Yandex IPO delayed after all, what a surprise

Written on 12th October 2008                                                                                                              COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

After Russian investment group Finam spread rumors of a delayed Yandex IPO last September, it now appears to be definite. According to business daily Kommersant, several investment bankers have said that the Yandex shareholders decided to postpone the $2 billion IPO – which was planned for fall 2008.

After Finam told the press its market expectation was that the IPO would be delayed due to the unstable political situation in Russia, Yandex didn’t confirm this. So the general opinion remained that the IPO was still on track. Yet after the recent credit crunch, it isn’t too surprising that the shareholders aren’t fond of an IPO.

The private equity investors Internet Search Investments and Baring Vostok Capital Partners own 35% stake in Yandex. Tiger Technologies owns the other 15% stake in the company.

Hat tip, as always when it comes to Russian news, Yakov Sadchikov from Quintura (read about his secret here).