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Written on 19th January 2009
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Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
The online advertising industry in Russia isn’t doing too bad. In October 2008, Sfnblog noted that online marketing communications in Russia have experienced a surge in financial backing since the beginning of this year. Total marketing numbers for 2008 would average between $1.04 billion and $1.48 billion, said market analysis firm Tagline at the annual Russian Internet Week. They based their findings on a study of 600 companies.
But the country’s box office is doing even better. It reached $830 million in 2008, up 47 percent on 2007. If you take that in account, the following news isn’t as weird as it seems.
Mail.ru has become a major investor in production of horror and adventure movie “Viy” in exchange for movie box office returns, reported business newspaper Kommersant (via Quintura). Last summer, the Internet portal pumped $5 million in the movie, what makes up for some 25 percent of Viy’s budget. Here’s the result:
The mystery movie is based on the book of Nikolay Gogol and hits cinemas in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Written on 12th October 2008
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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).
Written on 23rd September 2008
1 COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Russian business daily Kommersant reports that oligarch Alexander Mamut’s investment company ANN acquired the largest mobile phone retailer in Russia, Euroset. At first hand, this doesn’t seem to be a web-related topic, yet I decided to report about it as it symbolizes the growing influence of oligarchs on the Russian tech scene. Mamut, who owns a significant stake in LiveJournal-owner SUP, is well-known as a Kremlin loyalist.
Alexander Mamut
The deal valued Euroset at an enterprise value of $1,25 billion including $850 million in debts, Kommersant said.
Here come the oligarchs
In the beginning of August, Alisher Usmanov announced that he wanted to buy a 20 percent stake in Russian search giant Yandex. This man is the founder of Metalloinvest (mining company, €3.3 billion a year) and owner of publishing house Kommersant.
Gentlemen like these two keep buying stakes in Internet and tech companies. Many critics fear that at some point, these oligarchs might partner up with Putin to secure the government’s control on this booming and important industry. During the announcements of the LiveJournal and Kommersant acquisitions, storms of protest arose. All without any consequences.
I hope these critics are mistaking, but I’m afraid that in a few years, we have to admit they had been right all along.
Written on 4th August 2008
8 COMMENTS
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
There’s a new loner in the wild west of Russian search engine land, where millions of dollars are spent and Google is just small potatoes. Alisher Usmanov is his name. This man is the founder of Metalloinvest (mining company, €3.3 billion a year) and owner of publishing house Kommersant. As a true media visionary, he has decided to invest in the Russian Internet industry. And when a business man like him enters a market, you know he’s gonna do it with a bang.
What about an acquisition of a 10%-20% stake in Russia leading and Europe’s no. 3 search engine Yandex ($167 million in 2007)? Usmanov wants to buy them from the founding fathers of Yandex as well as via the shares at the upcoming IPO on NASDAQ. To give you an idea about the importance of these negotiations, the IPO was valued up to $5 billion. That means the stake could be worth a staggering $1 billion.
The Quintura blog offers some more background info on Alisher Usmanov’s Internet adventure. Usmanov might be encouraged by the Russian government to get a grip on this booming Internet industry, like he was when he bought the newspaper Kommersant.
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