Hyderabad based IMImobile, a mobile VAS provider to mobile operators and content providers, has bought dx3, a digital content delivery services provider. The financial details are undisclosed.
The company had plans since August to acquire a firm in mobile advertising space in US and Europe. The acquisition of UK based dx3 is set to add about $10 m to its topline in the first year. The new arrangement of the combined services shall enable the company to power the mobile and online digital marketing initiatives of major brands, publishers and retailers across the Europe.
IMImobile works with some 202 operators and over 400 content partners in more than 50 countries. Its clients include Airtel, C&W, Vodafone, Maxis, Google and Reuters. It manages the mobile media campaigns for the last two.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in two months. Having clients like MTV, Virgin, and Sony Ericsson, Dx3 has relationships with all of the world's major music labels and a library of over two million music tracks. It had pioneered the first legal digital music downloads in Europe.
Currently, the VAS market is governed by short message service (SMS) (giving about 44% of VAS revenue), interactive voice response (IVR) and WAP portal platforms, delivering applications such as entertainment, advertisement, gaming and news.
In some of the recent VAS deals, production house Mukta Arts bought 51% stake in mobile content firm Coruscant Tec in September this year while Indian MVAS provider Onmobile bought 100% stake in French firm Telisma S.A., a speech recognition software provider in May this year for $17.38 m.