Yandex invests in local online retail firm

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Turkish football star Arda Turan holds an 11 percent stake in Lidanya.com, a Turkish online jewerly and accessory retailer. Hürriyet photo

Russian search engine Yandex’s investor Ru-net has invested six million Turkish Liras in Turkish firm lidyana.com, which sells jewelry and accessories online.

Lidyana’s largest shareholder is Hakan Baş, who is also the creator of Peak Games and social media company Krombera. Turkish football star Arda Turan, who plays for Atletico Madrid, also holds an 11 percent stake in the company.

Lidanya was established in February with a 2 million lira investment. Since then many foreign investors have expressed interest in joining onboard. Ru-Net has over 30 different investments in various countries, but according to Hakan Baş, this is Ru-Net’s first investment in Turkey.

“As for us, we first want to enter the Russian market and then from there branch out to the whole Middle Eastern market,” said Baş. Murat Biçer, who is managing Ru-Net’s investment in Lidanaya, said: “When we look at Eastern Europe and Western Asia, the most encouraging sector appears to be Turkey’s online retail market.”