| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Key people | Yuri Milner, CEO and Managing Partner; John Lindfors, Partner; Alexander Tamas, Partner; Rahul Mehta, Principal; Shou Zi Chew, Investment Manager; Saurabh Gupta, Investment Manager |
| Website | dst-global.com |
Digital Sky Technologies (DST) or Mail.Ru Group is an international investment firm focused solely on the Internet sector. The firm was founded by Yuri Milner and emerged out of Mail.ru Group. Today, DST is fully independent of Mail.ru Group and its investments include Facebook, Zynga and Groupon.[1][2][3][4]
Contents |
The firm became known globally after leading an investment of $200 million in Facebook at a $10 billion valuation in May 2009 [5] and launching a tender offer of $100 million to the employees of Facebook in July 2009.[6] Subsequently the firm continued to buy shares in the company and is now one of the largest institutional shareholders in Facebook.[7] In January 2011, DST and Goldman Sachs co-led a $500 million investment round in Facebook, valuing the company at $50 billion.[8]
In December 2009, DST led the $180 million investment in Zynga which had a primary and a secondary component.[9]. In december 2011, DST invested in online payments company Klarna
In April 2010 DST led a $135 million investment in Groupon at a rumored $1.35 billion valuation.[10] Subsequently, DST invested again as part of Groupon’s $950 million round in January 2011.[11]
DST’s way of structuring deals, where they buy both preferred stock from the company and common stock from employees, is becoming a new way to invest in startups. In fact, some industry people recognise these deal structures as “DST deals”.[12]
Yuri Milner, in an interview in February 2010, mentioned that DST monitors close to 50 companies globally and that these companies can be investment opportunities. DST plans to invest more than $1 billion in social web companies around the world over the next five years.[13]
Yuri Milner is the founder of both Mail.ru Group and DST. He currently serves as the non-executive Chairman of Mail.ru Group and as the CEO of DST.[14][15] Mail.ru Group was originally called Digital Sky Technologies and started making international investments from its balance sheet. As part of Mail.ru Group’s IPO the company renamed itself to its current name.[16] DST was formed as a separate entity, initially called DST Global to co-invest with Mail.ru Group. Post Mail.ru Group’s IPO, DST is the sole vehicle for further international investments. The company is now fully independent of Mail.ru Group.[17]
DST has strong ties to Goldman Sachs.[18] The majority of DST’s partners and employees have previously worked at Goldman Sachs. Alexander Tamas joined DST from Goldman Sachs in 2008 and John Lindfors, a previous partner at Goldman Sachs, joined DST in 2010.[19] Other ex-Goldman Sachs employees include Rahul Mehta [20] and Shou Zi Chew.[21] In January 2011, DST has orchestrated an investment into Facebook and brought Goldman Sachs into the deal.[22]