REG-VK Company VK acquires Zen and News

VKAnnouncement

23/08/2022 08:15

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   VK Company (VKCO)
   VK acquires Zen and News

   23-Aug-2022 / 10:05 MSK
   Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside
   information in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR),
   transmitted by EQS Group.
   The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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                           VK acquires Zen and News  

    

   August 23, 2022. VK and Yandex  have signed binding agreements whereby  VK
   is to acquire Zen and News  content platforms from Yandex in exchange  for
   the food  and  grocery delivery  service  Delivery  Club which  VK  is  to
   consolidate within the framework  of the restructuring  of O2O Holding,  a
   joint venture between VK and Sber.

    

   The deal is  expected to be  close by the  end of 2022,  pending a set  of
   regulatory approvals.  Following completion,  VK  will receive  rights  to
   technologies and trademarks of Zen and News services.

    

   Following deal closure  Zen and  News services  will be  available on  the
   dzen.ru portal, which will  also feature the Yandex  search bar and  other
   services. Zen will retain all its current content monetization instruments
   for creators, while users will be able to choose the most preferred format
   of browsing  the  news and  other  content, either  via  dzen.ru  portal’s
   desktop version or its own mobile app.

    

   “Creation and  development of  convenient content  services for  users  is
   among VK’s  top  strategic priorities.  While  Zen is  a  unique  platform
   popular with millions of users, already holding a leading market  position
   but with also major development  potential. Integration with VK will  open
   up access for Zen’s content creators to new users as well as new  formats.
   In the meantime,  users will be  able to enjoy  even more quality  content
   from education to entertainment,    CEO of VK (Russia) Vladimir  Kirienko
   noted.  We highly  appreciate the results achieved  by the Zen team,  and
   consider it right to give the team the opportunity to continue to  develop
   independently, enabling  the  service  to bring  new  content  and  evolve
   existing products faster and more efficiently, while further expanding its
   audience.”

    

   For further information please contact:

    

   VK Press Service

    1 pr@vk.team

    

   VK Investor relations team

    2 ir@vk.company

    

   VK is one of the largest technology companies in Russia. Its products help
   millions of people with  their day-to-day needs online.  More than 90%  of
   the Russian internet audience use VK services, which enable people to keep
   in touch, play video games, master new skills, listen to music, watch  and
   create video content,  buy and offer  goods and services,  order food  and
   grocery delivery  and  fulfill wide  range  of other  needs.  The  company
   provides a number  of solutions  for digitizing  business processes,  from
   online promotion and  predictive analytics to  corporate social  networks,
   cloud services and enterprise automation.

    

    

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   ISIN:          US5603172082
   Category Code: ACQ
   TIDM:          VKCO
   LEI Code:      2138009IXUP41SPL5B50
   Sequence No.:  183012
   EQS News ID:   1425601


    
   End of Announcement EQS News Service

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    3 fncls.ssp?fn=show_t_gif&application_id=1425601&application_name=news&site_id=reuters8

References

   Visible links
   1. mailto:pr@vk.team
   2. mailto:ir@vk.company


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