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SINA.com Closes $60 Million "Series C" Financing Round With Dell Computer as a Lead Investor
SOFTBANK Executive Joined SINA.COM Board of Directors
Hong Kong (November 5, 1999) ----- SINA.com, a leading Chinese language destination web site, today announced it had closed a $60 million Series C financing round, with Dell Computer Corporation as a lead investor. The financing also included investments from Creative Technology Ltd, Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited, various venture funds affiliated with SOFTBANK CORP., Sumitomo Corporation, Trend Micro and United Overseas Bank (UOB) of Singapore and the venture capital funds it manages.
In addition to the equity investment, SINA.com has entered into strategic business agreements with selected investing companies.
"China is the fastest-growing major computer market in the world and, therefore, very important to Dell," said David Chan, president, Dell China. "Dell believes in solutions that improve the customer experience, and SINA.com is making great strides in this area with technology that localizes and simplifies the Internet experience for Chinese computer users."
Separately, Yoshitaka Kitao, Executive Vice President and CFO of SOFTBANK CORP., joined Pehong Chen, Daniel Chiang, Yongji Duan, Lip-Bu Tan, Ter-Fung Tsao, and Zhidong Wang as a member of SINA.com's board of directors.
SINA.com's long-time backers including Crosslink Technology Partners, Crystal Internet Venture Fund, Economic Development Board of Singapore, Goldman Sachs Group, and Walden International Investment Group, also participated in this round of financing together with the new investors.
"We are delighted that this third round of financing has attracted investments from leading companies in several strategic industries," said Zhidong Wang, president and CEO of SINA.com. "The proceeds from the Series C funding will support activities that further our mission to provide the highest quality Internet content and services to Chinese language users globally."
ABOUT DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION
Ranked No. 78 among the Fortune 500 companies and No. 210 in the Fortune Global 500, Dell Computer Corporation is the world's leading direct computer systems company, based on revenues of $21.7 billion for the past four quarters. Dell designs, manufactures and customizes products and services to customer requirements and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained through its toll-free number 1-800-388-8542 or by accessing the Dell World Wide Web site at www.dell.com.
ABOUT CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LTD.
Creative Technology Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets a wide array of advanced multimedia solutions for the PC, entertainment, education, music and productivity tools markets. Creative's products are marketed through the OEM, systems integrator and retail channels under a variety of trademarks, including the "Blaster" family name. With the new Sound BlasterR PCI standard, Creative has produced a solution that utilizes a combination of hardware and software for near-perfect compatibility with existing DOS and Windows titles. Creative's corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing are based in Singapore, with sales, distribution and research and development being carried out through an extensive, global network of subsidiaries located in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
ABOUT PACIFIC CENTURY CYBERWORKS LIMITED
Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited ("PCCW"; Bloomberg:1186; Reuters: 1186.HK), the Hong Kong-listed technology flagship of the Pacific Century Group, has a market cap of HK$49 billion (as of 3 November 1999). Through its CyberWorksVentures arm, PCCW enters into and invests in local and international information technology and Internet businesses.
CyberWorksVentures (CWV), PCCW's Internet investment vehicle, is creating the preeminent incubation environment for established and start-up Internet businesses in Asia. CWV also acts as pan-Asian partner to leading international Internet companies. In September 1999, CWV agreed to exchange US$350 million worth of ordinary shares of PCCW for US$350 million worth of common stock in NASDAQ-listed CMGI, and to discuss joint development of the two companies' Internet-related business activities in Asia and the US.
Pacific Convergence Corporation (PCC), originally formed as a 60:40 joint venture between the Group and Intel Corporation, the world's leading maker of microprocessors, is a subsidiary of PCCW. Intel, following the merger of PCC with PCCW, has an effective 13% stake in PCCW. PCC's objective is to be the leading provider of broadband Internet services in Asia via its satellite network.
