Durov said it would postpone the flotation indefinitely. Durov said on the social network site Twitter that Facebook's IPO had destroyed the faith of many private investors in social networks. Although one of the world's largest, Facebook's USD 16 billion IPO earlier this month was a disappointment for investors. The company sold over 420 million shares at USD 38 a share on 17 May but the stock price has consistently fallen since 18 May.
One group of shareholders has filed a lawsuit that accuses Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook and Morgan Stanley of hiding lower growth forecasts before announcing the flotation. Durov said in January the group was eyeing an IPO in 2012 or 2013.
Durov's comments came as Mail.Ru said it would hand him the voting rights to its 39.9 percent stake, creating a partnership that will have effective majority control over the 100 million user network.
