In its accounts for the first half of 2014, Mail.ru Group has disclosed the sum it paid in April of this year to Ivan Tavrin for 12% of VKontakte, Russia’s leading social network also known as VK.com. The stake cost the group around $345 million, valuing the company at almost $2.9 billion.
The LSE-listed Internet group thus owns 52% of Vkontakte. The remaining 48% belong to Russian investment fund United Capital Partners (UCP), which acquired its stake in controversial conditions in 2013.
Tavrin had acquired its stake in December 2013 from VK co-founder Pavel Durov, who left the company this past spring.