SINA to
Acquire Leading Independent Mobile Value-Added Service Provider in China
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Acquisition will double SINA
Wireless revenue, add two million paying subscribers, expands service offerings
and triple nation-wide sales force
BEIJING
& SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2003-- SINA Corporation
(Nasdaq:SINA - News), a leading online media
company and value-added information service provider for China and for global
Chinese communities, announced today that it has entered into a definitive
agreement to acquire MeMeStar, a leading independent mobile value-added service
provider in China for a total purchase price of $20.8 million in cash and SINA
shares. After the acquisition, SINA expects to double its wireless revenue, add
two million paying subscribers, triple its nation-wide sales force for wireless
business, and expand its overall service offerings
In the past eighteen months,
China has seen tremendous growth in the usage of Short Messaging Service (SMS).
The growth has been driven by an explosive increase in the number of mobile
phone subscribers which topped 200 million in 2002. According to the CCID, a
consulting group affiliated with the Chinese Government's Ministry of
Information Technology and Telecommunication, mobile data usages is expected to
have over 100% average annual growth over the next several years surpassing
Internet usage.
MeMeStar, also known as
"Xunlong", is a leading independent mobile value-added service
provider in China with two million monthly paying subscribers. The company has
160 employees with service coverage areas spanning over twenty provinces in
China. MeMeStar has developed strong market presence in the prosperous Southern
and Eastern provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiansu, where the combined
mobile user base exceeds 50% of the total China mobile user base. MeMeStar has
consistently ranked in the top three mobile value-added service providers in
terms of revenue and market share in these provinces.
"Wireless service has
been one of the fastest growing segments of our business. Over the past several
quarters, we have seen an average fifty percent growth in this business quarter
on quarter as more and more of our 50 million strong web users in China took to
our wireless services," said Daniel Mao, CEO of SINA. "As a leading
independent mobile value-added service provider, MeMeStar focuses on non-web
mobile users whose total number far surpasses those of the web users. The
addition of MeMeStar allows SINA to become a clear leader in this market. More
importantly, the acquisition will help to transform SINA's wireless business
model from a mixture of subscription and usage based services to a
predominantly subscription based model."
The transaction is subject
to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals and is expected
to be completed in the first quarter of 2003.
About SINA
SINA (Nasdaq:SINA - News) is the leading online media
and value-added information service ("VAS") provider for China and
for global Chinese communities. With a branded network of 15 localized Web
sites targeting Greater China and overseas Chinese, SINA operates three major
business lines including SINA.com (online media and entertainment service),
SINA Online (consumer fee-based online and wireless VAS) and SINA.net (small
and medium-sized enterprises VAS), providing an array of services including
online portals, premium email, wireless short messaging, virtual ISP, search,
classified information, online games, e-commerce, e-learning and enterprise
e-solutions.
To learn more about SINA,
please logon to our corporate Web site at http://corp.sina.com
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains
forward-looking statements. We may also make written or oral forward-looking
statements in our periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange commission on
forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, etc., in our annual report to shareholders, in our proxy
statements, in our offering circulars and prospectuses, in press releases and
other written materials and in oral statements made by our officers, directors
or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts,
including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking
statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and
projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution
you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SINA historical and
future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the
People's Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, the
Company's reliance on online advertising sales for a significant portion of its
revenues, and any failure to successfully develop and introduce new products.
Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SINA's
prospectus, 10K, 10Q and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.