Softbank Group-owned ISP Asia Online Tuesday received
$35 million in financing from a group led by J.P. Morgan.
Joining J.P. Morgan in the venture capital closing are Pequot Capital, GE Equity, Softbank Technology Ventures, Nexus Capital Partners and Concentric Network.
The company plans to use the financing to enter the Asia Pacific region through strategic acquisitions of ISPs, online service providers, Web developers and Web hosting companies. Asia Online also plans to build data centers and other infrastructure to support anticipated growth.
Kevin Randolph, Asia Online’s chief executive, credited Softbank for expansions made earlier in the year and said with J.P. Morgan’s backing there would be “no stopping” the company’s new pan-Asian initiative.
Concentric‘s involvement in the venture will also play an important part in Asia Online’s expansion plans, added Randolph.
Many of the products and services Asia Online intends to offer will be
acquired from other Softbank Group companies such as Yahoo!, E*Trade, Buy.com, ZDNet, Verisign, and Net2Phone.
The company has established itself as an ISP in Hong Kong and in the Web development market in the Philippines, and recently opened an office in California for sales and marketing in the Americas.