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Deal Street Asia acquired by Nikkei Inc, the owner of Financial Times

Naotoshi Okada of Nikkei Inc and Joji Thomas Philip of Deal Street Asia

Nikkei Inc, the owner of Financial Times announced that it will acquire a majority stake in Singapore-based DealStreetAsia which tracks private equity and venture capital activity, deal flows and fundraising in the South East Asia and India region.

A report earlier this month indicated that the acquisition was imminent. The deal was valued at least $5 million by TechCrunch, which in a more recent report, upped its estimate to between $5million and $10 million.

The deal sees the exit of many previous investors in Deal Street Asia including  SPH Ventures, North Base Media, Alpha JWC, Ozi Amanat’s K2 VC, SGAN. Angel investors such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the CEO and founder of Alibaba-backed Indian digital wallet company Paytm, and chairman of Rogers Holdings, Jim Rogers among others have also exited.

The Indian business daily Mint, published by Hindustan Times, a former employer of Deal Street Asia founder Joji Thomas, continues to be a minority shareholder. .  

According to a press release, the deal will allow the Nikkei group to “deepen  its coverage of the Asian startup ecosystem and tech industries – the  fastest growing sectors in the region.”

The acquisition has also been done to strengthen Nikkei and Financial Times’ existing corporate news and data service Scout Asia.

Speaking about the acquisition, Nikkei Inc president and CEO Naotoshi Okada said: “I  am delighted to welcome Deal Street Asia to Nikkei Group as our new partner. Together,  we will expand and deepen our reporting of the thriving Asian technology and startup landscape,  with a strong focus on developing the editorial offering at Nikkei Asian Review, a key product in  our global strategy.”

Deal Street Asia founder and editor-in-chief Joji  Thomas Philip said: “Joining forces with Nikkei  will help us accelerate our mission of helping the  PE‐VC industry and dealmakers understand the changing  megatrends in this space.

“As  we expand  our reportage  across Asia, we  look forward to greater  collaboration across Nikkeiʼ’s  publications and group of companies  such as the FT, Nikkei Asia Review and  scoutAsia.”

Besides its media offering, Deal Street Asia also organises a flagship two-day summit in Singapore every year, with tickets priced as high as high as US$1,999.

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