General Atlantic, a US-based private equity fund, has bought a large stake in Kaspersky Lab. Though no details of the deal have been disclosed by the parties, it is known that General Atlantic has become the second-largest shareholder in the Russian computer security company. Evgeny Kaspersky, who owns a controlling stake in the firm, will remain the company’s largest shareholder. John Bernstein, General Atlantic’s Managing Director and Head of European Operations, will be included on Kaspersky Lab’s Board of Directors.
The deal was initiated by General Atlantic and the partnership was established with the online casinos aim of using the private equity fund’s strategic expertise for the implementation of Kaspersky Lab”s ambitious plans in the corporate segment of the international information security market.
The package currently held by General Atlantic is a mix of shares previously owned by one of the firm”s former shareholders and an additional share issue. Natalia Kasperskaya, co-founder and Chairman of Kaspersky’s Board of Directors, acted as the main seller of shares, while Evgeny Kaspersky’s shares were not involved in the transaction. According to Natalia Kasperskaya, the new investor’s share will be within 20%, while she will maintain a significant stake in the company.
Experts estimate the company to be worth some $1.5 billion and its 2010 revenues indicatively totaled $540 million. Based on various estimates of Kaspersky Lab’s capitalization and the size of the stake sold to General Atlantic, revenues from the sale of shares could be within a $200 – $300 million range. CNews Analytics estimated Kaspersky Lab’s 2009 revenues to have totaled $365.4 million and ranked the company twelfth among the world’s largest IT companies and fourth among anti-virus developers.
