Hong Kong trade publisher Pacific NetMarkets (PNM) announced Tuesday it has received its first round of funding for US$10 million from US-based private equity firm J. H. Whitney to develop a network of B2B vertical marketplaces in Asia.
PNM also signed an agreement with key global companies to offer its suite of products on its online procurement exchange platforms.
In another release, PNM through a recent stock-swap arrangement acquired Anew, a UK-based off-line print broker specializing in sourcing cost-effective print jobs in Asia.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, PNM was founded through the injection of Pacific Press Group, the trade publication arm of MediaCom Holdings. The Pacific Press Group has a five-year track record publishing trade titles including China Food Industry and through its medical publishing business: Creative Medical, China Hospital.
PNM initially targets the US$500-billion global print market, the US$80-billion Asian pharmaceutical market and the US$300-billion Asian food market.
The vertical marketplaces – PrintPacific, PacificRx and FoodPacific – aim at delivering supply chain solutions to manufacturers, suppliers, purchasers and distributors using a customized online procurement platform.
PrintPacific, which focuses on facilitating the procurement of print online and streamlining both the bidding process and the job tracking process.
PrintPacific targets US and European print buyers who want to take advantage of the significant cost savings of printing in Asia.
The platform will manage the print-supplier relationship and perform overall quality control of the product and process. In the future, Anew’s business will be contracted to the PrintPacific platform.
PacificRx is an online pharmaceutical procurement platform. It aims at delivering a fully transactional platform encompassing a comprehensive database of products and a centralized ordering platform for hospitals, pharmacies and individual physician clinics to enhance and streamline the traditional ordering process.
FoodPacific will facilitate the delivery of content, community and commerce between food manufacturers and food ingredient and equipment suppliers. It comprises a directory of food ingredients and process equipment suppliers that will serve as a one-stop online resource for major food manufacturers throughout the region.
PNM also recently formed VerticalLabs, a wholly-owned subsidiary specializing in identifying, incubating and launching new companies.
