Sina, Focus Media Merger Awaiting Government Approval
Tencent Tech, 5/18/09
Jason Jiang, CEO of digital media and Internet advertising operator Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) revealed that the Ministry of Commerce is still reviewing plans for a merger between Internet portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and Focus. Jiang predicted that the merger would be completed by the end of June. The two companies had previously predicted that the arrangement would be concluded within H1 2009.
Sina and Focus Media first announced they had come to a merger agreement on December 22 of last year. Under the companies' agreement, Sina will absorb Focus Media's outdoor digital advertising business.
Focus Media's acquisitions over the past several years have given it a more than 90% market share in domestic in-building advertising – meaning that the two companies' plans for a merger have been the subject of intense antitrust scrutiny by the Ministry of Commerce.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see"Sina Acquires Focus Media's Digital Out-of-Home Business".
Keywords: M&A antitrust FMCN Focus Media Internet Jason Jiang Ministry of Commerce portal Sina digital media advertising online advertising out-of-home display
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