Russia's DST Global II to buy 5% stake in Twitter for $400mJuly 11, 2011 - 12:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia's DST Global II, the investment firm controlled by Russian billionaire and Mail.ru web portal founder Yury Millner, will lead a pool of investors to buy a 5 per cent stake in the Twitter microblogging service, RIA Novosti said July 11 quoting a report in Kommersant business daily. DST Global is expected to pay $400 million for the stake in a deal that would value Twitter at $8 billion, according to the paper. The New York Times reported last week that the San Francisco-based Twitter was in the process of a financing round that would be split into two and would be led by DST Global. Previous investors, including the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, will also participate, the paper said. DST Global II representative Leonid Solovyov declined to comment. Twitter, which was founded in 2006, made over $200 million in revenue from online advertising last year and is close to profitability. At these levels, the company's valuation is roughly 40 times sales, according to an estimate of Hudson Square Research. Millner and his business partner Alisher Usmanov have been interested in acquiring a stake in Twitter for two years now. Twitter, which was worth about $1 billion in 2009, has seen its value already soar to $3.7 billion in 2010. The company earlier held negotiations on attracting investor capital with DST Global but made its choice in favor of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Spark Capital, Benchmark Capital and Union Square Ventures to raise $200 million. Early in July, sources close to Twitter valued it at no less than $7 billion, saying that the company was planning to attract several hundred million U.S. dollars. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Fly Arna license suspended, says Armenia official The license of the Armenian airline Fly Arna has been suspended for six months, an official says. President stresses Armenia’s clear position to achieve peace On the eve of the International Francophonie Day, the Armenian President met with French intellectuals. Termination of servicing of MIR cards. IDBank It will not be possible to ensure the full operation of MIR cards in IDBank’s POS-terminals and ATMs Pashinian meets border villagers on possible land transfer to Azerbaijan Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with concerned residents of two villages in Armenia’s northern Tavush province. |