BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
IBM takes new direction with injection
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-24 14:28
International Business Machines Corp will launch a US$180 million venture
capital fund this week on China's high-tech sectors.
It is the first time IBM has directly invested through venture capital in
China. Previously, IBM had invested in Chinese start-up firms with
devices and patents.
IBM will manage the fund with Lehman Brothers, a US-based investment
bank, and the fund will be put into telecommunications, Internet (mainly
Web 2.0), new materials, environment-protection and energy sectors, the
Beijing Morning Post reported, citing sources at IBM.
The report said the investment would not cover China's real-estate
industry.
IBM's Beijing and Shanghai spokespersons were not available for comment.
IBM has cooperated with overseas venture capital firms before, including
the UK's 3i Investments Plc, to invest in Chinese startup high-tech
firms. One benefactor was YeePay, a Beijing-based third-party electronic
payment platform provider.
IBM provided them with servers, software and other services but did not
put capital into the projects directly, Claudia Fan Munce, IBM's vice
president said last year.
The growing Chinese IT industry, including Web 2.0 applications,
semiconductors and games, has seen IBM change its policy, industry
insiders said.
IT giant Intel has established a US$200 million tech fund to invest in
China. Cisco Systems Inc has invested US$400 million through venture
funds.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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