Mergers and Acquistions: August 2008 Archives

Virgin Mobile USA announced that it has completed its acquisition of Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink,) The company believes that the acquisition complements Virgin Mobile USA's strengths.

Dan Schulman, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile USA, emphasized the benefits of the transaction providing  Virgin Mobile USA with:

• a set of unique and differentiated data applications;
• entry into the postpaid market, with a sophisticated billing and customer care platform;
• approximately 170,000 Helio customers;
• revised terms for the Sprint PCS Services Agreement [NYSE: S], expected to result in an 8% reduction in the Company's effective cost per minute in 2009;
• reduction in net debt of approximately $35 - $40 million, through the investments of $25 million each by SK Telecom and Virgin Group in the form of preferred mandatory convertible stock at the price of $8.50 per share;
• an increase to Virgin Mobile USA's total revolver from $75 million to $135 million, through additional commitments of $25 million by Virgin Group and $35 million by SK Telecom; and
• the addition of SK Telecom as a strategic shareholder with two seats on the Company's Board of Directors.

Nuance Communications, Inc.announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held SNAPin, a provider of mobile device and server self-service technology. With the strengths and resources of Nuance and SNAPin, the combined organization can deliver innovative, highly scalable mobile customer care solutions that transform the way mobile operators and enterprises interact with consumers in real-time on mobile devices.

Synchronica , mobile synchronization solutions, today announced that it is acquiring consumer mobile email specialist AxisMobile

The AxisMobile acquisition aims to make Synchronica the leading player in mass market mobile email and synchronization middleware for mobile operators and service providers. It will enable Synchronica to provide mass-market mobile email solutions that work on more than three billion mobile phones in the market today.

 AxisMobile’s consumer mobile email platform complements Synchronica’s award-winning Mobile Gateway software by adding ‘email to SMS’ and ‘email to MMS’ gateways as well as a client-less solution for WAP/xHTML browser access. AxisMobile’s patented Optimizer email transcoding gateway further adds the ability to display a large variety of attachments such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations on standard feature phones handsets that would otherwise be unable to support such functionality.

Connect 2 Media, the recently created cross-platform games publisher has announced an investment from Hands-On Mobile, Inc ("Hands-On".) In return for a minority stake in the enlarged entity, Hands-On is injecting the bulk of its EMEA assets into Connect 2 Media, which is backed by leading London-based venture capital firm Acuity Capital LLP ("Acuity").

Hands-On and Connect 2 Media will maintain a reciprocal global publishing partnership ensuring both companies strengthen their global distribution capabilities. Connect 2 Media intends to build upon the success of Hands-On's web-to-wireless gaming efforts and extensive expertise in publishing, developing and distributing mobile games to consolidate its vision of offering games across multiple platforms incorporating mobile, web and interactive TV.

Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann AG today announced that Sony has agreed to acquire Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG. The music company, to be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SMEI), will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. Sony and Bertelsmann AG originally created the Sony BMG joint venture in August 2004.

Once the transaction is completed, SMEI will be comprised of premier music labels such as: Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Records, and Zomba. Key recording artists will include Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Yo-Yo Ma, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Usher and Jay Chou.

As part of the transaction, the parties have also agreed to continue to share the company's manufacturing and distribution requirements between Sony's manufacturing subsidiary, Sony DADC, and Bertelsmann's services company, Arvato Digital Services GmbH ("Arvato"), by extending the agreements with Arvato for additional terms of up to six years. In addition, Bertelsmann will be taking over selected European music catalog assets from Sony BMG.