In a move reflecting emphasis on its mobile strategy, Yandex, the dominant player on the Russian search and contextual ad markets, announced today its acquisition of SPB Software, a major developer of mobile software with offices in Russia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Referring to sources close to the deal, TechCrunch reported the price was set at approximately $38 million.
SPB offers a full suite of mobile solutions including SPB Shell 3D, an advanced mobile user interface builder. With this acquisition, Yandex will be able to configure user interfaces for the integration of its key services in a wide range of smartphone and tablet platforms.
“Mobile is a vital part of our growth strategy,” said Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh, who sees in SPB Shell 3D “an ideal foundation on which to build up our mobile opportunity.”
Among its other recent initiatives in the mobile segment, Yandex has also acquired Refine.io, a US startup specializing in the creation and sharing of fully functional prototypes of mobile apps.
Last week, the Yandex announced that both new and upcoming Windows Phone models in Russia will have its search engine as the default search technology.
Yandex services for mobile devices are already preinstalled on all Samsung Bada-powered smartphones sold in CIS countries. In addition to the Yandex search engine, this includes Yandex.Maps, Yandex.Mail, Yandex.Metro, Yandex.Market, and a number of other popular Yandex apps.
Update March 7, 2012
Yandex’s annual financial statement confirmed that the price of the acquisition amounted to $38.4 million.
