San
Francisco (March 3, 2003) -
Walden
International ("WI") is pleased to announce the successful closing
of a $50 plus million Series A Preferred financing of United Platform
Technologies, Inc. ("UPTech") , a company incubated by WI. UPTech
is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Beijing,
China. The Company plans to become a leading communications equipment
and solutions provider in China. UPTech will leverage its strong
technology sourcing and R&D capabilities to integrate technologies
sourced from the United States, Europe and Japan into the best
solutions for carriers in China. The Company will focus on three
areas: (1) fixed network revolution; (2) office communications
revolution; and (3) broadband wireless access.
UPTech
was formed to take advantage of opportunities provided by 1) China's
accession to WTO which resulted in the deregulation of the telecom
industry; 2) restructuring of China Telecom into two companies
to create competition; 3) the anticipation of China Telecom and
China Netcom being granted full mobile license in the near future;
and 4) the expectation of major build-outs of new networks to
prepare for the 2008 Olympics.
"I
am very excited about the opportunities offered by the changes
in the China's telecom landscape. During the past few months,
Chareleson and I have brought together an experienced management
team to build the Company into the leading communications equipment
and solutions provider in China," said Lip-Bu Tan, Chairman of
Walden International, and the co-founder and lead investor in
UPTech. Mr. Tan also helped the Company pull together a syndicate
of highly regarded VC firms and corporations in the United States
and Asia. They include Doll Capital, Intel Capital, Jerusalem
Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, New Enterprise Associates,
Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd., Sycamore Ventures, Sumitomo,
and others.
"I
am delighted and am looking forward to working with Walden International
and these high caliber VC firms to build UPTech into a leading
communications company in China," stated Chareleson Zheng, co-founder
and Chief Executive Officer of UPTech. "Lip-Bu's past experience
in building successful companies, coupled with the firm's diversified
portfolio in the communications industry, will provide UPTech
with an abundance of resources to draw from. Through Lip-Bu's
VC networks, we met with several communications portfolio companies
of WI and other firms and are considering a few of them to partner
with."
Lip-Bu
Tan is presently Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors.
Joining Mr. Tan on the Board is Chareleson Zheng. Prior to starting
UPTech, Mr. Zheng was Chief Operating Officer of China Netcom
where he was responsible for the design, deployment, construction
and operation of China Netcom's national fiber optic backbone
network and metro and access network. During this tenure at China
Netcom, he also oversaw the operation of the company's nation-wide
branches and JV entities. Upon the close of the financing, Mr.
David Chao, Managing General Partner of Doll Capital, also joined
the Company's Board of Directors.
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