Uber’s ride-hailing service in Russia will merge with a much larger competitor, Yandex, the companies announced Thursday, in a deal valued at $3.7 billion. The Russian search giant, which also has a taxi business, will claim majority ownership, and Tigran Khudaverdyan, the chief executive of Yandex’s taxi operations, will lead the new company.
While the deal must first pass regulatory approval, the boards of both companies have already given the green light. Uber will own just under 40 percent of the new business.
The joint venture is the latest sign of the challenges that Uber has faced expanding overseas, experts say, where it has engaged in costly price wars against entrenched local competitors. The Yandex deal ends one uphill battle for Uber in competing against a dominant player overseas, and solidifies a strong position for the company in Russia and Eastern Europe.
“Neither company has to fight the price war anymore,” said Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
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