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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.”