A media company from South Africa, known as Naspers Ltd, has now done a deal to take up a nearly 30% stake in DST – Digital Sky Technologies Ltd. – an internet firm from the country of Russia. More than $380 million is being given to DST in an investment that will be used to help get greater interest in the internet providers and also to give Naspers an inroad to Facebook, Inc. which DST recently paid $200 million to obtain a 3.5% stock share in. Not only this, but DST has also invested extremely heavily in the social media game making sector by acquiring ICQ, an instant messaging and gaming platform formerly owned by AOL Inc. and getting a heavy share of the Zynga Game Network, Inc., as well. In addition, DST is being given a nearly 40% stake in a Russian email, social networking and game service that Naspers currently runs. More than 50 million unique visitors hit the mail site each month.
This new venture has shown that there are a lot of new players in the tech market that come from nations which are somewhat new to the world of web based business. Another example is a Chinese web giant called Tencent Holdings Ltd that put in $300 million to be able to get a 10% stake in DST. According to the word of DST’s CEO Yuri Milner, the company aims to make a Russian language gaming and social networking platform to rival the one that Tencent has now. This is proof, say global tech experts, that the so-called Beast of the East is certainly entering the web market with a fury.