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If I'm reading this correctly, if the NASDAQ suspends trading of Yandex on Monday it will be the 6th such day of trading suspension. Their "0.75% Convertible No

If I'm reading this correctly, if the NASDAQ suspends trading of Yandex on Monday it will be the 6th such day of trading suspension. Their "0.75% Convertible Notes" will be eligible for redemption and holders could demand $1.25 billion + interest when they only have $615 million + RUB 47 billion ($437 million) = ~$1.05 billion. And RUB is falling...

mmaunder 5y ago
Posted a longer version of this which I deleted because I prefer yours. Yeah, it sounds like they're in trouble. And they're Russian Google with 70 products, so this is a big deal.
- nindalf 5y ago
  I believe they’re the Russian Google + Amazon + Uber (joint venture).
  - indrora 5y ago
    Yandex has stuff... Everywhere They do payments and payment processing (think paypal and square and more combined) They do cloud services (think a mix of GCP and AWS) for business. They do personal storage (think dropbox/gdrive) and email, and more. among more.
- madaxe_again 5y ago
  Not really such a big deal - there’s no function for yandex to fulfil if there’s no economy, no internet - I give it a week until Putin cuts all international routing. Edit: see I’m being downvoted, probably because “that would never happen” - I think it’s very realistic that they will either shut down the internet domestically or they’ll cut all non-domestic routing - they want/need information control, and the internet is porous. If dissent continues in Russia, they will do it.
  - mnahkies 5y ago
    To be fair they have quite openly experimented with shutting themselves off from the internet, presumably for situations like now. Ref: https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-disconnected-global-internet-tests-rbc-daily-2021-07-22/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-disconnected-globa...
    - londons_explore 5y ago
      Hard to keep secret the fact you are practicing shutting off the internet...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
dougSF70 5y ago
Correction..$1.025bn..the RUB is weakening...hold on a sec, let's call it $1bn.
- onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago
  They had ₽47B on March 3. On March 3, at the time of writing that equaled ~$457M. The Ruble has lost ~10% of it's value since then = ~$379M today. So they've "only" lost $78M - not $250M.
  - google234123 5y ago
    The OP was joking about a 25m decline: 1.025 -> 1.000
- nkmnz 5y ago
  Daddy, daddy, can I have 20 RUB for some ice cream? - Son, why do you need 25 RUB for some ice cream? 30 RUB is a lot of money! Before you ask me for 35 RUB, think about how long I have to work for 40 RUB!
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Heh, I remember a variation on that joke from the Polish hyperinflation days.
paxys 5y ago
It's bizarre that they even got into this situation. Betting your entire company on the fact that your stock will never get suspended from NASDAQ seems...unwise.
- lern_too_spel 5y ago
  It's now the creditors' problem.
  - paxys 5y ago
    It's also your own problem considering your company doesn't exist anymore..
    - asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
      Company still exists, it would simply change hands -- the new owners of the assets would be the creditors or some benefit corporation for the creditors. Only if the creditors thought running the service was unprofitable would the company cease to exist.
      - R0b0t1 5y ago
        That does not seem clear to me, surely it could continue existing within Russia only? They mention a rumor that business ownership may transfer due to sanctions, I think this is an instance where it would apply. Instead of liquidating the main IT business in the country the government may force it to fail to meet its international obligations.
        mahkeiro 5y ago
        Ok but I hope they are not relying too much on assets outside of Russia as they are all going to get seized or service suspended.
        kmonsen 5y ago
tibbar 5y ago
The company itself is surely worth many billions of dollars, so can’t they just borrow from a national bank if they need additional cash for paying out bonds?
- ausudhz 5y ago
  Who wants to give money to a Russian entity nowadays? Not sure to be honest, you might argue that their headquarter is in Netherlands but remain pretty known to anyone that they operate in Russia. Not so easy to see. Their CEO must have a big headache these days
  - throwaway290 5y ago
    Imagine "Yandex stops operating in Russia" as tomorrow's headline. Keep being Dutch, compete with Google.
    - DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
      would that be even possible? I thought pretty much anyone working for them is physically located in Russia. Who would want to (or be allowed to) continue working for them if they suddenly were 100% a remote workforce based in RU?
      - throwaway290 5y ago
        A friend who works for Yandex was relocated to Netherlands a few years back.
    - codedokode 5y ago
      That is unlikely because Yandex has a "Public Interest Fund" (which consists mostly of government-appointed people) that has significant power, including a right to temporarily replace the general director [1]. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-yandex-governance-idUSL8N28U3EA https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-yandex-governance-idU...
    - 5y ago
throwaway4good 5y ago
Wouldn’t this simply be voided by Russian law (or whatever it is called)? The same laws that currently prevents foreigners from selling stock in russian companies. The Dutch part of Yandex may be bankrupted but the Russian part (with most of the assets) surely can continue.
tinus_hn 5y ago
They could demand it but can’t get it because it doesn’t exist. I don’t know if it is in the holders interest to do so; they’d destroy this company but pay for it themselves.

