Yandex and Tinkoff deal falls through

Discussions over the potential tie-up, which would have increased competition for Russia’s lender Sberbank and smaller rivals in technology and banking, stalled less than four weeks after they were announced by Tinkoff parent TCS Group Holding.

TCS said in a statement it had agreed with Yandex not to proceed with the transaction, but Tinkoff would continue to partner with it on existing and future projects. Yandex shares fell 2.2% in Moscow to USD 59.64 at 14:51 GMT, while TCS Group’s London-listed shares were 1.3% lower, after earlier hitting a three-month low.

TCS and Yandex announced they were in talks on September 22, a few months after Yandex said it was ending its partnership with Sberbank, Russia’s lender. Yandex was interested only in a takeover of Tinkoff, whereas Tinkoff viewed the deal as a merger.