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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (1970)	9/30/1999 3:21:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6018

Softbank's strategy to boost the value of its Portfolio seems to be right on track: Global Crossing to Make Asian Unit a Public Company (Update2) Global Crossing to Make Asian Unit a Public Company (Update2) (Updates with closing share activity.) Squaw Valley, California, Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Global Crossing Ltd. plans to make its Asian unit a separate public company in 18 months as it seeks to raise more capital and boost the value of investments by Microsoft Corp. and Softbank Corp. Co-chairman Gary Winnick said Global Crossing made the commitment to Microsoft and Softbank when the companies paid $350 million for a 7 percent stake in the Asia Global Crossing unit this month. Hamilton, Bermuda-based Global Crossing is building a worldwide fiber-optic telecommunications network. Global Crossing is paying $1.3 billion to construct the network in East Asia. Selling shares in the unit could boost its value and help finance the planned expansion to other parts of the region. ``You will never maximize the value of your company by keeping assets locked up inside,' Winnick said in an interview at Telecosm '99 in Squaw Valley, California. Global Crossing rose 1 5/8 to 26 1/4. Trading of 53.3 million shares was 10 times the three-month average daily volume, making Global Crossing the most active stock in U.S. markets. Proceeds from an initial public offering could help the unit pay down some of its debt. Winnick didn't say how much Global Crossing would plan to raise. Microsoft, the world's No. 1 software maker, and Softbank, which buys stakes in online companies, also bought three years of network capacity from Global Crossing for $200 million. More Units Global Crossing will consider turning more of its units into public companies, Winnick said. Among them are the Global Center unit of Frontier Corp. and Global Marine, a division the company acquired from Cable & Wireless Plc in April. Winnick said he expects today to close the purchase of Frontier, the No. 5 U.S. long-distance phone company that Global Crossing is buying for about $10.3 billion. After the acquisition, Global Crossing will have revenue of more than $4 billion this year, he forecast. Asia Global Crossing is building a 17,700-kilometer (11,000- mile) network of undersea cable linking Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. Winnick said he plans to expand the venture into China with a network on land and undersea to India as well. ``It's logical to assume that we'll reach out into the Indian Ocean,' he said. ``The population is too big and the market is underserved.' Global Crossing also intends to expand its network into the local access business as early as the next few months. It may acquire local-service providers in some cases, though not in the U.S. because prices for such companies are too high, Winnick said. * * * * * EVentures Names Schroders' Diana Noble as U.K. CEO, WSJ Reports London, Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- EVentures, an Internet investment venture, will today name Schroder Plc's Diana Noble chief executive of its U.K. operations as it begins two major British projects, the Wall Street Journal Europe reported, citing people familiar with the situation. Noble has been with Schroders since 1984 and has been a partner in Schroder Ventures since 1987; she'll immediately join eVentures, which is jointly owned by Softbank Corp. and by epartners, the venture capital company formed by News Corp., the Journal said. EVentures is planning this fall to invest in affiliates of E-Loan Inc., an online mortgage broker, and Buy.com, an electronic commerce venture, the Journal said. Tokyo-based Softbank, one of the world's top backers of Internet businesses, and epartners created eVentures on July 1 to invest in U.S. Internet companies that want to move into the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and India. (The Wall Street Journal Europe 9/30 3 www.wsj.com)