‘Russia’s Facebook’ $1.5bn deal ends long-running litigation
Four firms have played lead roles in a $1.47bn (£900m) transaction between two Russian online giants which brought to an end years of complex litigation.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, Hogan Lovells and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom were all instructed on the sale by United Capital Partners (UCP) of a 48 per cent stake in social media site VKontakte.com (VK.com) to Mail.Ru.
As well as giving Mail.Ru a 100 per cent stake in VK.com, the deal settled litigation and arbitration proceedings which involved a number of different parties.
Mail.Ru first bought a stake in VK.com, often described as ‘Russia’s Facebook’, in 2007. The balance of the business was formerly owned by a number of different parties, including VK.com founder Pavel Durov through his company Bullion Development. Mail.Ru owned 40 per cent of VK.com and later consolidated Durov’s 12 per cent stake with its original shareholding.
The litigation had arisen over the ownership of a secure messaging app called Telegram developed by Durov.
According to a joint statement issued by Mail.Ru last week, the acquisition brought the disputes to an end “with immediate effect”.
The successful completion of the deal consolidates Mail.Ru’s position as Russia’s largest technology company.
Source: thelawyer – ‘Russia’s Facebook’, VK.com
