Deals
Mail.ru Pays $1.47 Billion for Rest of Social Site VKontakte
This article is for subscribers only.
Billionaire Alisher Usmanov took full control of VKontakte, with his Mail.ru Group Ltd. buying a remaining 48 percent in Russia’s most-popular social network for $1.47 billion.
The all-cash purchase valuing VKontakte at about $3 billion was completed today, Moscow-based Mail.ru said in a statement. The acquisition ends a yearlong fight for control with shareholder United Capital Partners that led to the dismissal of VKontakte Chief Executive Officer Pavel Durov this year. The two sides have now dropped all claims and litigation, Mail.ru said. Its shares jumped as much as 6.7 percent in London.