Singapore-based internet service provider Pacific Internet Ltd (PacNet), a subsidiary of SembCorp Industries, is to become the first Asian internet company to list its shares in the US, where other internet-related shares have been hugely popular with investors. PacNet will stage an initial public offering on Nasdaq of 2.1 million shares, for which it hopes to get about $14 each. This would leave it with an expansion war-chest of nearly $27m after expenses. It claims it can offer investors a huge Asia-wide potential market, which is expected to translate into subscribers at a much quicker growth rate than can be achieved in the far more mature US market. As well as its home market in Singapore, PacNet will be looking for opportunities in India, Australia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Singapore its subscriber base increased by 75% in the 12 months to June this year, and by the end of September it had 186,860 dial-up subscribers, or about 40% of the local market. In Hong Kong it has a 50.1% stake in Hong Kong Supernet, and in Manila a 40% holding in Primeworld Digital Systems Inc. It is also in the process of setting up a joint venture to tap the newly deregulated Indian market. Figures from International Data Corp predict an annual growth of nearly 40% in Asian internet subscribers from less than 7 million at the end of last year to around 35 million by 2002. The more mature US market is expected to grow at less than 30% during that time. PacNet’s listing prospectus says: Internet in Asia is still in its infancy, creating opportunities to quickly acquire a significant subscriber base and become a market leader. It went on to note that the Asian economic crisis has not significantly slowed the rate of internet penetration in many Asia Pacific markets, as consumers and corporate customers have discovered that certain internet applications, such as electronic mail and web site advertising, represent lower-cost substitutes for non-internet products and services.
