BEIJING November 9th, 2009 - Phoenix New Media today announces the signing of an investment of US$25 million from Morningside Ventures, Intel Capital and Bertelsmann Asia Investment Funds, subject to various closing conditions. Phoenix TV media group remains the controlling shareholder upon the success of the financing.
“Phoenix New Media was born from a strategic decision in 2005. This financing demonstrates that the investors recognize our achievements and are confident about our future,” said Mr. Liu Shuang, CEO of Phoenix New Media. “Intel Capital, Morningside Ventures and Bertelsmann Asia Investment Funds jointly bring us brand strength, capital market insights, and expertise of supporting innovative companies, all of which are strategic advantages to Phoenix New Media as it continues to grow. We look forward to working with our investors to help make Phoenix New Media a leader in new media content development, integration and cross platform communications.”
“We see an inevitable trend from traditional media to new media,” said Mr. Liu Qin, Partner of Morningside Ventures. “Phoenix New Media achieved great progress in past three years and positions as a mainstream, unique and high end brand in the market. We are confident about its market value and business prospects. As a lead investor, we congratulate Phoenix TV media group achieved another milestone in new media area and wish Phoenix New Media a success.”
“The new media market in China offers immense potential,” said Richard Hsu, Managing Director of Intel Capital China. “It is a revolutionary shift in how people access information, consume entertainment, and interact with their society. Our investment highlights our continued commitment to fostering this innovation culture in China.”
“The media reform has moved into second phase.” Ms. Long Yu, Bertelsmann Asia Investment Funds, said, “The editorial experience and expertise from traditional media will launch huge power on a converged platform. With our operation experience in 65 countries worldwide, we are confident about the expertise of ifeng.com, its strong capability in resource integration, powerful management team, and sharp positioning among audiences. The innovation and progress of media convergence in China and Asia Pacific markets have strong influence on global media companies such as Bertelsmann and at large.”
As a success of new media born from traditional media group, Phoenix New Media’s advertising and wireless businesses have grown strongly and far exceed market average, and ifeng.com is now a comprehensive online portal for 100 million netizens.
About Phoenix New Media
Phoenix New Media focuses primarily on 100 million mainstream netizens, providing valuable information through integrated communication platforms. The ifeng.com and wap.ifeng.com are dedicated, comprehensive portals to serve audiences with news, information generated from in depth interviews and commentary columns; provide products and services in finance, social networks and interactive sectors through video and audio formats, leveraging influential resources from Phoenix Media Group. The key features offered by Phoenix New Media successfully address netizens' diverse needs about information, expression, interaction and entertainment. Phoenix New Media ranks top 5 among Chinese language portals, has high profile audiences who are well educated, economically potential and are of managerial and professional positions. Phoenix New Media offers highly effective ROI to customers through its sharp positioning, insightful content, integrated platform and brand power.
About Morningside Ventures
Morningside China TMT Fund I, L.P. was formed as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership and is mainly involved in private equity and venture capital investment activities in Mainland China.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$9 billion in over 1,000 companies in 46 countries. In that timeframe, 174 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 231 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2008, Intel Capital invested about US$1.59 billion in 169 investments with approximately 62 percent of funds (excluding Clearwire) invested outside North America. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit http://www.intelcapital.com.
About Bertelsmann Asia Investment Funds
Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) is wholly owned by Bertelsmann AG (Bertelsmann) and is headquartered in Beijing. BAI focuses on early-to-growth stage investments particularly in the new media, education and BPO sectors. As Bertelsmann’s strategic investment arm in Asia, BAI actively seeks investment and strategic partners in China.
Bertelsmann AG is the largest media group in Europe and the fourth largest media group globally. The Company’s main businesses include: RTL Group, Europe’s No. 1 TV broadcaster; Random House, the world’s largest trade book publishing group; Gruner+Jahr, Europe’s leading magazine publisher; Arvato AG, one of the world’s largest media and communication service providers; and Direct Group, the worldwide leader in book and music clubs. In July 2009, Bertelsmann, along with global private equity pioneer, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), established a global music rights management joint venture representing a return to the music industry for Bertelsmann.
Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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