DLA Piper has advised Guard Capital, a venture capital fund specializing in telecom and internet projects, on the sale of a 79.6% stake in DocDoc.ru, the leading e-medicine company in Russia, to Sberbank, Russia's largest bank. The remaining stake will belong to the founder of the company and its key management.

With a market share of approximately 60%, DocDoc.ru is Russia's leading online medical appointment service accessible through a website and mobile application. With more than 30,000 doctors in 2,000 clinics, it allows patients to choose a doctor on the basis of their internal ranking, feedback from other patients, location of the hospital, price and other criteria.

Leo Batalov, Corporate partner and Chair of CIS Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice at DLA Piper, commented: "We are delighted to help Guard Capital, our long-established client, with this exciting expansion project for one of their core start-ups. This deal has already become an important step in building Russia-wide digital ecosystems and we are proud to be part of this success story."

Led by Leo Batalov, DLA Piper's team included Andrei Sheetkin, senior corporate associate, and Tatiana Askarova, corporate associate, in the Moscow office.

Founded in 2009 by a group of private Russian investors, Guard Capital invests in fast-growing profitable companies undergoing an expansion phase in their business development and participates in promising start-up projects in a wide range of industries. The fund specializes in investments in telecom and internet projects with investment volumes of US$2–5 million and with payback periods within five years.