Russian Internet firm Yandex mulls Nasdaq IPO-paper

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Russia's biggest Internet firm Yandex plans to float shares on Nasdaq NADQ.O this autumn, a Russian business daily reported on Friday.

Kommersant quoted a source as saying Yandex had mandated Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Renaissance Capital to organise an initial public offering which may value the firm at more than $3 billion.

"The size of the offering has not yet been defined. The company has no emergency need of money, and the bulk of the proceeds will go to the shareholders who decide to sell their shares," the paper quoted a banking source as saying.

The company was not immediately available for comment.

Yandex was founded in 2000 by Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich. Some 35 percent of its shares are owned by funds ru-Net Holdings and Baring Vostok Capital Partners, and 15 percent by Tiger Technologies, Kommersant said.

The company's founders own around 30 percent, and minority shareholders, including Yandex managers, have 20 percent, Kommersant said. Yandex's revenues rose by around 130 percent in 2007 to $167 million, the paper said. (Writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Louise Ireland)