Reed into drugs

Just arrived in Bangkok (now the Sukhothai is a really nice hotel) to discover that, while in the air, Paul Conley has shown once again his close interest in international devlopments, particularly Asia. He points to a Reed Business announcement of a new magazine, Pharma Asia. This will be a nice complement to the big trade fairs deal that RBI's sister company, Reed Exhibitions, did in China a couple of months back when it acquired the big, State-owned medical fairs company, Sinopharm. Reed has not always been the best at wringing synergies out of its publishing and trade fair portfolios but the strong interest in healthcare is clear for all to see.

They're not the only ones. CMP big deal to acquire MediMedia last year (now CMP Medica) was worth around $345 million. One-third of the value of that was in Asia.

More on Alibaba.com

We don't want to make this into a single-company blog. However, Alibaba.com and its founder Jack Ma continue to keep themselves far enough in front of the rest of the pack that they generate the most intersting news. Two interesting pieces today in the usually dull Shanghai Daily.

In the first, we see a report noting that the value of trades on Alibaba's eBay challenger site, taobao.com have increased 41% year on year in the 3rd quarter. The company is reporting trades of Rmb2.34 billion (US$289 million) and 60% market share. Of course, it still doesn't charge for taobao activity so that 60% share generates Rmb0 for Alibaba.com just now (except in investor dollars, of course).

Elsewhere, Rupert Hoogewerf's annual China rich list has just been published, for the seventh time. It includes 7 US$ billionaires among the 400 Chinese 'super rich' listed. The Shanghai Daily report notes that:

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba.com, made it to the top 100 for the first time, landing in 36th, thanks to a US$1 billion investment from Yahoo! China. Ma was also ranked the second most powerful business owner in another list released by Hoogewerf on Monday.

ABM Lite

I am starting a couple of weeks of intensive travel, taking in Taipei, Bangkok and Moscow between today and 22nd. There will be lot's of interesting things to see and report on but not so much time to blog. But bear with me, I will be around.

Rex Hammock of rexblog always includes a little picture of a Southwest Airways 737 when he's travelling. So, I'll keep up the tradition and include a plane from my favourite airline, Hong Kong's own Cathay Pacific.

Kristie and Jack

One of the unexpected benefits of a heavy business travel schedule in Asia is that you can wake up to CNN's morning news show which is co-hosted by the talented Kristie Lu Stout. She has just posted an interesting first blog from China which includes impressions of an interview with Alibaba.com's Jack Ma.

Highlights include:

He's been deemed China's new Internet King. But Jack is staying clear of the crown. "I don't consider myself a king, but a teacher," said Jack. "I am China's Chief Education Officer for the Internet." Since the Yahoo deal, Jack concedes that his life has indeed changed. He jokes that he's getting busier, getting thinner. And that a lot of strangers on the street give him a pat on the back for his dot-com coup.

The thought of Jack getting thinner is a bit of worry for anybody who has ever met him.

It seems that Kristie, a veteran of Wired magazine and Reuters in the dotcom heyday, is not a stranger to weblogs. The page includes a link to a five day blog posted earlier this year from Silicon Valley.

Indiatimes IPO plans

Exchange4media is reporting that Indiatimes.com, the Internet arm of India's largest newspaper publishers, Bennett, Coleman & Co., is considering an IPO. The company has already unloaded 5.8% of its stake in the online business to WestBridge Capital according to the report which is based on an interview with Indiatimes CEO Mahendra Swarup.

Working hard to make a name

We are always interested to watch small, new companies pulling themselves out into the limelight. The pace of growth in China offers all manner of opportunities for the entrepreneurially-minded. Alexander Glos, the CEO of I2i Media, appears to combine a good sense for those opportunities with a keen eye for publicity.

The company's new web site includes a BBC interview at CEBIT Asia in Shanghai with the CEO on its home page. As a quick look at the Press Center section shows, there has been a steady stream of announcements from I2i which describes itself as a company which "develops, produces, markets and sells b2b and b2c media opportunities throughout China, North America and Europe".

Good luck to them.

UFI Asia Seminar announced

UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has announced its first Asia Seminar, to be held in Hong Kong 21 - 22 February. More information on this at BSG's Corporate BLOG or directly from UFI.

German publishers in India

Back in June, we noted that the German publishers association VDZ was planning to visit India. Now, we read from ContentSutra.com that they are there. Currently in Delhi, they have reportedly met:

• India Today
• Outlook
• CyberMedia
• McMillan Publishing
• Delhi Press
• Business World

Today they move on to Mumbai to meet:

• Indian Express Business Publication Division
• NextGen Publishing
• Infomedia India
• Indian Book Distributer (IBD)

I imagine they will find themselves enthralled by the opportunity and overwhelmed by the challenges.

Tanka poetry and B2B media

A bit of a stretch this one, but I was pleased to see Paul Conley back in action with an intriguing post and it has an Asian connection. When he said "Time for a change, time for a break" a couple of weeks back, I was worried that his postings would dry up.

Paul's post notes:

In a lovely and unexpected development, young people in Japan have taken to sending Tanka text messages via cellphone. The Tanka craze is the latest example of consumers creating new forms of media from new types of technology. I'm always delighted by such things..and often amazed by the speed at which they arrive.

It sometimes takes me a moment or two to decipher the messages that my teenage kids and my younger staff send me, but Paul is right: the current generation is communicating more in writing than for some while. It may not be traditional. It is sometimes odd. But it beats grunting.

Indian Express IPO

Exchange4Media reports that the Indian Express group's IPO plans continue to move forward. The group, which includes newspapers and business publishing activities "was close to finalising a merchant banker and aimed at coming out with the initial public offering by the end of the financial year" according to the news site, quoting Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, Indian Express.

Timing of the IPO is still somewhat uncertain although the company says it will be before the end of this financial year. The report ends with a note that the group "is coming out with a host of new general and special magazines by the year-end and holding a summit as part of its ‘India Empowered’ campaign in the third week of October".