KUALA LUMPUR – Japan’s SoftBank Corp is investing RM250 million in Axiata Group Bhd subsidiary ADA, held by Axiata Digital Services, to expand and accelerate Axiata’s analytics, data and artificial intelligence digital marketing business in Southeast Asia.
Axiata president and group chief executive Datuk Izzaddin Idris said SoftBank will hold 23.07% shares in ADA, establishing ADA’s valuation at RM1.07 billion, while Axiata Digital Services will remain as ADA majority shareholder with 63.47% following the investment.
He said ADA, the largest independent digital, analytics and marketing company in nine countries across South and Southeast Asia, is expected to benefit from the unlocking of significant global synergistic opportunities.
ADA serves over 1,300 clients in the region, he said, and its revenue has tripled since its launch three years ago, recording positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation in the last two years.
“Together with our existing Sumitomo partnership, we can expect this strategic alliance with SoftBank to further fuel ADA’s growth momentum within the region as it unlocks synergistic opportunities that will form one of the pillars to deliver on Axiata’s digital champion ambition,” he told a virtual business alliance briefing between ADA and SoftBank, a combined telecommunications services conglomerate.
“Today, more brands than ever in Asia are turning to data analytics and AI to differentiate their products and services in the highly competitive digital marketing industry.
“With this added business and capital boost, we are better-placed to develop AI models for precision targeting, invest in content analytics, and establish data platforms to deliver insights and help businesses pivot for growth.”
SoftBank representative director and chairman Ken Miyauchi said since its public listing in 2018, the company has executed its growth strategy by expanding into areas outside its core telecommunications business.
“This alliance with ADA heralds a new theme in this growth strategy, as it will enable us to deploy our digital marketing business outside Japan by leveraging ADA’s presence in Asia as a leading data and AI company.
“We look forward to collaborating closely with the ADA team so that we can help companies in the Asia-Pacific region accelerate the digital transformation of their businesses.”
ADA chief executive Srinivas Gattamneni said the post-coronavirus norm is a “digital first” economy, which the firm has been successfully building towards.
“The partnership with SoftBank adds a valuable ally in our next phase of growth.
“The capital and business alliance with SoftBank will further propel ADA’s digital, analytics and marketing solutions to benefit our customers.” – Bernama, May 11, 2021
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