Online cab-hailing company Uber and Russian search engine major Yandex have agreed to merge their taxi-hailing businesses in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Georgia. The agreement will also include the food delivery business UberEATS. Uber will invest $225 million into the merged entity for a 36.6% stake. On the other hand, Yandex will invest $100 million for a majority 59.3% stake. The remaining 4.1% stake will be held by employees of the merged entity on an FD basis. The new company will initially operate in 127 cities across these six countries, and serve over 35 million trips per month. Currently, Uber operates in 16 cities in Russia and 5 cities in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan, with no operations in Armenia and Georgia. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in Q4 of this year. The Uber app and Yandex Taxi will continue to operate independently for the time being, while the driver apps will be integrated after the deal closes. Yandex Taxi's Tigran Khudaverdyan will become the CEO of the merged entity. Uber launched operations in Russia in 2014, and in these three years has invested around $170 million. Head of Uber’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty said: Combining Yandex’s local expertise in search, maps and navigation with our leading global experience in ridesharing will enable us to build the best local services and provide a credible alternative to car ownership across the region. It's worth noting that just a couple of…
