MOSCOW, April 29 Reuters Yandex said on Thursday it had agreed to buy midsized bank Acropol for 1.1 billion roubles 14.8 million, a move that will secure a banking licence for the Russian internet company so that it can develop financial services.

Yandex has sought a means to develop its fintech offering after its split from a joint venture with state lender Sberbank last summer meant it ceded control of epayment service Yandex.Money.

In October, a 5.48 billion cashandshare acquisition of online bank Tinkoff fell through.

Yandex said it had bought Acropol, ranked Russias 330th largest bank in terms of assets as of April 1, to obtain a banking licence.

Acropols licences, including its universal banking licence, will be transferred to the company, Yandex said, saying it would allow the firm to expand its line of financial services and launch new products for users and partners.

Yandex reported strong firstquarter revenue growth on Wednesday, helped by the solid performance of its core advertising and search business, as well as rapid expansion in areas such as ecommerce and food delivery.

The Acropol transaction is still subject to regulatory approval by the central bank, Yandex said.

1 74.4350 roubles

Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Alexander Marrow; Additional reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Editing by Edmund Blair

Source Reuters