Story by
Ernst-Jan Pfauth
Ernst-Jan Pfauth is the former Editor in Chief of Internet at NRC Handelsblad, as well as an acclaimed technology author and columnist. He a Ernst-Jan Pfauth is the former Editor in Chief of Internet at NRC Handelsblad, as well as an acclaimed technology author and columnist. He also served as The Next Web’s blog’s first blogger and Editor in Chief, back in 2008. At De Correspondent, Ernst-Jan serves as publisher, fostering the expansion of the platform.
With the upcoming $1.5 billion to $2 billion IPO of Yandex, certainly the biggest tech IPO we would have seen in a while, the Russian search giant got a fair amount of attention lately. The Times published an (somewhat boring) interview with the founder, the blogosphere commented en masse on this story.
Some bloggers wondered whether Yandex would really consider to enter the stock market this fall, given the Russian-Georgian conflict. Would investors be willing to put their money where the war is? Turns out they probably don’t, because Yandex won’t take the bet this fall. 2009 will be the year of the IPO.
Profy notes this has allegedly been announced during a press conference, organized by one of the leading Russian investment funds – which is known for its multiple investments in IT companies. The valuation has become higher though, as it now circles around 3 to 5 billion dollars.
Meanwhile, Quintura reports about a funny follow up on Google’s act of desperation on the streets of Moscow. World’s largest search company spent half a million dollars earlier this year on billboards. Yandex now has its own version, called “Any Questions?”. Cool detail, users can create their own billboards. Here’s my try:
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