OnMobile to buy US-based Livewire for $18 mn

OnMobile will pay $17.8 mn for the acquisition of the latter company's business assets, certain liabilities

Mobile value-added services provider OnMobile Global Ltd has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Boston-headquartered Livewire Mobile, a provider of managed mobile entertainment solutions for network operators and device manufacturers. It will pay $17.8 million (around Rs 100 crore on Tuesday) for the purchase of LiveWire’s business assets and some liabilities, subject to certain contingent payments, the Bangalore-based company said on Tuesday. As part of the agreement, OnMobile will also purchase stocks of Fonestarz Media Ltd, the managed services arm of Livewire based in the UK. With the completion of the acquisition, the new entity will be called OnMobile Live Inc, a fully owned subsidiary of OnMobile LLC, US. Established in 1983, Livewire Mobile provides a suite of solutions such as full track music, ringback tones, ringtones and infotainment services.

The company currently powers ringback tone and mobile music solutions for Sprint, MetroPCS and Public Mobile, among others.

With the acquisition of Livewire Mobile, OnMobile will now expand its music and ringback tone services to leading operators in North America.

“The acquisition augments our strong market presence in mobile cloud services that we currently provide to major mobile operators in North America. By successfully integrating OnMobile and Livewire’s products and by extending OnMobile’s proven managed services model, we believe we can create a truly compelling value proposition for the telecom operators and consumers worldwide,” said Mouli Raman, chief executive officer and co-founder of OnMobile Global.