Mobile marketing and advertising technology company Velti Plc. is acquiring mobile customer relationship management provider Air2Web for $19 million or Rs 94.6 crore. Founded in 1999 by Indian-origin entrepreneur Sanjoy Malik, Air2Web is into mobile messaging and marketing applications for enterprises and carriers.
The company delivers mobile phone services on behalf of large enterprises and caters to their client base. It is headquartered in the USA, with offices in India (serving the Asia-Pacific market), France and the UK (serving the European markets).
Under the deal, Air2Web will be acquired for about $19 million in cash and Velti expects to generate over $12 million of annualised revenue from the acquisition, the majority of which is derived from recurring platform licensing, usage and performance fees, the company has said.
“Velti anticipates that Air2Web will generate approximately $3 million in revenue and $1 million in EBITDA during the fourth quarter of 2011 and will become accretive to EBITDA in its first full quarter of consolidation post-acquisition. Subject to certain customary closing conditions, Velti expects the acquisition to close in the fourth quarter of 2011 and accordingly, will consolidate a portion of Air2Web’s quarterly results,” the statement adds.
Velti provides mobile marketing & advertising technology and solutions that enable brands, advertising agencies, mobile operators and media to implement highly targeted, interactive and measurable campaigns by communicating with and engaging consumers via their mobile devices.
“Air2Web’s mobile CRM platform is attracting and retaining many of the most marketing-savvy Fortune 1000 brands including, among others, AT&T, Comcast, American Express, HSBC, Barclays Bank and Citigroup,” said Alex Moukas, CEO of Velti. “Through this acquisition, Air2Web’s customers can now leverage Velti’s comprehensive mobile marketing platform and global capabilities to increase the scope, scale, geographic reach and overall effectiveness of their mobile marketing strategies,” he added.
This deal will deepen Velti’s US footprint and ensure greater access to carriers and verticals, such as the financial services industry. In India, Air2Web will expand Velti’s operations across the second largest mobile market (in terms of subscribers) by providing a stronger foundation and greater reach.
In September 2006, Air2Web received $25 million funding led by the Carlyle, with participation from existing investors including Vantage Point, technology luminary .
Velti is also acquiring China-based CASEE for approximately $8.4 million, with $3.9 million in cash and $4.5 million in cash or common shares of Velti Plc., the company has said. CASEE is the largest mobile ad exchange and mobile ad network in China, founded in 2006 by its CEO Xin Ye and a team of successful technology entrepreneurs.
The latest acquisition comes after last week’s mega funding deal in Indian mobile Internet space as Bengaluru-based mobile ad network InMobi raised $200 million from Softbank Corp, a Japanese telco. The funding will happen in two tranches – $100 million will be deployed in September 2011, followed by another $100 million in April 2012.
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