Russia’s Yandex to list on NASDAQ

Russia’s leading search engine Yandex is set to raise $1 billion through an initial public offering on NASDAQ stock exchange, said a media report.

Yandex, which is the main rival to Google in Russia, has already signed an agreement with with Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley to prepare a listing which has been tentatively scheduled for June or July, the Vedomosti business daily reported on Monday. A spokesman for Yandex did not confirm or deny the report.

Yandex had been planing to sell nearly 20 percent of its shares in New York before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, Vedomosti said.

Analysts estimate Yandex’s current worth at $8 billion compared with its pre-crisis value of $3 billion.

“We are working hard every day and every year, and you know that Yandex was founded in 1997, so we have a huge experience in innovations. But last year was especially successful for us. We launched several search technologies that allowed us to significantly increase our market share in Russia and in Ukraine,” reported the Voice of Russia quoting Alexander Amzin, media relations manager, Yandex.

Currently, Yandex holds a share of 65 percent in search engine market in Russia while Google’s share stands at 20.9 percent, according to statistics portal liveinternet.

Three months ago, Russia's largest free e-mail service, Mail.ru raised $912 million on the London Stock Exchange.