Kaspersky plans to buy back shares and abandon IPO plan

Sina Technology News On the morning of February 4, Beijing time, it was reported that Eugene Kaspersky, chairman and CEO of Kaspersky, the world's fourth largest anti-virus software manufacturer, said on Friday that he would buy back the shares held by General Atlantic, an American private equity investment company, and abandon the IPO (initial public offering) plan.

To help Kaspersky go public, General Atlantic bought Kaspersky shares in January 2011. But after months of evaluation, Eugene Kaspersky decided to give up listing. "In this way, you don't have to report to anyone except yourself," he said. Kaspersky now has an annual income of more than 500 million US dollars, and the total number of employees is about 2300.

Eugene Kaspersky feared that going public would destroy the company's culture. It is thanks to this culture that Kaspersky has become one of the fastest growing software companies in the world. Eugene Kaspersky, 46, said: "Our culture is very flexible and innovative. I like this culture and don't want to change it."

Kaspersky has achieved rapid development in the past five years, snatching a large number of shares from old companies such as Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro.

Kaspersky and General Atlantic did not disclose the terms of the transaction.

Last year, an insider revealed that General Atlantic spent $200 million to acquire 20% of Kaspersky's equity, valuing the company at $1 billion. General Atlantic bought these shares from Natalya, Eugene Kaspersky's ex-wife. Natalya served as Kaspersky's chairman at that time, but has since stepped down. According to Eugene Kaspersky, Natalia still holds a minority stake in Kaspersky, while he himself holds more than half of the company's shares.

General Atlantic declined to disclose whether it lost money in this transaction, but said in a statement: "The company has achieved rapid growth and great success, and has a good future. We hope they will continue to succeed."

Kaspersky also said that he would buy back shares from several individual shareholders, but did not disclose the specific identity of each other.

Eugene Kaspersky disclosed in his letter to all employees that he planned to impose more financial discipline on the company. "This does not mean that we will reduce investment, but enhance the investment effect," he said.