August 13th, 2007
Kaspersky Lab eyes IPO, acquisitions
Russian anti-virus specialists Kaspersky Lab has revamped its board of directors as part of a larger plan to go public.
The revamp sees co-founders Eugene and Natalya Kaspersky (left) changing roles — Eugene becomes CEO and Natalya moves upstairs to chair the board – and new directors from the company’s international satellite offices.
Steve Orenberg, who heads up Kaspersky’s U.S. unit and joins the board as a new director, says the restructuring is the first step in a strategic plan to pursue an IPO (initial public offering) exit.
“We’re very focused on going the IPO route whenever the timing is right. We’re confident that’s the next step for us, go public and become a big [anti-malware] player,” Orenberg said in an interview.
Kaspersky Lab was originally exploring an IPO on the London stock exchange but Orenberg said a final decision has not been made. An IPO in the U.S. has not been ruled out.
Orenberg said the is also looking at acquisition targets to expand its core anti-malware offerings. Kaspersky Lab is seen as a second-tier player in the security space now dominated by Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro.
Ryan Naraine is a journalist and security evangelist at Kaspersky Lab. He manages Threatpost.com, a security news portal. Here is Ryan's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
For daily updates on Ryan's activities, follow him on Twitter.
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