Focus Media (China) Holdings Co Ltd, a media agency placing commercials in elevators and lobbies via liquid crystal displays, plans to list on the Nasdaq market at the end of this year.

It expects to net US$200 million from its initial public offering. The fund would be used to expand its business, which targets the white-collar segment and has a revenue expected to hit 300 million yuan (US$36.14 million) this year.

"To get listed on the foreign market can help us establish a global presence as our business will expand to Singapore and other places in the future," said Jiang Nanchun, Focus Media's chief executive officer.

China's monitor advertising revenue topped 198.6 billion yuan last year, rising 30 percent from a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The media sector heated up early last year. Focus Media and Shanghai Target Media Co Ltd are the major players.

At first, only office buildings in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were targeted for ad placements. The good response from advertisers fueled the growth of the new platform.

Target Media covers more than 4,000 buildings in 20 cities on China's mainland while Focus Media established a foothold in 27 cities on the mainland and expanded into Hong Kong.

The coverage has been enlarged to luxury restaurants, theaters, cinemas and gyms. Advertisers from automobile, finance and IT industries are major clients of the new medium platform.

"We enter all the places where people with relatively high income go. Thus, many advertisers find their budget on ads grows more effective with targeting right people," said Yu Feng, Target Media's president. "We hope our competitor can grow stronger together with us and make the market larger."

(eastday.com April 20, 2004)