Yandex agrees $5.5 billion deal for buying Tinkoff Bank

Russia's largest tech company is agreed to buy challenger bank Tinkoff in a $5.5 billion deal. Once it is set, it will be the largest fintech deal in Russia.

The parties have come to an agreement in principle on a transaction that would consist of cash and share consideration worth approximately $5.48 billion or $27.64 per Tinkoff Bank share. The deal would cover 100% of Tinkoff’s share capital.

Yandex's acquisition of Tinkoff Bank is a strategically important decision that will allow it to dominate Russia’s emerging fintech market. Also now Yandex will have a chance to compete with big traditional banks in the market such as Sberbank and VTB. Instead of this, I also want to remind Yandex also owns a Yandex.Money brand, which is Russia's largest electronic payment service. The service is the joint venture of Russia's largest bank Sberbank. So we can not say Yandex unfamiliar with the fintech market.

Tinkoff Bank's parent company TCS Group Holding PLC make a statement regarding media speculation on London Stock Exhange. Immediately following the deal's news, shares in Yandex on Nasdaq spiked around 5 percent today.