Silver Lake Acquires Majority Stake in Allyes, China's Leading Digital Marketing Solutions Provider
SHANGHAI, July 30 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Silver Lake, the global leader in private investments in technology and technology-enabled industries, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Allyes Online Media Holding Ltd. ("Allyes"), China's leading digital marketing solutions provider, making it one of the largest private equity investments in China this year. Allyes is a subsidiary of Focus Media Holding Limited (Nasdaq: FMCN), China's leading digital media group.
Through its digital marketing platform, Allyes provides online advertising agency services, advertising networks, performance marketing, advertising technology solutions and online market research to leading global brands such as Sony, Pepsi and Chrysler and leading Chinese companies such as China Merchants Bank and Taobao.
Allyes has built a leading market position by capitalizing on the robust development of the online advertising market in China, which is driven by strong economic growth and a rapid increase in Internet penetration. According to iResearch, the market size of China's online advertising industry reached over RMB 20.7 billion in 2009, up 21.9% from 2008.
"We are delighted to welcome Silver Lake as our majority shareholder and strategic partner," said David Zhu, CEO of Allyes. "Allyes looks forward to leveraging Silver Lake's deep technology background and exceptional insights in the global digital market as we continue to grow and innovate our business strategies."
"We are impressed with Allyes' success over the last 12 years and look forward to partnering with its high caliber team," said Dr. Eric Chen, Managing Director at Silver Lake. "We are optimistic about Allyes' future and believe that the company is well-positioned to leverage the growth trends and continue to develop as a leader in digital marketing. As Silver Lake's largest investment in a Chinese company to date, Allyes is a strong and complementary addition to our global portfolio of leading technology and technology-enabled businesses."
Latham & Watkins and FangDa Law Partners are advising Allyes on this transaction.
Kirkland & Ellis, Jun He Law Offices and PricewaterhouseCoopers are advising Silver Lake on this transaction.
About Allyes
Established in 1998, Allyes is the largest online media service provider in China that offers a complete suite of digital marketing solutions and a pioneer in Chinese Internet advertising technology. Allyes provides its customers with comprehensive and professional services through Allyes' proprietary suite, AdForward, a software application which has been independently certified and registered in China. AdForward products include online ad-publishing, creative production, tracking, targeting and performance analysis and have been used by hundreds of commercial websites and ad agencies, maintaining a leading position in the Internet advertising application field. Allyes' mission is to become the worldwide industry leader in helping web media owners materialize and increase their online marketing value and improving efficiency and effectiveness of advertisers' media spending. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Allyes has branch offices in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu. For more information, please visit http://www.allyes.com .
About Silver Lake
Silver Lake is the global leader in private investments in technology and technology-enabled industries. Silver Lake invests with the strategic and operational insights of an experienced industry participant. The firm has over 90 investment professionals located in New York, Menlo Park, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo and manages over $14 billion across large cap and middle market private investment strategies as well as a credit investment strategy. Its portfolio includes or has included technology industry leaders such as Ameritrade, Avago, Avaya, Business Objects, Flextronics, Gartner, Gerson Lehrman Group, Instinet, Intelsat, Interactive Data Corporation, IPC Systems, MCI, Mercury Payment Systems, the NASDAQ OMX Group, NetScout, NXP, Sabre, Seagate Technology, Serena Software, Skype, SunGard Data Systems, Thomson and UGS. For more information, please visit http://www.silverlake.com .
SOURCE Silver Lake and Allyes
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