mmaunder 5y ago

Posted a longer version of this which I deleted because I prefer yours. Yeah, it sounds like they're in trouble. And they're Russian Google with 70 products, so this is a big deal.

nindalf 5y ago
I believe they’re the Russian Google + Amazon + Uber (joint venture).
- indrora 5y ago
  Yandex has stuff... Everywhere They do payments and payment processing (think paypal and square and more combined) They do cloud services (think a mix of GCP and AWS) for business. They do personal storage (think dropbox/gdrive) and email, and more. among more.
madaxe_again 5y ago
Not really such a big deal - there’s no function for yandex to fulfil if there’s no economy, no internet - I give it a week until Putin cuts all international routing. Edit: see I’m being downvoted, probably because “that would never happen” - I think it’s very realistic that they will either shut down the internet domestically or they’ll cut all non-domestic routing - they want/need information control, and the internet is porous. If dissent continues in Russia, they will do it.
- mnahkies 5y ago
  To be fair they have quite openly experimented with shutting themselves off from the internet, presumably for situations like now. Ref: https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-disconnected-global-internet-tests-rbc-daily-2021-07-22/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-disconnected-globa...
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    Hard to keep secret the fact you are practicing shutting off the internet...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

dougSF70 5y ago

Correction..$1.025bn..the RUB is weakening...hold on a sec, let's call it $1bn.

onlyrealcuzzo 5y ago
They had ₽47B on March 3. On March 3, at the time of writing that equaled ~$457M. The Ruble has lost ~10% of it's value since then = ~$379M today. So they've "only" lost $78M - not $250M.
- google234123 5y ago
  The OP was joking about a 25m decline: 1.025 -> 1.000
nkmnz 5y ago
Daddy, daddy, can I have 20 RUB for some ice cream? - Son, why do you need 25 RUB for some ice cream? 30 RUB is a lot of money! Before you ask me for 35 RUB, think about how long I have to work for 40 RUB!
- jacquesm 5y ago
  Heh, I remember a variation on that joke from the Polish hyperinflation days.

paxys 5y ago

It's bizarre that they even got into this situation. Betting your entire company on the fact that your stock will never get suspended from NASDAQ seems...unwise.

lern_too_spel 5y ago
It's now the creditors' problem.
- paxys 5y ago
  It's also your own problem considering your company doesn't exist anymore..
  - asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
    Company still exists, it would simply change hands -- the new owners of the assets would be the creditors or some benefit corporation for the creditors. Only if the creditors thought running the service was unprofitable would the company cease to exist.
    - R0b0t1 5y ago
      That does not seem clear to me, surely it could continue existing within Russia only? They mention a rumor that business ownership may transfer due to sanctions, I think this is an instance where it would apply. Instead of liquidating the main IT business in the country the government may force it to fail to meet its international obligations.
      - mahkeiro 5y ago
        Ok but I hope they are not relying too much on assets outside of Russia as they are all going to get seized or service suspended.
        kmonsen 5y ago

tibbar 5y ago

The company itself is surely worth many billions of dollars, so can’t they just borrow from a national bank if they need additional cash for paying out bonds?

ausudhz 5y ago
Who wants to give money to a Russian entity nowadays? Not sure to be honest, you might argue that their headquarter is in Netherlands but remain pretty known to anyone that they operate in Russia. Not so easy to see. Their CEO must have a big headache these days
- throwaway290 5y ago
  Imagine "Yandex stops operating in Russia" as tomorrow's headline. Keep being Dutch, compete with Google.
  - DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
    would that be even possible? I thought pretty much anyone working for them is physically located in Russia. Who would want to (or be allowed to) continue working for them if they suddenly were 100% a remote workforce based in RU?
    - throwaway290 5y ago
      A friend who works for Yandex was relocated to Netherlands a few years back.
  - codedokode 5y ago
    That is unlikely because Yandex has a "Public Interest Fund" (which consists mostly of government-appointed people) that has significant power, including a right to temporarily replace the general director [1]. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-yandex-governance-idUSL8N28U3EA https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-yandex-governance-idU...
  - 5y ago

throwaway4good 5y ago

Wouldn’t this simply be voided by Russian law (or whatever it is called)? The same laws that currently prevents foreigners from selling stock in russian companies. The Dutch part of Yandex may be bankrupted but the Russian part (with most of the assets) surely can continue.

tinus_hn 5y ago

They could demand it but can’t get it because it doesn’t exist. I don’t know if it is in the holders interest to do so; they’d destroy this company but pay for it themselves.