Astaga!com plans listing on Nasdaq
Astaga!com plans listing on Nasdaq
JAKARTA (JP): Local Internet company Indonesia Online said on
Wednesday its news portal Astaga!com would launch its initial
public offering (IPO) later this year to raise fresh funds to
boost its portal operation.
Company chief executive Jonathan Morris said the news portal
would also list its shares either on the U.S. over-the-counter
stock market Nasdaq or on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
He said the Internet portal, which would become the first
Internet-related company to go public, would also list shares on
the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) if the local market authority
revised the regulation.
"JSX is finalizing the new regulation that will allow start-up
firms to list their shares on exchange," he said.
The JSX allows only long-established companies with adequate
financial track records to trade their shares on the
bourse.
Morris refused to reveal the estimate amount of funds to be
raised from the IPO, saying that it would very much depend on the
company's need for the development of its portal.
He said in addition to the IPO for Astaga!com, the company
also planned IPOs for its other Internet subsidiaries, including
Nextweb, which is an Internet solution company, and Proxis, an
online B-to-B procurement service provider.
"Indonesia Online has up to 10 Internet-related subsidiaries
and all of them will proceed with their IPOs in turn, starting
with Astaga!com," he told a news conference.
He said in order to prepare for the IPOs the company had
appointed international investment bank Lehman Brothers as its
financial advisor.
He said Lehman Brothers would be the lead underwriter for all
the IPOs.
"Lehman Brothers was chosen because it has successfully led
IPOs for other Internet firms, such as China.com, Softbank,
Pacific Internet and America Online," Morris said.
He said Indonesia Online was currently under negotiations for
strategic alliances with foreign investors from Hong Kong,
Singapore and Japan.
Indonesia Online has expected to raise between US$20 million
to $40 million of funds from the private placement.
Morris said he was optimistic about the Internet business in
Indonesia but he did not issue any figures about the news
portal's future revenues.
He said the business prospects of the news portal were quite
promising given the positive response from the public to the
company, which launched its service only two months ago.
"Within six weeks, we have had over 100,000 registered members
and over 500,000 page views per day," he added.
Head of Marketing and Sales Margie Djajakusuma said she was
sure the company would be able to break even within two years
after it opened its advertisement section next month.
The chief representative of Lehman Brothers Indonesia Limited,
Brian O'Connor, said his company was upbeat that international
investors would certainly welcome the IPO of Astaga!com.
"Indonesia has become an important Internet market for
international investors. With its huge population of over 200
million, Indonesia is undoubtedly a potential market for Internet
business," he said.
According to the Association of Indonesian Internet Service
Providers, the number of Internet users in Indonesia is expected
to surge from approximately 1 million in 1999 to 1.45 million in
2000 and 1.98 million in 2001. (cst)