Russian search engine Yandex has been planning a $2 billion IPO for this fall that would value the company at $5 billion. Now it's putting the offering on hold until next year, Profy notes, citing a Russian report. Why the delay? No official reason listed in Profy's translation, but a sour IPO market and the Russian-Georgian conflict both seem like good reasons to hold off.
We'd placed Yandex at number six on our SAI 25 list of the world's most valuable companies; earlier this year, we pegged its value at $3 billion:
Yandex generated revenue of about $160 million in 2007, up 130% over 2006's $72 million, with most of it coming from contextual advertising. We estimate a 2007 operating margin of 40%, producing operating income of approximately $65 million. The company generated net income of $29 million in 2006 and $13.6 million in 2005...
Given Yandex's growth rate and dominant market share, we believe the company is worth at least 40X-45X trailing net income, or $3 billion.
Earlier: Russian Search Engine Yandex Prepping $2 Billion IPO
