Richard Li to take 49% in Data Access India
Anjan Mitra in New Delhi
Former Star TV owner Richard Li and the company's former general manager in India, Siddharth Ray, are once again teaming up for a multi-million dollar Internet joint venture signalling Li's return to India with a major investment.
Li's Hong Kong-based Pacific Century CyberWorks has decided to pick up 49 per cent equity in Data Access, an Internet company promoted by Ray.
Confirming the move to Business Standard from Hong Kong yesterday, a spokesperson for PCCW said, "Pacific Century CyberWorks of Hong Kong is poised to make a strategic investment in Data Access, an Indian Internet service provider, by purchasing 49 per cent of its equity."
The PCCW spokesperson added that PCCW is involved in technology businesses related to the Internet and the delivery of Internet services through satellite.
Data Access is an internet service provider (ISP) in Delhi (with a national category 'A' licence) and has received approval in principle to construct and operate an international Internet gateway from India.
The joint venture plans to start its Internet-related services in several cities, including Mumbai, simultaenoulsy which is most likely to happen within the first half of this year.
Though Li's companies have some small investments in India, including in one of India's largest portals which is going for a listing on the Nasdaq, the current one will be his biggest in India after the family sold out its complete shareholding in Star TV to News Corp's Rupert Murdoch a few years ago.
PCCW gained ground in its multi-media empire-building campaign when it recently won a bidding war for Cable & Wireless HKT, a unit of Britain's Cable & Wireless Plc.
The other bidders included the Singapore Telecom-News Corp duo with the latter announcing to pump in about $ 1 billion to shore up SingTel's bid offer.
PCCW, the Hong Kong-listed technology flagship of the Pacific Century Group comprises three main businesses: Pacific Convergence Corporation, CyberWorks Ventures and the Cyber-Port project.
PCC plans to be the world's leading provider of broadband Internet services, to be initially launched in Asia and serving 130 million cabled households.
PCC's NOW (Network of the World) will offer the world's first fully converged service with interactive digital video viewing and Web access beginning with the first phase in 2000.
CyberWorksVentures (CWV) invests in Asian and Western Internet companies.
CWV investments are currently worth more than US $1.5 billion. The Pacific Century Group is developing with the Government of Hong Kong, the approximately US $1.6 billion Cyber-Port project, a strategic cluster of information technology and services companies in Hong Kong.
-Business Standard |
