Sky High: Russian Investment Group Offers As Much As $350 Million To Facebook

imageRumors of Facebook taking in more money have been circulating for a while now, and now seems it may happen: Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian online investment group, has offered to invest $200 million in Facebook at a $10 billion valuation for the company’s preferred stock, reports the WSJ. It has also offered another $100 million to $150 million, in return for Facebook’s common stock, at a $6.5 billion valuation, the story says. This is probably the closest Facebook will ever get to the $15 billion valuation that it got when Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) invested in it in 2007. Since then, estimates of “real” valuation have ranged much lower, to as low as $2 billion recently.

It is not yet clear if the social-networking firm has accepted the new offer from DST. It has been talking to a slew of VC and PE firms on the new raise, but issues include valuation and board seats, both of which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken a tough line on. Techcrunch reported earlier this week that Facebook rejected a $200 million injection at $8 billion valuation, though it didn’t have the name of the potential investor; the sticking point there, according to TC, was that the investor wanted a board seat. Also, Venturebeat reported that Facebook was wrapping up $150 million in financing as it seeks to buy back stock from hundreds of its employees. The idea there is to help employees cash out on 20 percent of the stock options they hold, as a way for them to see some monetary returns now as the exit window for the company remains a few years out, at best.

Also earlier this week, Zuckerberg sidestepped a question about new investment into the company, while speaking at Reuters Global Technology Summit. “If there’s an investment to be done on very good terms, we will consider it if for no other reason than to have more buffer if we want to do something in the future,” he said. Facebook has raised about $500 million to date. If the new funding comes through, it would be among the most that has ever been invested in a private online company.

The WSJ story also says that Facebook expects its 2009 revenues to grow at least 70 percent, taking it in the $500 million range, much more than what some industry analysts have been forecasting. The social network, which has more than 200 million active users, expects to be cash-flow positive in 2010, according to sources cited in the story.

DST, which is run by Russian businessman and Internet investor Yuri Milner, controls a majority of two of the biggest Russian online sites: portal Mail.ru and Runet

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