was met with laughter in the hall, and later Yandex claimed that it was not planning to merge.
Nevertheless, rumors about the deal have been circulating on Telegram channels since the end of last week. At first, both companies denied them, but today it became known that these are still not rumors.
The deal still needs to be approved by the owners of Class A shares of Yandex, as well as at the general meeting of shareholders.