MNC To Purchase Stake in a NASDAQ-Listed Company with Media & Entertainment Operations in China
2007 - Jakarta, 29 Nov 2007

PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk (or “MNC”) (JSX: MNCN) has entered into a definitive agreeement with Linktone Ltd. (Nasdaq: LTON), under which MNC, through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, will purchase not less than 51% of Linktone’s outstanding shares using a combination of a tender offer for existing American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) and a subscription for newly issued ordinary shares. The price offered by MNC is US$0.38 per ordinary share (or US$3.80 per ADS), representing a 53.8% premium over Linktone’s closing price of US$2.47 per ADS on November 27, 2007.

The tender offer will be to purchase up to 6.0MM ADSs, representing 60.0MM ordinary shares, or approximately 25% of the total shares outstanding. MNC will subscribe for up to 252.0MM ordinary shares but not less than 180.0MM ordinary shares, representing not less than 51% of total shares outstanding at the close of the subscription and tender offer. Again, both the tender offer and subscription have the same price of US$0.38 per ordinary share (or US$3.80 per ADS). The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008 and will be fully financed using MNC’s existing cash reserves.

Linktone, which is a Nasdaq-listed company, is a leading provider of interactive media and entertainment products and services to consumers in China. Linktone is currently an exclusive advertising agent and main content provider for Qinghai Satellite Television, which is a satellite TV channel that reaches 24 provinces in China with 276 million viewers.

This transaction will set a major milestone for MNC’s regional expansion initiatives, allowing access to China’s large and growing media and entertainment market. According to third party sources, China’s advertising spending market is US$14.7 billion and is estimated to grow by more than 15% per year over the next several years, making it one of the world’s largest and the fastest growing advertising market in Asia.
Mr. Hary Tanoesoedibjo, Group CEO of MNC said, “Linktone, as a strategic partner, represents a highly attractive value proposition for MNC, and MNC is committed to transforming Linktone into a leading, diversified regional media player for three key reasons. Firstly, we believe the Chinese media market has many similarities to emerging markets, such as Indonesia, in terms of the level of fragmentation, but more importantly, in terms of the enormous potential for development and growth. We have identified a number of areas where we can leverage our own experience and relationships to drive content and advertising sales, enabling Linktone to capture a leadership position in one of the most important media markets in the world. Secondly, Linktone’s advanced capabilities in mobile content provide a strong platform for MNC to establish a dominant position in the WVAS sector in Indonesia and an ability to expand into ‘new media’ market opportunities throughout Asia. Finally, we believe that this partnership represents not only a compelling cross-media platform, but one of the first genuinely credible efforts to create a regional cross-media player in some of the most exciting markets in Asia.”

Mr. Michael Li, Chief Executive Officer of Linktone commented, “This strategic transaction represents a milestone in our Company’s development. The increases to our cash balances will enable aggressive execution and implementation of our cross media strategy. Together, our companies will have a major opportunity to pursue advertising and WVAS cross selling initiatives both in China and other Asian geographies. MNC has built a strong integrated media platform, and Linktone's distribution channels and its wireless customer base offer a key go-to-market platform for MNC.”