Yandex is known as€œRussia’s Google€ owing to scores of online services it provides MLU B.V, the joint venture between Yandex, an internet company in Russia and Uber, has agreed to acquire core business of Vezet, a Russian taxi firm, solidifying Yandex’s role as a key online taxi operator in Russia as well as other neighboring countries. Apparently, following investments from various domestic and foreign players in online platforms for businesses car sharing services, ride-sharing and taxi services have boomed in Russia over the past couple of years. Yandex is known as€œRussia’s Google€ owing to scores of online services it provides, ranging from taxi reservations to email and internet search. The company recently said that MLU B.V has reportedly inked an agreement to buy the IP and call centers of Vezet Group in Russia. Uber had Yandex as its rival in the fragmented market for taxi in Russia until the year 2017 when they reportedly teamed up and set up MLU, with Yandex as the controlling shareholder. MLU happens to operate across Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia and several other countries and expanded into several other business that also includes food delivery. MLU has been considered for an initial public offering by Yandex. According to reliable sources, MLU will be issuing new shares in order to pay for the Vezet assets that represent up to 3.6% of company’s issue share capital and nearly $71.5 million in cash. The companies are expecting to close the deal by 2019 end, while further details regarding MLU’s payments for the assets has not been disclosed. Gevork Vermishyan, Megafon chief executive officer, said in an interview that Russia’s taxi market is dominated by Yandex.Taxi and owing to the growing demand for taxis there is more room for other players, especially with the advent of user-friendly online platforms. Apparently, CityMobil, smaller rival to Yandex.Taxi, had secured an investment from Megafon in the previous year. Source Credit- https://in.reuters.com/article/vezet-m-a-yandex/yandexs-joint-venture-with-uber-to-buy-smaller-russian-taxi-firms-assets-idINKCN1UA0R7