Philippines News Archives

Friday, March 31, 2000

AC ( 03/31/2000 : AFX )
The Ayala group yesterday announced its first venture into e-commerce with the creation of a new subsidiary that will offer online shopping. Ayala Land Inc. vice president and comptroller Jaime Ysmael said the ALI executive committee has approved an investment in a company to be named ''MyAyala.com Inc.'' together with iAyala Co. Inc., another newly created subsidiary used as the Ayalas' investment vehicle for Internet and information technology ventures. ''MyAyala.com Inc. will have an initial authorized stock of P100 M with ALI taking up an effective share of 50 percent in the joint venture valued at P25 M, the remaining 50 percent of which shall be taken up by iAyala Co. Inc.,'' Ysmael said. ''The joint venture was formed to pursue various opportunities in the field of electronic commerce,'' he said. The joint venture company will put up the MyAyala.com website and aim to make it operational within two to three months. In an interview, Ysmael said MyAyala.com would initially focus on the business-to-consumer strategy and would tap the Ayala group's strengths as a mall operator and premier real estate developer. ''We are confident that we have enough content as a mall operator. We're thinking of utilizing existing tenants in our malls but it doesn't deter us from offering other brands in the future,'' he said. The Ayala group operates various malls, including Glorietta and Greenbelt in Alabang, the Alabang Town Center and the Ayala Town Center in Cebu. Ysmael said the website will likewise become an online broker of real estate products developed by ALI. Aside from residential housing development, ALI is involved in socialized housing, hotels, mixed-use development and industrial estate development. Ayala's venture into online shopping is similar to a strategy being fleshed out by Walmart, the world's biggest retailer.
- posted by StockMarket @ 11:13 PM

Tuesday, March 28, 2000

AC ( 03/28/2000 : PSE )
This has reference to the news article entitled "Ayala forms IT affiliate to focus on e-business" published in the 27 March 2000 issue of the Business World. The article reported that Ayala Corporation (AC) has tied up with US-based Akamai Technologies, Inc. for its venture into e-business, Net infrastructure, wireless content and technology funding. AC is also eyeing for listing of new company in the stock exchange. Furthermore, AC has also invested in two US-based technology companies, namely: Cielo Communications, Inc. and SiRF Technology, Inc. In its letter, AC stated that: "xxx Ayala Corporation has an existing agreement with Akamai Technologies to be a network partner in the Philippines. This agreement will provide Ayala with Akamai servers that will enable Philippine Internet users faster access to 'akamaized' web sites. Utilizing Akamai's load balancing technology, users will be able to access richer multimedia content like audio and video over the Internet. 'Akamaized' web site include: Yahoo!, CNN Interactive, Reuters, Apple and Adobe. There is no financial consideration or investment involved as part of this agreement. Ayala Corporation has invested US$1M into Cielo. Cielo's unique technology in optical communications allows for faster data communications over existing fiber optic networks. The company supplies several major US data networking companies. Ayala Corporation has invested US$1.6M into SiRF. SiRF is a leader in global positioning chipsets which will enable position dependent services and products for mobile devices. Several mobile phone handset manufacturers are already evaluating SiRF's chipsets. Ayala was incorporated 3 January 2000. We are in the process of incorporating a separate entity to hold our investments in the technology area, including Cielo and SiRF. There are no plans of listing either company in the future."
- posted by StockMarket @ 11:12 PM

AC ( 03/28/2000 : AFX )
Ayala Corp said it is in the process of forming a separate firm that will handle all its technology-related investments, Ayala Corp managing director Rufino Luis Manotok said. "We are in the process of incor- porating a separate entity to hold our investments in the technology area, including Cielo and SiRF," said Manotok. Ayala Corp has invested 1 M usd in Cielo and 1.6 M usd in SiRF. Cielo's technology in optical communications allows for faster data communications over existing fiber optic networks. SiRF, on the other hand, is into global positioning chipsets which will enable positioning dependent services and products for mobile devices. Ayala Corp said it has an agreement with Akamai Technologies to be a network partner in the Philippines. Akamai's technology allows access to richer multimedia content like audio and video over the internet.

- posted by StockMarket @ 11:12 PM

Monday, March 27, 2000

AC ( 03/27/2000 : BW )
The Ayala Group of Companies, one of the country's oldest conglomerates, will not be left behind in the emerging trend among local companies jumping into Internet-related businesses. It has recently formed information technology (IT) subsidiary iAyala Co., Inc. for this purpose. Sources told BusinessWorld Ayala Corp. has tied up with US-based Akamai Technologies, Inc. for its venture into e-business, Net infrastructure, wireless content and technology funding. iAyala was formed to act as a support system for Ayala Corp.'s major companies including Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecom GMCR, Inc., Pure Foods Corp. and Ayala Land, Inc. which are in the process of getting their systems integrated to catch up with the growing Internet business. Sources said iAyala will be the launching pad of Akamai once it decides to put up a server in the Philippines. Ayala Corp. is also allegedly mulling over the possibility of listing the new company in the stock exchange. Akamai is a US-based service provider focused on addressing the needs of e-commerce companies and content providers. The company has over 3,000 servers strategically located all over the world. Akamai's system is a date warehouse primarily dedicated to websites. It can accommodate large files by co-locating these within a local loop where the files can be easily restored. The technology runs on high-bandwidth technology which can be accessible for video, audio, among others. Aside from the partnership with Akamai, sources said the Ayala Group has also invested in two US-based technology companies, namely Cielo Communications, Inc. and SiRF Technology, Inc. Ayala Corp. has reportedly invested $1 million in Cielo Communications, a Silicon Valley-based company which concentrates on fiber optic technology. Cielo Communications is currently the industry leader in the development and fabrication of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers technology which is the key ingredient for implementing cost-effective Gigabit Ethernet backbones and Fiber Channel data storage networks. Sources said Ayala Corp. has also invested some $1.6 million in SiRF Technology, Inc., a global positioning system (GPS) products firm. The company was founded in 1995. SiRF Technology has extensive experience in GPS, spread spectrum, radio frequency, semiconductor and communications technologies. The company concentrates its resources on developing high-volume chip set and software solutions that will cater to high-growth markets such as consumer GPS navigation and wireless communications.
- posted by StockMarket @ 11:10 PM

AC ( 03/27/2000 : AFX )
Ayala Corp has tied up with U.S.-based Akamai Technologies Inc on a venture on e-commerce, net infrastructure, wireless content and technology funding, the BusinessWorld newspaper quoted sources as saying. Sources said Ayala, which the Ayala Group formed for the venture, will be the launching pad of Akamai once it decides to put up a server in the Philippines. Ayala Corp is considering listing the new company on the stock exchange, the sources also said. The Ayala Group has also invested 1 M usd in another U.S. firm Cielo Communi- cations Inc, a Silicon Valley-based company which concentrates on fibre optic technology and 1.6 M usd in SiRF Technology Inc, a global positioning system products firm based also in the U.S.
- posted by StockMarket @ 11:10 PM

Philippines News Archives Home

Philippine Jobs .ph

Summary of Job Openings

Career Articles & Resources Index

Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

Philippine Sites

Jobs in Canada