Estimated Value: $3 billion
Business: The largest Russian search engine.
Location: Moscow, Russia
More Info: About Yandex
CEO: Arkady Volozh
Investors: Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Intel Capital
Analysis: Yandex captures 54% of all Russian web searches and employs about 1,000 people.
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.
BusinessWeek says that Yandex is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ sometime this fall, though the IPO might not take place in the fall if market conditions are unfavorable.
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.
