China’s Tencent Buys USD300 Million Stake In Eastern European Internet Firm

China’s Tencent Holdings Limited announced a USD300 million investment in Digital Sky Technologies Limited, a large Internet company focused on Russian-speaking and Eastern European markets.

The aggregate consideration of approximately USD300 million, which will be paid in cash, gives Tencent approximately a 10.26% economic interest in DST upon completion of the transaction. Tencent will hold approximately 0.51% of the total voting power of DST and have the right to nominate one observer to the DST Board.

DST owns brands such as Mail.ru, Odnoklassniki and VKontakte, and those will enable Tencent to benefit from the high growth of the Russian-speaking Internet market. At the same time, Tencent’s leading position in China will provide DST and its companies with unique and valuable operational insights and access to its regional network that can help DST further accelerate its growth path.

Martin Lau, president of Tencent, said, “We are excited to enter into a long-term strategic partnership with DST, a key global Internet player and a leader in Russian-speaking Internet markets. The investment allows us to benefit from the fast-growing Internet market in Russia, as well as to leverage our technical and operational know-how to strengthen the leadership position of DST and explore new business opportunities in the Russian-speaking Internet markets.”