Yandex.Taxi and Uber announced the closing of a deal to combine businesses in Russia and several CIS countries. Compared to previously announced plans, the valuation of the new company has increased by more than $75 million

Photo: Natalia Seliverstova / RIA Novosti

According to a message received by RBC, Yandex, Yandex.Taxi and Uber closed a deal to combine the business of companies in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan.

In the combined company, Yandex received 59.3% of the shares, Uber - 36.9%, employees of the new structure - 3.8%. Uber invested $225 million in the new company, Yandex — $100 million.

Tigran Khudaverdyan, who previously headed Yandex.Taxi, became the CEO of the new company. The board of directors includes four representatives from Yandex and three from Uber.

The companies agreed to merge businesses in several CIS countries in July 2017. Initially, it was assumed that the distribution of shares in the company would be somewhat different: 59.3% of the new structure would belong to Yandex, 36.6% to Uber, and 4.1% to its employees. It was assumed that as a result of the transaction, "Yandex" will receive a small stake global business Uber. At the end of November 2017, the deal was signed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Initially, the cost of the merged company was estimated at $3.725 billion. The Yandex report states that now this figure is “estimated at more than $3.8 billion.” As a representative of Yandex explained, the new estimate was formed “taking into account cash Money which the combined company will be able to dispose of. As a result of the closing of the transaction, her accounts will have more than $400 million.

As representatives of the companies previously explained, after the transaction, both of their applications will continue to exist. However, the merger should improve the quality of services of both companies. As their representatives explained, a single technological platform will be created for taxi companies and drivers, which should increase the number of cars available for order fulfillment, reduce the time for their delivery, reduce idle mileage, and increase the reliability and availability of the service as a whole.

The united company "Yandex.Taxi" and Uber will not only transport passengers, but also deliver food from restaurants - the UberEATS service was included in the deal. In addition, in December 2017, Yandex.Taxi closed a deal to buy food delivery service Foodfox. According to RBC, the purchase of Foodfox cost Yandex.Taxi about 500 million rubles.

According to the analytical center under the Russian government, the volume of the taxi market in Russia in the last couple of years has increased by 14.2% annually and at the end of 2017 amounted to 575 billion rubles. The authors of the study call the group of companies "Vezet" the largest player in the market with a share of 12.3% - it was created by combining Fasten Russia taxi services (operating under the brands "Saturn" and RedTaxi) and "Vezet" (brands RuTaxi, "Leader", "Lucky"). The total share of Yandex.Taxi and Uber at the end of the year amounted to 10.4% of the market, which means that their combined structure will take second place in the market. It is followed by Maxim with 7.6% of the market, and then Gett with a 2.5% share. In general, aggregators still occupy only 32.8% of the taxi market in Russia, the remaining share falls on the traditional offline ordering market.

"" and signed an agreement to merge online travel booking businesses in Russia, as well as in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan, according to a Yandex blog. Against the backdrop of the deal, Yandex shares rose more than 12% in NASDAQ preliminary trading. Quotations on the Moscow Exchange grew by more than 14%.

Under the terms of the agreement, Uber and Yandex will invest $225 million and $100 million, respectively, in the new company, valuing it at $3.725 billion. Taking into account these investments and possible adjustments, at the time of closing the transaction, 59.3% of the company will be owned by Yandex, 36, 6% for Uber and 4.1% for employees. The companies expect to close the deal in the fourth quarter of 2017, after regulatory approval. Tigran Khudaverdyan, CEO of Yandex.Taxi, will head the company.

The new company will use Yandex technologies and knowledge in the field of cartographic and navigation services and search engines and Uber's track record as the world's leading online ride-sharing service. The companies also entered into a roaming agreement, according to which you can order an Uber taxi from the Yandex application and vice versa.

Khudaverdyan said that both service applications will remain available for ordering trips, and drivers will be combined into a single platform. According to him, this will increase the number of available cars and reduce the waiting time for an order. According to him, the companies want to build together "personal public transport" - an alternative to a personal car, buses or the subway.

“We will also continue to develop the technology of an unmanned vehicle, the first successes of which were published a few weeks ago. We use the many years of accumulated experience of our engineers, their knowledge in computer vision, pattern recognition and machine learning. I hope that soon there will be something to brag about,” noted Khudaverdyan.

"This combination benefits not only both companies, but most importantly - users, drivers and cities - also said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Koti, head of Uber in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. - This transaction confirms the exceptional growth of Uber in the region and will help in the further formation of sustainable international business".

The combined company will cover 127 cities in six countries and carry out about 35 million trips per month worth 7.9 billion rubles, Yandex calculated. In addition, the UberEATS food delivery service, recently launched in Moscow, will continue to develop in the new company and will use the Yandex.Maps walking routing technology.

Uber came out on Russian market in November 2013 in Moscow, by July 2017 the American service can be used in almost 20 Russian cities. Yandex.Taxi was launched in Moscow in October 2011. Currently Yandex.Taxi operates in more than 100 major cities in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan.

