Telegram has shown strong performance despite the legal issues faced by its CEO, Pavel Durov. On Wednesday, the company completed a $1.5 billion bond offering. The interest from major investors, including Citadel, Mubadala, and BlackRock, indicates that the market believes in Telegram’s potential for growth, despite regulatory challenges.
Institutional Investors Back Telegram
With an alluring 9% yield, the five-year bond offering attracted both new and returning high-profile investors. The state-owned investment company Mubadala in Abu Dhabi and the asset management giant BlackRock extended their support, and hedge fund giant Citadel became a new member.
The proceeds from the 2021 bonds, which are due to mature in March 2026, will be strategically used to repay outstanding debt. For instance, Telegram had previously utilized nearly $400 million in cash to buy back some of those earlier bonds. The new 9% yield is favorable compared to the sharp increase that pushed existing bond yields up to 17.3% following Durov’s initial legal troubles, before they eventually fell to 8%, highlighting a significant improvement in borrowing costs.
Notably, the fundraising event coincided with Durov’s pending preliminary criminal prosecution in France for allegedly refusing to cooperate with investigations into illegal behavior on the website, including child pornography. Despite these legal issues, investors continued to express strong confidence in Telegram’s long-term value.
Increased Investor Trust through Platform Growth
In 2024, the company reported a $540 million profit on $1.4 billion in revenue, representing a dramatic turnaround from its $173 million loss on $342 million in revenue in 2023. With anticipated revenues of $2 billion, Telegram anticipates generating over $700 million in 2025.
According to Durov, who announced in March that Telegram had reached 1 billion monthly active users, the platform’s user engagement continues to increase. Crucially for revenue generation, Telegram Premium now boasts over 15 million paying users, a figure that has doubled within just one year.
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