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To: TobagoJack who wrote (1972)	9/30/1999 5:53:00 AM
From: swisstrader	Respond to of 6018

Jay...when in Zurich, be sure to look me up!!...weather is pretty crappy right now...have fun in Rome...I'm also looking into some VC and net related job opportunities through some contacts...just so much stuff out there...on a separate note, article on HK Pac Century deal with CMGI. Thursday September 30, 4:35 am Eastern Time ANALYSIS-HK's Pac Century seeks Asian Net formula By Kathleen Kearney HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd's link-up with Nasdaq-listed Web venture company CMGI Inc (NasdaqNM:CMGI - news) may give the Hong Kong company a big helping hand in creating a winning Asian Internet company. The strategic alliance between the two announced last week also could provide the U.S. company with a ground floor entry into Asia, something no Internet company has achieved. The companies announced a swap of shares valued at US$350 million in each other's company with the purpose of jointly developing their Internet-related business activities in Asia, a joint statement said. This included the possible establishment of a venture for the development and application of Internet technologies within the Asian marketplace. DEALMAKER PACIFIC CENTURY Despite the numerous impressive deals announced by the Pacific Century Group in recent weeks, market watchers and those in the information technology (IT) industry have seen the company as principally the real estate developer slated to build the Hong Kong government's planned CyperPort high-tech office park. That may now be changing. ``They have certainly positioned themselves better,' said an industry source with a major U.S. software house. The cross shareholding and strategic business alliance between the two cash-rich, dealmakers may enable them to create the winning Asian formula, producing or fostering the production of websites and portals with unique Asian identities. ``They (Pacific Century) have done a great job of selling the concept and of getting high profile partners,' said telecommunications analyst Peter Milliken at DBS Securities. Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) holds a small stake in Pacific Century CyberWorks. Pacific Century on Tuesday took another small step in that direction, taking an 8.3 percent stake in Star East Holdings Ltd which is launching a wideband entertainment website later this year. Star East, which is 8.8 percent held by local movie and television stars including kungfu hero Jackie Chan, will provide entertainment news, information and lifestyle features on its websites. ``It is a key area for people wanting to get the subscribers. You have to cover the gossip,' Milliken said. Pacific Century and CMGI would be aided by the fact that there were few competitors with their kind of financial muscle, and prepared to offer what Asia needs. ``The main thing that they have got going is that there is a whole lot of money floating around, searching, trying to make a go of it in Asia,' the industry source said. ``But there aren't a lot of Asian technology-related ventures that the real heavy hitters can get involved with,' he said. CMGI BUSINESS MODEL Pacific Century looks to be following the business model of CMGI, building a network of Internet modules, i.e., using the content of others. Massachusetts-based CMGI is known in the information technology (IT) industry as a venture capital or investment holding company, not a developer of IT products. In 1998 and 1999, it expanded rapidly in the United States building a stable of investments in 50 Internet companies. In recent months, the company has seen the successful listing of several of these, including its Internet marketing firm Engage Technology Inc (NasdaqNM:ENGA - news) in July and NaviSite Inc in September. Its holdings in Internet companies span a wide range of specialty interests. Through its Internet search service affiliate AltaVista Co, it holds a stake in San Francisco start-up 1stUp.com which recently said it would offer consumers free Internet access through Bolt.com, a popular Web site for teens. CMGI and Pacific Century apparently are not aiming to sell CMGI's U.S. products or a Chinese-language version of Bolt.com in Greater China. In their statement the companies said they wanted to ``help secure Hong Kong's position as a hub of Asia-focused e-commerce and Internet content development, and create new opportunities for the best talent in the region.' ASIAN CONTENT Whereas the industry in the U.S. has been active with small creative start-ups, such as portal sites with search engines, auction sites or web magazines, Asian ventures appear to be tied to big business or government. ``A lot of the motivation of entrepreneurs in Asia is chasing the money involved in the Internet,' said an analyst with a U.S. brokerage house. ``Genuine passion for the business is often missing. You have an investment bank and some programmers setting up a website for women, because there was a lack of such a site, ' the analyst said. The Asian market is fragmented and local content is sparse. The user market is also narrower. ``It doesn't mean that they won't be successful, but it is just like the gold rush,' the industry source said. ``But it is fun. We are still looking for the winning formula.'