China's Tencent to Buy Stake in Russia's DST
China’s largest Internet company, Tencent Holdings Ltd., is purchasing a 10 percent stake in Digital Sky Technologies Ltd., a Russian investment firm that holds a stake in Facebook Inc.
Shenzhen-based Tencent, which popularized instant messaging in China and operates an online game portal and other Chinese Internet services, said it will invest approximately $300 million in Moscow-based Digital Sky, also known as DST. The companies plan to explore “new business opportunities” in the Russian-speaking Internet markets, said Tencent President Martin Lau in a joint statement Monday.
“Our teams share many common views and beliefs and a clear vision about the significant opportunities that lay ahead,” said Digital Sky’s chief executive, Yuri Milner, in the statement. Digital Sky is known for its stakes in Russian Internet companies including Mail.ru, one of the country’s largest Web sites.