SINGAPORE (Jan 25): Local managed services provider Netpluz Asia is investing $3 million to buy the business assets of Mediaring Network Services (MRNS) and Mediaring Communications (MRC) from publicly listed Si2i.

Netpluz Asia has agreed to purchase the commercial assets of the brand. The retail assets will remain with Si2i, formerly known as Mediaring.

The acquisition will beef up its base of small-business customers and target medium-sized organisations with five to 200 users, says Netpluz Asia.

The purchase will be spread out over four phases until the middle of next year.

Mediaring, which was established in Singapore in 1994, was listed on Singapore Exchange in 1999. At its peak in 2000, it had the largest market share worldwide as a one-stop service provider of voice, data and computing services with VoIP technology.

With the transfer of MRNS and MRC under way, Netpluz Asia plans to inject new systems and technologies and offer services such as cloud computing, IP Private Branch Exchange (IP-PBX) and data analytics to corporate customers. It also plans to enhance its services offered to MRNS and MRC's 2,000 customers. It will leverage on their ownership of a "significant number" of Internet Protocol Version 4 addresses, which it describes as an "extremely valuable asset".

Netpluz Asia's management team worked in Mediaring in 2005.

With the Mediaring assets and regional growth plans, Netpluz Asia aims to generate annual revenues of $10 million in 2017.

Si2i last traded at 86 cents on Jan 22.