Russian internet investor Digital Sky Technologies (DST) has agreed to a deal enabling it to completely divest itself from Russia’s Kinopoisk.ru web portal. DST has agreed to sell its 40% share the popular movie information site to French internet concern, AlloCiné. The remaining 60% will remain with Kinopoisk’s founders, Vitaly Tatsiy and Dimitri Sukhanov. Though the price of the acquisition has not been disclosed, industry experts estimate it could be as much as ca. $2 million.
KinoPoisk.ru (www.kinopoisk.ru)
KinoPoisk is a Russian information and search portal devoted to cinema; the site’s name is translated “cinema search” in English. Despite more than 12 million visitors per month, KinoPoisk.ru posted a net loss of USD 0.2 million in 2008 on sales of ca. USD 0.6 million.
AlloCiné SA (www.allocine.fr)
AlloCiné was founded in 1993 and is an informational web portal dealing with all things cinema. Users can search for movie reviews, theaters and movie times, box office phone numbers, and tickets. The site also offers user forums and online purchasing of tickets, DVDs, and videos.
Based in Paris, AlloCiné is majority-owned by Tiger Global Management.
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.
18/11/2009
Central & Eastern Europe, Exit, Internet, E-Commerce & E-Services, Private Equity News, Russia