Russian investor gets $135 million stake in Chicago's Groupon

Digital Sky Technologies of Russia, which holds a stake in Facebook Inc., led a $135 million round of funding for Groupon, a social commerce Web site based in Chicago.

The investment will be used to boost Groupon's global expansion and restructuring, DST said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. Groupon, which uses social media tools to provide large discounts on deals ranging from spa treatments to dining, operates in more than 50 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

"This investment underscores our view that social networking-based activity will drive, shape and define the Web's evolution in the years ahead," Yuri Milner, DST's chief executive officer, said in the statement.

DST plans to spend more than $1 billion on social media over the next five years and is monitoring 50 global companies for investment opportunities, Milner said Feb. 19. The company led in December a $180 million round of funding in Zynga, a maker of gaming applications for social networks, including Facebook.