COBALT advised Rubylight as shareholder of popular Q&A service Ask.fm

IAC/InterActiveCorp, a NASDAQ-listed internet company headquartered in New York, recently announced acquisition of majority stake in Latvia-based Ask.fm, the largest Q&A service in the world, boasting 180 million monthly unique users in more than 150 countries.

IAC holds more than 50 brands across 40 countries, including Ask.com (formerly known as AskJeeves), a Q&A search engine that focuses on answering natural language questions. Ask.fm enables IAC to expand its Q&A business into social media.

COBALT advised its long-term client Rubylight, a technology investment fund that will keep a minority stake in the business, on negotiating new shareholders’ agreement regarding Ask.fm and facilitating the share sale and purchase transaction between the founders and IAC.

The transaction was advised by partner Kristel Raidla-Talur and senior associate Ott Aava who were supported by the team of Riga office.

Please refer to New York Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, Venture Beatand Ask.com blogpostfor media coverage of the transaction.