Heatley headhunted for big new internet player

By Karyn Scherer

One of the world's biggest internet investors is muscling in on the New Zealand market, vowing to give banks and travel agencies a run for their money.

eVentures, a joint venture between Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and Japanese internet investor Softbank, has persuaded Sky TV founder Craig Heatley to head a local branch of the company as part of its global expansion plans.

Although the company is not ruling out investing in fledgling e-commerce ventures in this country, its main focus will be on establishing local versions of some of America's most popular internet businesses.

The deal comes just a few days after Softbank snapped up New Zealand's fourth-largest internet service provider, Iconz, through another of its investments, Asia Online.

Mr Heatley, who has taken a 20 per cent stake in eVentures, said yesterday that he hoped to list it on the stock exchange within two years.

While reluctant to name any particular sites, he confirmed it hoped to launch a local version of on-line mortgage broker E-Loan early next year. He also indicated that the company was keen to take a chunk of the fledgling on-line travel market.

eVentures already has investments in on-line mortgage and air ticketing businesses in Britain. It is also about to launch E-Loan in Australia, where it will face competition from companies such as Wizard Mortgages, which is part-owned by Kerry Packer.

Although essentially a broker, rather than a lender, it is believed to be keen to offer its own products and Mr Heatley did not rule out a similar move here once the company was established.

The only online company to make any dent in the New Zealand home loan market so far has been ASB Bank subsidiary BankDirect.

General manager Jane Freeman said the bank was resigned to the fact the market was likely to get more competitive.

"It's a very difficult market to break into, especially for a completely new player, but I'd have to take them seriously if they're concentrating on lending."

Mr Heatley said he believed the biggest winners on the internet would be the companies with the biggest brands and cheapest prices.

However, it is not yet clear whether eVentures will be able to use the E-Loan brand in New Zealand.

Across the Tasman, it is planning to call itself I-Loan, to prevent a stoush with a company that is already using the name. The web address has already been nabbed in this country as well.

Mr Heatley said he was taking a long-term view of the investment and was undeterred by the fact that internet stocks were coming back to earth after months of stellar performances.

"I think there's all sorts of similarities where I see this and where I saw Sky about 12 years ago."

A small number of shares are already being offered to local investors through JB Were & Son.