Singapore - 2 Nov, 2004 - Internet services portal Green Dot Internet Services has bought a 20 per cent stake in Singapore tech media firm HardwareZone, with the latter claiming the move signals a new push at regional growth.

According to a joint statement issued today, the investment agreement has Green Dot, or GDIS, to “invest up to 1.5 million Singapore Dollars and acquire a stake of at least 20% of Hardware Zone".

GDIS will also take up a seat on the Board of Directors with Hardware Zone Pte Ltd, which publishes online portal Hardware Zone International (www.hardwarezone.com®) and the three monthly print titles, HWM, GameAxis® Unwired and PHOTOi™ .

“The investment by GDIS is a strong signal of confidence in our company,” Dr Jackie Lee, CEO of Hardware Zone, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Explaining that his business had already expanded beyond Singapore and into Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and China, Lee signaled in the statament that the GDIS deal would deliver growth to the HardwareZone brands.

“With this synergistic alliance and strong advisory board, we expect to scale faster than ever locally and regionally within the next few years,” Lee said. “You can expect more announcements from us in the near future.”

According to Dr Francis Yeoh, CEO of GDIS, the arrangement is also about growth, but with a specific focus on the online game.

“As part of our growth strategy, we seek partnerships and strategic alliances with companies that complement our core business,” Yeoh was quoted as saying.

“We are impressed with Hardware Zone’s young and energetic management team and its sound value proposition – both critical ingredients for high growth in the fast changing internet space.

“When two companies, each with rich experience in successfully running portals with large online communities, come together, you can expect cross fertilisation of ideas and the creation of new business opportunities, which will be good for the small but growing local online industry."

Established in 1998, Hardware Zone began as an internet portal for the testing of computer hardware, and has since grown into an online and print publishing model, with four brands. According to HardwareZone, the hardwarezone.com portal claims some 150,000 members, and 32 million page views per month.

Green Dot Internet Services (GDIS) Pte Ltd is the developer and operator of MIW (www.miw.com.sg), for national servicemen for the Ministry of Defence, ONE.MOTORING (www.onemotoring.com.sg) and lifestyle portal CAN (www.can.com.sg). According to today's statement, GDIS specialises in "collaborative outsourcing", in which GDIS provides a range of IT & e-marketing services to help companies reach their objectives.

HardwareZone's Dr Jackie Lee was unavailable for comment this morning; ITJourno hopes to post more on this story tomorrow.