Russia, Mubadala Invest in Telegram After Kremlin Ban Failed - Bloomberg
The state-controlled Russian Direct Investment Fund said Tuesday it joined Mubadala Investment Co. in buying convertible bonds of the Telegram messaging app, which was banned in Russia from 2018 until last summer.
Earlier Tuesday, Mubadala and an Abu Dhabi joint venture it owns a stake in announced each made a $75 million investment in pre-initial public offering convertible bonds in Telegram. A spokesman for RDIF declined to say how much it contributed.
Telegram has over 500 million active users and has seen usage surge after major U.S. technology companies cracked down on conservative voices in the U.S. earlier this year. It was forced to raise funds to repay investors after an attempt at an ICO for its Gram cryptocurrency failed because of a ban imposed by the Securities & Exchange Commission.
“I am happy to share that Telegram has raised over $1 billion by selling bonds (a form of debt) to some of the largest and most knowledgeable investors from all over the world,” founder Pavel Durov said in a statement on the app. “This will enable Telegram to continue growing globally while sticking to its values and remaining independent.”
Russian regulators attempted to block the service in 2018 when it refused to provide law enforcement with encryption keys to read messages. For two years, the company thwarted efforts to enforce the ban, including by changing IP-addresses to evade blocking, until Russia ultimately gave up last June.
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