Steering for Expansion

Entrepreneur's Story

By: Agustinus Gius Gala

Globe Asia-15 Agustus 2008. As one of Indonesia's best-established and most influential media groups, Kelompok Kompas Media (KKG) is expanding into industry and property. Established in 1965, the group owns and publishes 13 newspapers, 16 magazines and tabloids and runs five publishing houses. The growth and success of the group's subsidiaries is largely due to the investment savvy of its founder, Jakob Utama, who has been seizing outside opportunities while staying focused on the group's core interests in mass media.“We are in heading in new directions but maintain our strong media focus.

Although growth in the non-media portfolio is significant, the bulk of revenue still comes from the media although assets in property and hotels might be worth more,” Jakob told Globe Asia. KKG owns Kompas daily newspaper - one of Indonesia's most respected dailies as well as a 50% stake in Trans7 television station, currently run by Chairul Tanjung's Para business group. The newest business unit is kompas.com which aims at becoming the largest portal in Indonesia. According to Globe Asia sources, the group has allocated Rp20 billion ($2.19 million) to develop the portal, which integrates the group's businesses and provides comprehensive multimedia services.

Convergence

“Like it or not, media convergence is a must if we want to be competitive, says Kompas CEO Agung Adiprasetyo.The web site will become a center of information services providing sophisticated features ranging from online media, photography, audio and video, and include cellular services.Since its launch, kompas.com has received millions of page views. The distribution of information also shows significant increase through the mobile services offered. Agung Adiprasetyo says providing space for advertisers in the group's print media has proved to be inadequate and kompas.com aims to provide extra advertising space on the internet.

The web-based operation, run under Kompas Cyber Media (KCM), also aims to develop an interactive digital market. For this, Kompas Cyber Media has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Group M Indonesia (GMI) to provide market analysis, case studies and other information. The group's corporate culture reflects Jakob Utama's cautious approach as founder and owner, especially when it comes to speaking to the press on the group's development. The companies under KKG are not listed and information on finance and revenue are never disclosed. Globe Asia estimates the group's total revenue reached $446 million last year.“Although Pak Jakob is now a top businessman, he is always cautious and he's still a journalist.

He knows how a reporter feels if he's asked questions but unwilling to provide the information,” a senior journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity told GlobeAsia with a smile.