May 19 (Reuters) – Technology company Yandex (YNDX.O) It has received bids from Russian billionaires for a stake in about half of the company’s domestic business, worth more than $7 billion, Bloomberg News reported Friday.
Yandex did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Vagit Alekperov had offered at least a 51% controlling stake in Russia’s Yandex business, valued at about 560 billion rubles ($7.21 billion) to 600 billion rubles.
The report added that Yandex’s board of directors may discuss bids next week when it meets in Dubai.
Bloomberg said the Kremlin would need to sign off on the final group of buyers.
Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Yandex, often dubbed the “Russian Google,” has struggled to balance pressure from Western investors and is appealing to the Nasdaq plan. to cross out its stock.
Yandex’s main advertising competitor, Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O)stopped selling online advertising in Russia last year.
The company also sold its news aggregation platform Yandex News and content recommendation service Yandex Zen to its Russian rival VK. (VKCOq.L) in 2022.
($1 = 77.7205 rubles)
(Reporting by Marinmay Day in Bengaluru); Editing by Savio D’Souza
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