Owners of Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) benefited from a push upwards yesterday with a 7.25% increase in the stock price following an announcement that Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service determined Google Inc. (GOOG) was guilty of taking unfair advantage of its dominant position in the search space.
Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX), a leader in the search engine space for consumers in Russia, took offense to how Google Inc. (GOOG) essentially used a domineering posture by requiring Russian Android phones to have the Google search engine pre-installed. They were also found to give special treatment for where a number of Google mobile apps are located within their mobile operating system. Similarly, it was only in 2014 that a number of device manufacturers found they were unable to install Yandex apps on Android devices pre-installed in the same way that Google does today. The interesting distinction is that whilst Yandex controls 60% of search traffic within Russia currently, smartphone users see a different picture with Google controlling 86% of the Russian search market.
It is quite obvious that Yandex will have the most to gain from the new ruling and their share price jumped as investors responded quickly to the news. Plenty of hedge funds are invested in the Russian search leader, Yandex, which includes 23 hedge funds known to have taken a position. Collectively their investment rose in value from $251 million to $307 million on the news which will no doubt be welcomed as the shares didn't move up noticeably in the second quarter. The investment companies collectively own 6.2% of the Russian search company with Platinum Asset Management holding the most shares of the group at 3.42 million shares. Oaktree Capital Management owns a less substantial 1.59 million shares of Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) purchased in the second quarter. Their new position was undertaken after previously owning a paltry 65,500 shares of the company.
Yandex Triggers Investigation Against Google In Russia: Global Marketing News