Asia Online Gets $35m Loan for Regional Expansion

Computergram International, August 13, 1999

Hong Kong based internet service and content provider Asia Online, a subsidiary of Japan's Softbank, has raised $35m to buy internet-related companies in the Asia-Pacific region. The private equity financing was arranged by US investment bank JP Morgan which gets a seat on Asia Online's board.

"With the financing behind us, there will be no stopping the drive to build the first internet-solutions company providing the convenience and efficiencies of the web throughout Asia, as well as to people outside Asia wanting to do business with the region," chief executive Kevin Randolph said. Analysts said Asia Online's strategy to build a regional presence through acquisitions could be the prelude to a public listing. "They are spending a pocketful of money now for a truckload of cash later," DBS Securities analyst Peter Milliken told a local newspaper.