The Russian Company Stek, creator and owner of Russia_s search engine Rambler, has found strategic investors.

The Russian Company Stek, creator and owner of Russia_s most popular search engine Rambler, Top 100 rating and information site iXBT Hardware has found strategic investors. Stec has formed a consortium with the Russian Funds investment group and investment company Orion Capital Advisors. The members of the consortium are planning to establish a new company, which will have the rights to Stec Internet Projects and the corresponding trademarks. The principal goal of the new Rambler owners is to modernize the popular system. According to some information agencies, the transaction, including investment, amounts to $30 million. Russian Internet search and information sites are highly attractive for local and foreign investors. For example, in July 1999 another Russian search engine Ay! also attracted strategic investors. A group of Russian and foreign companies created a new firm called Web Tech Information Systems and renamed Ay! as @Rus and modernized the site for the benefit of foreign Internet users - the design was changed and English language resources introduced. Since the investment and modernization, @Rus has regularly exhibited at international Internet exhibitions. Now the site is going to be gradually transformed into a multidirectional informational portal. It is quite possible that in the near future Rambler will undergo similar radical transformations.