Astaga secures US$1.5m from new investor

JAKARTA (JP): The Astaga Group, parent company of news portal Astaga!com and Internet firm Indonesia Online, announced on Thursday it had obtained new funding worth US$1.5 million from its new investor Hong Kong-based financial firm Capital Z Asia.

Company chief executive officer Andrew P. Hayek said that the company had also secured a further round of investments from existing foreign investor Olympus Capital Holdings Asia, but fell short of revealing the amount.

"This additional investment from Olympus Capital and Capital Z Asia will accelerate the development of Indonesia Online, Astaga!com and other companies in the Astaga Group," he said.

He said the entrance of Capital Z Asia into the group would change the share ownership structure, which currently consisted of Batavia Investment (70 percent), Olympus Capital (18 percent) and others (12 percent).

But he estimated Capital Z Asia would be able to own about 20 percent of the company's stakes.

Capital Z Asia, a private equity fund managed by alternative asset management firm Capital Z Partners in Hong Kong, has previously invested in mass media companies in Thailand and Korea as well as e-security and e-commerce providers in Singapore, he said.

A Partner at Capital Z Asia, Michael Kent, said the company had been following the Astaga Group's performance for quite sometime and was pleased to become a direct investor in the company.

Hayek said the Astaga Group would use the new investments to finance product development and expansion of its subsidiaries, including Astaga!com, Web solution company NextWeb, an on-line travel company and a hosting company.

"We'll be launching Astaga! branded consumer products, an Astaga! branded credit card and taking the Astaga! brand into other media," he said.

He said the group was also investing in the building of a data-center and hosting facility, which was expected to be ready in three months.

Hayek said the group planned to raise funds through the stock market by launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO) early next year.

"We plan to list our shares on the Jakarta and Hong Kong stock exchanges or probably in Singapore," he said.

The group's news portal Astaga!com claims to have 287,000 registered users and 700,000 page views per day. (cst)