chinadotcom Takes Stake in Panpac Media.com

chinadotcom corp.‘s pan-Asian ambitions have led the portal giant to its fourth content deal in as many weeks.

chinadotcom (CHINA), which has changed the presentation of its name from the previous China.com, formed an alliance with Singapore-based Net content developer Panpac Media.com.

The two companies will swap shares as well as online content. chinadotcom will part with just under 300,000 of its post-split shares. Panpac will offer 20 million shares, giving chinadotcom a 10 percent stake in the company.

“Panpac Media.com is one of the fastest growing online and print-based
media organisations in Asia,” Peter Yip, chinadotcom corp.’s chief executive officer. “The excellent quality of their content will reinforce our continued commitment to build the best possible quality and variety of content for
Asia’s online communities.”

The content developer publishes lifestyle, finance and other focused sites, and has content partnerships with regional leaders such as Singapore Telecom’s Signet. It has more than 40 magazine titles in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Yip said that the “strategically significant” investment will result in new and enhanced content to be added to the greater China portal network. The deal will also extend the reach for ad sales on Panpac’s lifestyle site ZingAsia.com through 24/7 Media Asia, chinadotcom’s venture with 24/7 Media.

Earlier this week, the company signed an agreement to jointly develop a pan-Asian interactive sports service with Agence France Presse.

chinadotcom recently purchased Pandora Interactive Studio PTE Ltd in Singapore, as well as Netville Co, CLIC and A4 Communications in Korea, B2B online content developer iConcept.net and tech news provider Information @ge Ltd. in Hong Kong, and Malaysia-based Internet ad service e-Asia Sdn. Bhd.

China.com’s board Wednesday approved a 2-for-1 stock split. The split shares will be distributed Dec. 13.