The American bank Morgan Stanley purchased a 4.26-percent share of the biggest Internet search engine in Russia Yandex at the IPO in May.

On May 31, 2011, Morgan Stanley was a 4.26-percent-stake owner of the Russian company. The American financial institution also holds a 0.66-percent voting stake in Yandex through Morgan Stanley Investment Management. The American bank purchased a total of 23.9 percent of Yandex’s securities placed on the market during the IPO. 

Based on analytical estimates that take into account the offering price of USD 25 per share, Morgan paid to the Russian Internet company a total of USD 335.8 million. The current price of the 4.26-percent stake in Yandex is much greater – USD 430.9 million.

Together with Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley was among the organizers of the initial public offering for Yandex. The other two financial companies did not purchase Yandex’s shares at the offering.

As a result of its IPO conducted in late May, Yandex raised a total of USD 1.43 billion.

As of December 2010, Yandex was the most popular Internet search engine in Russia, as it accounted for around 64 percent of all web queries made.