With new Da Vinci investment, Russian online broker ready to take IT platform globally

Da Vinci Private Equity Fund II, a Russian investment fund, has bought into ITinvest, a major Russian online broker, to assist the latter in international expansion with its new IT solution

Da Vinci Private Equity Fund II, a Russian investment fund focused on financial infrastructure in Russia and the former Soviet Union, has acquired a 63% stake in ITinvest, a major Russian online broker established in 2000, East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries, reported earlier this week. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed, but Vladimir Kochetkov, the president of Finam, a sizable Russian financial company, has estimated it at ?around $30-50m,? the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported. The broker?s existing shareholders ? which own the remaining 37% ? include Russian Funds Investment Group, a 15-year-old Russian multisector financial holding with a focus on M&A and asset management, which bought into ITinvest in 2007, as well as ITinvest?s management team. A part of the transaction amount will go to developing the company, which aims to upgrade its online brokerage platform to a newly sophisticated level and offering direct access to the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) as well as a number of other services...