Nissho Iwai, Sinar Mas tie up

Nissho Iwai, Sinar Mas tie up

TOKYO (Nikkei): Nissho Iwai Corp. will form a joint venture by April with Indonesia's Sinar Mas group and Commerce One Inc., a U.S. provider of e-commerce solutions, to set up Internet portals for paper and pulp, metals and other industrial sectors, according to the Sunday morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei).

The joint venture, to be capitalized at some $30 million, will be owned 70 percent by Sinar Mas, and 10 percent each by Nissho Iwai, Commerce One and a Hong Kong venture capital firm.

The joint venture will oversee operations of companies to be set up in Japan and the rest of Asia to run portals to mediate between buyers and sellers of paper and pulp, machinery, metals and food, for example. Turnover is projected to reach $15 billion in three years. The new companies will collect commission charges from buyers and sellers as well as membership fees.