HONG KONG (02/10/2000) - New World CyberBase Ltd., the Internet arm of one of Hong Kong's major conglomerates, yesterday issued new shares on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong to raise an estimated HK$369 million (US$47.4 million) for expansion plans that include data centers in China and the U.S., according to the company.
The company plans to build seven facilities in Mainland China that will host Web and corporate data with high-speed Internet connections and full-time network management and monitoring, according to CyberBase spokeswoman Stella Wong.
The issue of new shares yesterday will also help to pay for CyberBase's previously announced investments in a Beijing software development company and in the Hong Kong-based Anderson Information Technology, an arm of venture capital company Anderson Group.
CyberBase plans to build data centers in the mainland cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xian and Wuhan, according to Wong. It will expand its existing Hong Kong center by April of this year.
The company also plans to establish data centers in Los Angeles and New York.
The Los Angeles center will be established at a current facility for ehongkong.com, a Web site for overseas Chinese that is majority-owned by CyberBase. Plans for the New York center are not complete, but Wong said CyberBase is likely to focus on hosting Asian and Asia-related clients in the U.S.
At CyberBase's Beijing venture, Beida Jade Bird, a team of academics at Beijing University will focus on research and development into Internet and e-commerce software, according to CyberBase.
CyberBase earlier agreed to acquire 17 percent of Anderson Information Technology Ltd., which is focused on IT venture capital investments in Greater China.
New World CyberBase, a subsidiary of New World Development, is in Hong Kong and can be reached at http://www.nwcyberbase.com.