Uber did a similar merger in China in 2016. The service has merged Chinese business Uber China with its main local competitor Didi Chuxing. Then the companies merged on the Didi Chuxing platform, which received the Uber China brand, business and company data, and Uber received a stake in the joint venture.

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Not so long ago, the most popular taxi ordering services on the Russian market through special applications Uber and Yandex.Taxi informed the public about their merger. Despite this, both services continue to run using different software. Therefore, it is not surprising that people who often use the services of taxi services continue to argue about which is better: Uber or Yandex.Taxi.

In order to understand which company offers its customers best service and the best prices, you need to take a closer look at the specifics of Uber and Yandex.Taxi, as well as compare these companies with other services, for example, Gett.

Uber or Yandex.Taxi: which service is better

Uber is a leader not only in the Russian taxi market, but also in many countries around the world, including the United States. In general, this service works according to a very simple algorithm. To order a taxi, the client just needs to go to a special application, and then press a few buttons.

In addition, it should be noted that the current policy of Uber, focused on passengers, involves the presentation of high requirements for drivers and vehicles. Thanks to this approach, this taxi service provides a high level of service, safety and comfort of passenger transportation.

As for Yandex.Taxi, this is one of the largest domestic taxi companies operating in many Russian cities. In general, it works by analogy with Uber. Therefore, in order to call a taxi from Yandex, you need to use a special free branded application, which also allows you to pay for taxi services online using bank card or a wallet in the Yandex.Money system.

Despite the similarity of these services, they are still somewhat different from each other. At the same time, they offer an almost identical list of services and a list of vehicle classes available for order. Therefore, it is difficult to understand which of these services is better, since the difference in the quality of service and the cost of the trip will depend on many factors.

Analysis of the cost of services on the example of Moscow

It is quite understandable that most people who regularly use online taxi services want to find out which is cheaper: Uber or Yandex.Taxi. When comparing the cost of a trip on the same routes in Uber and Yandex in Moscow, it turns out that, despite the cheaper tariff scale in Yandex, the cost of taxi services in Uber comes out cheaper. Therefore, we can say unequivocally that using Uber services is more profitable, although, at first glance, it may seem that Yandex is the cheapest taxi.

In addition, the study determined that a ride in a premium car ordered from Uber costs almost the same amount as an order. vehicle economy class in Yandex.

The fact that there are differences in the cost of transportation is even more strange and surprising, given that Yandex and Uber are already representatives of a single commercial structure. True, it should be noted that, despite the merger of these services, they continue to work using their own applications.

Important! The good news is the recent statement by a Yandex representative that within the next year the development is expected to be completed and the subsequent launch of a single application for these taxi services based on Yandex.Taxometr. Thus, there will be an expansion of the customer base for drivers, which will lead to the formation of uniform tariffs for taxi services and their reduction in price.

Where is the quality of service

On the Uber website, you can’t find information about any more or less specific numbers, which is perhaps a more correct and honest approach. The creators of this company focus on the fact that their drivers can work according to their own schedule, being completely independent of their superiors. The registration process in this service is extremely simple and fast. At the same time, this company can even provide a taxi driver mobile phone with a proprietary application already installed. After the end of registration, the driver can take his first order to receive the first live money. It is important to note that the Uber algorithm does not imply the possibility of servicing customers for cash, so the driver will have to wait for payments by the system before feeling the hard-earned cash in the hands of the taxi.

Having made such a superficial comparison, we can conclude that each company has both advantages and disadvantages. True, a driver who works on his own car, in any case, can count on a good income in a taxi, regardless of whose application he will use for work. If we are talking about taxi drivers using rented cars, then their financial situation will be much more difficult. In any case, you need to remember that the Internet audience is used to focusing on the shortcomings, forgetting to talk about the merits.

To increase the chances of increasing income while working in Yandex.Taxi, you need to make as many economy class trips as possible, which will speed up the process of obtaining Premium status. With this status, the driver will be able to count on receiving from the system more profitable orders.

At Uber, the average cost of orders is lower, but this is offset by their number, which is due to the high popularity of Uber.

A joint venture with Yandex to order a taxi in Russia has so far brought Uber only losses. The companies merged at the beginning of last year, but instead of making a profit, the transport giant missed $42 million. Why the Russian-American taxi service did not live up to the hopes of investors and passengers, 360 understood.

American Uber company Technologies reported its earnings for 2018. According to tax records, she earned $11.3 billion for a net income of $997 million. At the same time, the operating expenses of the taxi aggregator increased by 8% compared to the previous year - up to three billion dollars.

One of these cost items was cooperation with the Russian partner Yandex.Taxi for the corporation. For the year, Uber made a net loss of $42 million after merging with Yandex. Currently, the American transport giant owns 38% in the enterprise. Under the terms of the deal, Uber has no right to sell its shares in the joint company without the consent of the Russian partner until 2021. Also, until 2025, the American company is prohibited from competing with Yandex in the CIS and opening its own taxi service.

