M-Web acquires 100% stake in Astaga!com<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): South Africa-based Internet company M-Web
\nIndonesia has acquired a 100 percent stake in news portal
\nAstaga!com in a move to grasp a greater Internet audience share
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
M-Web's chief executive officer Stephen Gilmour said here on
\nTuesday that the acquisition of Astaga would help M-Web market
\nits Internet related services given the portal's popularity in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"This acquisition will strengthen M-Web's position as the
\nleading provider of Internet services in Indonesia,\" Gilmour said
\nat a press meeting.<\/p>\n
The acquisition of Astaga!com includes all its online
\nsubsidiaries such as PT Astaga Tour Online and PT Astaga Internet
\nKonsultindo.<\/p>\n
Last year, M-Web's operator, PT Carakeyasa Binekatara,
\npurchased two other portals, Kafegaul.com and Satunet.com.<\/p>\n
\"We do acquisitions for speed. That's the only reason;
\n(acquisitions) get us bigger faster,\" Gilmour said.<\/p>\n
However, he declined to say how much M-Web paid to acquire
\nAstaga.<\/p>\n
M-Web, he said, had spend most of its total investment of
\nUS$10 million in Indonesia on buying local companies.<\/p>\n
Following the acquisition of Astaga, he said, M-Web would work
\non differentiating the contents of its acquired web portals.<\/p>\n
He said that Astaga, with its strong lifestyle section,
\nappealed to audiences of between 19 and 25. Whereas Kafegaul was
\nattracting a younger age group of between 16 and 22.<\/p>\n
The more serious news portal Satunet targets people of 25 and
\nabove, he said.<\/p>\n
M-Web entered Indonesia in May last year, and has been
\naggressively buying up local Internet companies to penetrate the
\nlocal market.<\/p>\n
Aside from web portals, it has also purchased Internet Service
\nProviders (ISP) and companies offering information technology
\nconsultation services.<\/p>\n
Gilmour said that M-Web purchased web portals because it
\nwanted to build a strong image in the Indonesian market that
\nwould later help it develop e-commerce services.<\/p>\n
He expected M-Web's main source of revenue would come from e-
\ncommerce.<\/p>\n
According to him, trading in major industries, such as
\ntextiles and timber, will be a among the first e-commerce
\nopportunities here.<\/p>\n
He said M-Web generated its current revenue from its
\nconsultation and ISP services, and he expected the company to
\nreach a break-even-point within less than two years.<\/p>\n
At present, Gilmour went on, M-Web had no plans to invest in
\nanother dot.com company, but would consider purchasing ISP
\ncompanies if they could help cut operating costs.<\/p>\n
CEO of Astaga's operator PT Astaga Internet Konsultindo,
\nAndrew P. Hayek called M-Web a perfect match for his company due
\nto M-Web's strong foothold in the Internet industry.<\/p>\n
He said the entrance of M-Web gave Astaga the financial
\nsupport that its former shareholders were unable to provide.<\/p>\n
Astaga, he said, was established through a consortium of
\nventure capital companies comprising Hong Kong-based Capital-Z,
\nOlympus Capital Asia and their local partner PT Batavia
\nInvestment Fund II.<\/p>\n
According to him, Astaga's former shareholders originally
\nplanned an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the company.<\/p>\n
\"That's when venture capitalists make an enormous amount of
\nmoney, it's usual with an IPO,\" Hayek said.<\/p>\n
But as the public's enthusiasm for investing in Internet
\ncompanies declined, the former shareholders have opted to sell
\ntheir shares in Astaga.<\/p>\n
\"Astaga's shareholders have been talking to interested parties
\nfor about nine months now,\" Hayek said.<\/p>\n
He declined to comment further on the sale. But according to a
\nsource, Astaga was sold at a price of about $4 million by the
\nformer shareholders, who had poured a total of $7 million into
\nthe web portal.(bkm)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/m-web-acquires-100-stake-in-astagacom-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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