Hong Kong-based internet service provider Asia Online has continued its foray into Australasia with the acquisition of three more Australian ISPs to add to the two from Australia and one from New Zealand it bought recently. One of several companies, such as Singapore’s Pacific Net and Australian ISP LibertyOne, racing to build a regional Asia Pacific internet network, Asia Online already has operations in Hong Kong the Philippines and the US.
Its three new acquisitions are Brisbane Internet Technology, The Message Exchange of Sydney and Adelaide’s Dove. The earlier acquisitions were based in Melbourne, Canberra and Auckland. After the first batch of purchases, Asia Online chief executive Kevin Randolph had said the company planned to spend a further $30m on more Australasian acquisitions. Australia and New Zealand are very important to our long term strategy of creating a pan-Pacific network of business-oriented internet providers to serve not only our customers based here, but the millions of others that have business or cultural links to the region, said Randolph.
Investors in Asia Online include Japan’s Softbank, JP Morgan International Capital and GE Capital. Taiwan, China, Korea and Japan are the company’s next expansion targets, according to Randolph, who also confirmed Asia Online’s plans to list on the Nasdaq very soon.