The choice of these dates is not accidental, analysts interviewed by 360 explain. With the current traffic volumes and integration with other services, for example, Yandex.Food, the company will be in plus only by 2021, Timur Nigmatullin, an analyst at the market analysis department of Otkritie Broker JSC, believes. “Despite all the efforts of top management, the service still does not bring profit to its owners. Totally agree last year its net loss exceeded 4.4 billion rubles. In fact, the company with a revenue of 19 billion rubles continues to be unprofitable, ”the source of 360 notes.

Meanwhile, the analyst does not exclude that in the next couple of years, the affairs of the joint Russian-American offspring will go uphill. “In the fourth quarter of last year, Yandex.Taxi showed a loss of only 129 million rubles. I do not rule out that in the first quarter of this year it will go to zero and show profit this summer or autumn. The merger with Uber has radically reduced competition in the taxi market in Russia. In addition, the adaptive period is over, so shareholders will soon begin to receive dividends from investments,” Nigmatullin is sure, emphasizing that a change in management strategy will help improve the company's performance.

The point is that in terms of corporate governance Uber also has a number of restrictions. For example, the Americans do not have a controlling influence on the board of directors, that is, Yandex can make key decisions without the consent of its overseas partners. In addition, the company is not represented in the management of the combined entity and is not involved in the day-to-day management of the field business.

Market for two

Uber and Yandex.Taxi created a joint taxi ordering company in Russia and the CIS back in February 2018. Under the terms of the merger, passengers continued to order taxis in each of the applications, although drivers received orders through a single platform. Passengers can use taxi services not only on the territory of the Russian Federation, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

As 360 was told in the company's press service, at the moment Uber Russia has become available in 150 regions of Russia. “Investments in Uber Russia, including discounts for users, motivational programs for drivers and advertising, will exceed two billion rubles in 2019,” the representative explained, declining to provide information about financial reporting joint venture with Uber.

At the time of closing the deal, Uber and Yandex had invested $225 million and $100 million respectively in the project. In addition, Uber management issued two million of its shares to Yandex at a price of $26 a share. At the same time, a year later, the Americans were obliged to redeem these securities twice as expensive - at $48 per share. As a result, Yandex can receive about $96 million in profit.

Despite the losses, the gap with Yandex is unprofitable for Uber, market participants surveyed by 360 are sure. According to the president of the Moscow Transport Union, Yuri Sveshnikov, Uber still does not have the tools to implement commercial transportation. “Initially, Uber was conceived as an intermediary between drivers and passengers and did not charge a significant fee for their pimping. Now, with the help of a commercial structure represented by Yandex, the American company has become a full-fledged taxi aggregator and is unlikely to give up such a status, at least in Russia, ”the 360 ​​interlocutor believes.

Timur Nigmatullin also speaks about the low probability of decay. According to him, in the event of disintegration, the two aggregators will enter into competition with each other, which will result in even greater losses for both. “Trying to get as many customers as possible, they will be forced to cut prices and carry passengers at a loss. Such a scenario is good for passengers, but not for companies,” the analyst concluded.

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Today, Yandex and Uber decided to merge online ride booking businesses and create a new company for this. This was reported by representatives of "Yandex" in his blog. According to Vedomosti, the alliance will operate in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Uber's business in Ukraine is not part of the deal.

According to agencies, immediately after the news appeared in the media, Yandex quotes on the Moscow Exchange soared by almost 7%. Uber and Yandex decided to invest $225 million and $100 million, respectively, in the new company, valuing the combined company at $3.725 billion. Yandex will own 59.3%, Uber will own 36.6%, and % - to employees of the combined company.

“Our teams will be united. I'm becoming CEO united company, Tigran Khudaverdyan, CEO of Yandex.Taxi, said. According to Khudaverdyan, the companies want to build "personal public transport" together - an alternative to a private car, buses and metro.

According to Financial Times analysts, the deal means that Uber is losing the Russian taxi market to Yandex after several years of intense competition. This is Uber's first strategic move since the controversial departure of founder Travis Kalanick.

After the deal is closed, both applications for ordering trips - both Yandex.Taxi and Uber - will continue to be available to users. But taxi fleets and drivers will switch to a single technological platform, which will increase the number of cars available for order fulfillment, reduce the time for their delivery, reduce idle mileage, increase the reliability and availability of the service as a whole, the message emphasizes.

"The combined company will use Yandex's technologies and knowledge in the field of mapping and navigation services and search engines and the experience of Uber as the world leader among online services for booking trips,"- noted the parties.

The boards of directors of both companies have already approved the deal, now regulators must agree on it. The parties expect to complete the merger in the fourth quarter of 2017. According to statistics for the past June, the combined platform will cover 127 cities in six countries, both services account for 35 million trips per month, their total cost amounted to 7.9 billion rubles.

Added

This unification agreement directly affects Belarus.

- Belarus, as well as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia, is included in the sphere of interests, in the sphere of activity of the new company, which will be formed as a result of the merger of Yandex.Taxi and Uber,- commented on the situation to the correspondent of Onliner.by in Uber. - Agreement signed, formation legal entity and the new company, according to the plan, should indeed be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Uber explained that new company will start its activities at the same time in Russia and Belarus, as well as in other listed countries, and will replace the Uber and Yandex.Taxi services.