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Yuri Milner: DST (Digital Sky Technologies) to Do IPO

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Posted by: Quintura @ 16:24 [27. 05. 09]

DST (Digital Sky Technologies)’ founding partner and CEO, Yuri Milner said in his interview that DST will do IPO. The exact dates will depend on market conditions and readiness of DST itself but the IPO could happen within the next three years. DST was reportedly valued at $1 billion when Russian media and metal investor Alisher Usmanov increased its stake in the company.

Founded in 2005, DST is run by three partners Yuri Milner, previously CEO of the #1 Russian language website, Mail.ru; Gregory Finger, previously head of the Moscow office of a multi-billion dollar hedge fund, NCH; and Alexander Tamas, previously co-head of internet and software coverage in EMEA for the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. Yuri Milner attended Wharton Business School in 1990 – 1992.

The other shareholders of DST include Alisher Usmanov, Renaissance Partners, Tiger Global and Goldman Sachs.

DST holds significant interests in most-visited Russian online portal, Mail.ru and social networks Odnoklassniki.ru and Vkontakte in Russia, Nasza-Klasa.pl in Poland, and One in the Baltic countries.

DST is using its own and shareholder funds to do a $300 investment in Facebook. Most of DST portfolio companies are profitable and grow at 30 to 100 percent per year.

Will IPO of DST be the largest Internet IPO from Russia? Will it be bigger than Yandex IPO? I think that we shall know that already in 2010.