China's Focus Media To IPO Its Allyes Internet Ad Business
This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.
Chinese advertising firm Focus Media (NSDQ: FMCN) is primarily engaged in the out-of-home market, but it does have a fast-growing, internet business that it acquired just last year for $300 million And now the company plans to do a spinoff of the unit (Allyes Online Media Holdings) via an IPO. The company said in a release this morning that it would commence the IPO following an F-1 filing and "as market conditions permit", which could be awhile. The internet business at Focus is hot. In August the company said revenue grew 201 percent in the quarter, accounting for $76.1 million of the company's total $211.7 million in revenue. Given this growth, and the market's longstanding love of all things Chinese internet, it's no surprise that the company would want to take this business out from under the parent company's umbrella. Release.
By Joseph Weisenthal