Top Executives Quit Chinese Internet Advertising Company

Chinese Internet advertising provider Allyes AdNetwork has witnessed a high-level executive shake-up with both the CEO and COO departing the company.

The company’s chief executive officer Zhu Hailong and chief operating officer Zhou Daitong have both departed the company, according to reports in Chinese local media. The roles of these two departed managers are reportedly now taken over by the executives of Silver Lake, the major shareholder of Allyes.

Allyes has not yet publicized the news. However, the news has been confirmed by several insiders from Allyes and among Internet advertising industry insiders. To add more intrigue to the news, local media report the company did not send internal notices about the executive changes to staff.

Founded in 1998, Allyes is one of the largest Internet advertising and media service providers in China. In March 2007, the company was acquired by Focus Media, which sold its 62% stake in Allyes to Silver Lake for USD124 million on July 30, 2010. Prior to that, a 38% stake was acquired by several people, including the former CEO Zhu, for USD13.3 million.

Rumors previously circulated that Allyes was ready for an initial public offering early in 2006, but it finally decided to be acquired by Focus Media instead. After that, Focus Media submitted an application for the IPO of Allyes to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The application never made it to the offering stage.