Russia's Yandex could raise $500 million to $1 billion in autumn IPO - source

Leading Russian search engine Yandex could raise $500 million to $1 billion via an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq exchange this autumn, a source in banking industry sources told Interfax.

The source added that Morgan Stanley , Deutsche Bank and Renaissance Capital will organise the listing and that the company would likely achieve a total market capitalisation of around $3 billion.

Yandex achieved 2007 sales of $166.9 million, up 130 percent from 2006.

Earlier, an industry source told Russia's Vedomosti daily that Yandex wants to raise $1.5 to $2.0 billion with the listing, giving the company a total market capitalisation of about $5 billion.

However, the banking source told Interfax it is unlikely that the market would assign such a high valuation to the company.

Yandex's founders hold a 30 percent stake in the company, while managers and other minority stakeholders own another 20 percent.

Together Baring Vostok Capital Partners and ru-Net Holdings also hold more than 30 percent of the company, while Tiger Technologies fund owns a 15 percent stake.

via www.forbes.com