PE-backed Yandex acquires KinoPoisk

Yandex plans on developing an advanced movie recommendation system using search personalisation algorithms and KinoPoisk's database. KinoPoisk's team will be integrated into Yandex following the acquisition.

UFG acquired a minority stake in Yandex in August 2009 via its $225m UFG Private Equity II fund. In June 2011, the firm sold part of its stake in a flotation of the company on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Yandex was founded in 1993 and launched in 1997. The company employs 5,000 staff and is headquartered in Moscow with additional offices in The Hague in the Netherlands, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey, Switzerland and the US. Yandex recorded turnover of RUB 28.8bn ($947.1m) in 2012, as well as an adjusted EBITDA of RUB 13.1bn ($432.7m), equivalent to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 45.7%.

Founded in 2003, KinoPoisk is headquartered in Moscow. The company operates a Russian-language database for movies, television shows and actors. It provides both user and expert reviews as well as cinema listing information and movie trailers. According to Yandex, KinoPoisk pulls in around 18.6 million users per month.

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