MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian tech giant Yandex is expanding in Israel with the acquisition of electric scooter rental company Wind, adding to its taxi and food delivery services in the country.
Yandex said on Tuesday it expects the deal to be finalised by the end of the year but did not disclose financial terms.
The acquisition will include Wind’s e-scooters hardware, its R&D capabilities and operations in Israel, Yandex said.
Wind, which operates around 4,500 scooters across 13 cities in Israel, will be renamed Yango Wind. It will operate under the Yango brand, the international arm of Yandex.Go, Yandex’s taxi aggregator and food tech business.
Yandex launched an electric scooter rental service in Moscow in July.
Yango launched its ride-hailing service in Israel in December 2018, which was followed by its 15-minute e-grocery service Yango Deli last year.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