ABOUT SOFTBANK VENTURE CAPITAL
SOFTBANK Venture Capital (SOFTBANK VC) manages venture capital funds focused primarily on early-stage Internet companies. SOFTBANK VC's technology fund directors are all experienced technology leaders with prior operating experience as founders of early-stage companies, senior managers of major technology corporations, and leaders in investment banking. SOFTBANK VC's past and current portfolios include public Internet companies such as Critical Path, E-LOAN, GeoCities, Interliant, MessageMedia, Net2Phone, and TheStreet.com.
ABOUT SOFTBANK CORP.
SOFTBANK CORP. (TSE: 9984) has emerged as one of the world's leading Internet market forces. Through its ownership positions in more than 100 Internet companies and its unique Internet-zaibatsu management concept, it is able to create market synergies for its family of companies on a global scale. In Japan its activities encompass distribution, publishing, Internet media platforms, a broad range of e-commerce businesses, and joint ventures with companies such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Yahoo!, the National Association of Security Dealers, and many other market leaders. In the U.S., SOFTBANK is the largest shareholder in leading Internet companies such as Yahoo!, E*TRADE and ZDNet, and in Europe has established Internet joint ventures with News Corp. and Viviendi.
ABOUT SUMITOMO CORPORATION
Sumitomo Corporation was founded in 1919 and has its head offices in Tokyo and Osaka. It has grown over the years to become one of the leading Japanese trading companies. Sumitomo Corporation is capitalized at about U.S. $1.4 billion, and in fiscal 1999 net sales were approximately U.S. $94 billion. Sumitomo Corporation has about 8,500 employees around the world.
ABOUT TREND MICRO
Trend Micro provides centrally controlled server-based virus and malicious code protection and enables Internet-based security services. By protecting information that flows through Internet gateways, email servers and file servers Trend Micro helps major companies worldwide stop viruses and other malicious code from a central point before they ever reach the desktop. Trend Micro's award-winning products have been chosen by Compaq, Check Point Software Technologies, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, ISS, Lotus, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Oracle, Pilot, Sprint, Sun Microsystems and US WEST as part of their server security solutions. Trend Micro's corporate headquarters are located in Tokyo with business units in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Trend Micro's products are sold through a network of corporate and value-added resellers.
ABOUT UNITED OVERSEAS BANK
Founded in 1935, the United Overseas Bank (UOB) has charted steady growth over the years to establish itself as one of Singapore's leading banks today. UOB is rated among the world's top banks by Moody's Investors Service, receiving B for Bank Financial Strength, and Aa2 and Prime-1 for long- and short-term deposits respectively. From leading financial publications, Euromoney and Asiamoney, the Bank has also thrice received the 'Best Domestic Bank in Singapore' and the 'Best Commercial Bank in Singapore' awards respectively.
The UOB Group's vast network of 137 bank offices around the world include 73 domestic bank branches and 64 overseas offices, extending from Singapore across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong S.A.R., China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, France, USA and Canada.
ABOUT SINA.com
SINA.com is a leading Chinese-focused Internet company bringing a comprehensive, user-friendly and fun online experience to Chinese users worldwide. SINA.com offers a Chinese-language portal network of four localized Web sites targeting China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese in North America. Voted by Chinese Internet users as their favorite site in two independent surveys in China this year, SINA.com is a popular Internet portal for the world's largest population group. SINA.com has created a global online Chinese community where Chinese people can come together to read news, find information, exchange ideas, establish relationships and conduct business.
SINA.com is a privately held company with offices in Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong and the Silicon Valley. To learn more about SINA.com, visit our web site at www.sina.com, www.sina.com.cn, www.sina.com.hk, www.sina.com.tw, or our English-language demo site at www.sina.com/eng.
For more information, please contact:
At SINA.com
Cindy Lee
Tel: (852)2155-8858
Fax: (852)2295-3630
cindy@staff.sina.com
If you are interested in additional information on SINA.com, please visit the SINA.com.hk home page at http://www.sina.com.hk/