“Yandex” could buy Otkrytie Bank , but refused the deal, writes Reuters . Previously, the company had previously agreed on the acquisition of Tinkoff Bank , however, this agreement ended up terminated.
According to the agency’s sources, Yandex was approached by The Central Bank , which is now the main shareholder of the lending institution – after sanitizing it through the Banking Sector Consolidation Fund in 2017.
The Central Bank is going to sell Otkritie within the next two years: in whole or in part, directly to the new owner, or through going public through an IPO. The regulator plans to return part of the bank’s rehabilitation costs, which totaled 456.2 billion rubles.
Yandex showed no interest in the Central Bank’s proposal. After the collapse of the deal with Tinkoff Bank, the company intends to independently develop the banking business.
The upcoming deal to acquire Tinkoff Bank by Yandex became known at the end of September. The details of the preliminary agreement were announced by both its participants. The purchase was supposed to amount to $ 5.48 billion, and Yandex was supposed to buy out all 100 percent of the shares of the credit institution.
However, later the deal fell through, and the founder and main shareholder of Tinkoff Bank Oleg Tinkov a > stated that the asset is not for sale.