HONG KONG, Jan 24 (AFP) - Four of Hong Kong's biggest companies have teamed up in a $390 million Internet joint venture as activity in Asia's information technology sector reaches a boiling point, executives said Monday. Tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. and unit Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. have agreed to invest up to $390 million to form an e-commerce joint venture with Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) and Hang Seng Bank, the firms said.
The joint venture, named iBusinessCorporation.com, aims to be the dominant service provider and business facilitator by pooling the resources and customer bases of the four companies, Cheung Kong said in a statement. The tie-up is the latest in a series of Internet and e-commerce deals across Asia and the Pacific which analysts said marked only the first steps of the region's journey down the information superhighway. "This is the trend in the coming year, otherwise you will be left behind," said Alex Tang, research director at Core Pacific-Yamaichi International. He said many blue-chip firms could no longer count on their core businesses with the restructuring in Hong Kong's economy and government's emphasis on developing high-tech and e-commerce businesses.
Kitty Chan, fund manager at APC Investment and Management Service, said: "This is the trend of the new century." Chan said large companies saw e-commerce joint ventures as a fast way to boost competitiveness.
However, she said Hong Kong was still a long way off the sort of landmark deals that have driven the U.S. technology market, namely the merger between America Online and Time Warner. "For Hong Kong, there is still a long way to go," she added, not least because the city's layout is so tightly packed no one is more than a few minutes walk or drive from anything they could want to buy. "We have to look to the future with the huge markets in China," she said. "The [iBusinessCorporation.com] joint venture does not have anything solid yet. It takes time for the initial establishment but it should be helpful to their businesses in the longer term."
In another alliance announced Monday, Kerry Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kerry Properties Ltd. said it would link with Hang Seng Bank in the business-to-consumer markets, offering e-shopping among other things. Their online customers will be able to use Hang Seng's e-shopping MasterCard, Hong Kong's first credit card specially designed for Internet shopping.
Another property firm, Sun Hung Kai and Co., said its subsidiary Sun Hung Kai Securities would team up with technology firm New Era of Networks Ltd. with the ambitious goal of revolutionizing stock trading in Hong Kong. It said that under the agreement, the securities branch would work on interfacing Hong Kong Stock Exchange members' in-house trading systems directly into the Stock Exchange's eletronic market.
Cheung Kong and Hutchison together will own 75 percent of iBusinessCorporation.com, while HSBC and associate Hang Seng Bank will hold the remaining 25 percent. "We are confident that iBusinessCorporation.com will be a major player in the Internet arena," said Victor Li, managing director and deputy chairman of Cheung Kong and deputy chairman of Hutchison Whampoa. "I am confident the venture will place Hong Kong at the forefront of the Internet and e-commerce revolution in Asia," said Aman Mehta, chief executive of HSBC unit in Hong Kong.
Osamu Wilde, Jardine Fleming Internet analyst, said Hutchison is particularly strong in its retail networks, consumer goods and telecom services, while HSBC and Hang Seng Bank will add financial services.
Cheung Kong said iBusinessCorporation.com would be more focused on business-related activities, while its recently launched TOM.COM joint venture with Hutchison is an information portal targeting China. There is no plan to inject TOM.COM into the new portal, it added. The companies will consider seeking a separate listing of iBusinessCorporation.com, Cheung Kong said in a statement, without providing further details 
Newswires
