The Carlyle Group Invests US$20 Million in Time Share Advertising

Beijing / Hong Kong, China – Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced its US$20 million investment in Time Share Advertising & Communications (TSM), the first outdoor media company in China that provides low-cost advertising using idle outdoor billboard space across the country. Further financial details are not disclosed.

TSM’s innovative business model offers advertisers significant cost and time savings by using idle slots available at over 80% of outdoor billboards nationwide via a single contact point that manages contract negotiation and media placement. Compared to the traditional year-long, single-location contracts, the cost savings to billboard advertisers can reach as much as 50%.

Through a real-time database, TSM provides a nationwide platform to tap effectively into the highly fragmented outdoor billboard market with nearly 600,000 billboards controlled by more than 60,000 owners. TSM offers highly tailored solutions for advertisers who previously did not have resources to execute a large scale outdoor media campaign across China.

"Our diversified advertising platform has become China’s largest outdoor advertising supermarket that meets the needs of a wide range of advertisers. It is a breakthrough from the traditional, single-location billboard advertising with little flexibility and long time commitment. With high idle rate of outdoor advertising properties standing at 30% in 2005, our model reduces significant wastage by enhancing flexibility on contractual time commitment as well as by adding choices and mix of property locations. In addition, advertisers are now able to evaluate and monitor accurately the effectiveness of their campaign using scientific and reliable tools," said Mr. He Jilun, President of TSM.

Commenting on the investment, Wayne Tsou, Managing Director and Head of Carlyle’s Asia Growth Capital Group, said: "This is our second investment in China’s out-of-home media advertising space after Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN). We are confident of continued exceptional growth in this segment. And we are extremely impressed with the innovative vision and business acumen of Mr. He and his management team, who have successfully executed a business plan in a short period of time."

TSM was founded in June 2005 by a team of advertising experts who seized opportunities in the outdoor advertising market which experienced an average annual growth of 20% in the last five years. This segment has been the fastest-growing subset of the advertising sector in China, already with 14% share of the US$17 billion total advertising revenue in 2005. TSM has established 36 branch offices in provincial capital cities across China and has signed exclusive contracts with approximately 10,000 billboard owners.