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  CNET : News : Story Saturday, October 30, 1999 

Catcha.com plans Nasdaq listing in 12 months
By Julian Matthews
Wednesday, October 27 1999

KUALA LUMPUR--Asian portal player Catcha.com plans to list on Nasdaq in 12 months.

Chief executive Patrick Grove said the company may also seek a dual listing in Malaysia or Singapore within the same timeframe.

He was speaking at the launch of Malaysian version of its portal. The site is currently in English but Malay and Chinese language versions are in the works.

Grove said the company would set up country-specific portals in Australia, Philippines and Thailand in addition to its present portals in Singapore and Indonesia.

Citing Goldman Sachs, Grove said Internet advertising in Asia would increase dramatically over the next two years from the current US$237 million this year to US$1.45 billion in 2001. "We plan to capitalize on this," he said.

"We are experiencing growth rates of between 25 and 50 percent per month for ad revenues," he said.

Set up in July by four entrepreneurs--each under 25 years of age--from Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, the company recently received venture capital amounting to RM12.1 million (US$3.2 million). It is currently capitalized at RM76.5 million(US$20.1 million).

Grove said the company is also set to get between US$500,000 and US$1 million for its related popular MP3 music Web site 1mp3.com soon.

The site was recently listed among the Top 25 search engines for MP3 in the world by trend tracker MP3Now.

"The site will be a hub for distributing music for unsigned Asian acts. We are also talking to major established labels and distribution houses for partnerships," said Grove.

The company has also applied for Multimedia Super Corridor status which qualifies them for privileges such as tax breaks and the freedom to import foreign knowledge workers within the high-tech zone.

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