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Begun

Begun, an independent internet context advertising company, received seed capital from Finam in 2003. Finam became 80% owner of Begun.

By 2005 Begun had become one of the leaders of the nascent Russian Internet advertising industryt, and was approached by Rambler, a top-3 internet search company in the country. Rambler acquired a 25%+1 stake with an option to buy another 25%. Rambler exercised the call option in 2007.

In late 2008 Rambler and Finam negotiated a 100% sale of Begun to Google. Begun was valuated at $140m in this deal. The transaction was not closed as Google failed to receive an approval from the anti-monopoly regulator.

However, Begun is growing at a double-digit rate despite the overall economic downturn in Russia. Finam will explore various exit options when the capital market warms up.