Citicorp has taken a stake in adventure travel magazine Action Asia
with the aim of expanding the company through a heftier online presence,
acquisitions and start-ups.
The search for investment to expand the eight-year-old publishing
company began last year and attracted several suitors, but the final
deal was closed by Citicorp Capital Asia Ltd, an investment arm of
Citicorp.
Among the most visible early signs of change are the new management team
of CEO Greg Woolstencroft, formerly a director of Arthur Andersen in
Australia and with a background in communications and management; COO
and chief strategic officer Amanda Wang, formerly with the American
communications and IT investment bank Communication Equity Associates;
and sales and marketing director Sandy Agarwal, previously with Star TV,
ESPN and Discovery Channel.
No staff changes have been made. Mr Robert Houston remains as associate
publisher and editor-in-chief and founder, Hong Kong lawyer Gordon
Oldham remains the single biggest shareholder.
New CEO Mr Woolstencroft told MEDIA that the focus of the business would
be on content and distributing it through different delivery systems as
a business-to-consumer and business-to-business media company.
Mr Houston said the print division would now be part of a much larger
entity and that the range of the company would expand into new
areas.
"The Internet enables us to have a retail platform and takes us all over
the world," he said.
