Digital Sky Technologies acquired Russian internet portal Mail.ru in early 2009 and is now poised to merge it with another web giant, Astrum Online Entertainment. Astrum, best known for its Legend and Allods online role-playing games, has been working with DST since the spring to promote the new Legacy of the Dragons game. Financial details of the merger have not been disclosed.
Mail.ru (www.mail.ru)
Founded in October 2001, Mail.ru is Russia’s largest web portal offering 40 online services such as email, an internet search engine, news feeds, blogs, online dating, social networking, research tools, and more.
Valued at over USD 1 billion, Mail.ru is joint-owned by Digital Sky Technologies and Naspers. The site claims 50 million unique visitors per month while handling more than 35 million email communications.
Astrum Online Entertainment (www.astrumonline.ru)
Astrum Online Entertainment is Eastern Europe’s largest and most popular online gaming portal. It is a holding company consisting of five video game producers focusing mainly on the online gaming market. Astrum employs a strategy of offering free gameplay while generating revenue through ad sales. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Moscow.
Digital Sky Technologies (www.dst-global.com)
DST was started in 2005 by Mail.ru investors Yuri Milner and Gregory Finger. Together they pooled resources to fund what has become Russia’s leading private investment firm aimed exclusively at internet based businesses.
Since its inception DST has invested in more than 30 companies to the tune of over USD 1 billion. The average DST investment is anywhere from USD 10 million to USD 100 million.
14/09/2009
Central & Eastern Europe, Internet, E-Commerce & E-Services, Investment, Private Equity News, Russia