Internet portal Walla Communications Ltd. (TASE: WALA) is entering the social network sector. The company will acquire 33% of social network site Mekusharim as part of the acquisition of the 65.9% stake of Bee Contact Communications Ltd. (TASE:BCNT) in Layla Ba Ltd. for NIS 2.36 million. The sale will be closed on August 4.
Bee Contact was founded in 2003 as a vendor of SMS-based content services, and operated in Israel and Brazil. The company also owned 65.9% of Layla Ba, which owned 33% of Mekusharim. Walla's acquisition of the stake in the social network site came after long deliberation. The reason for the acquisition is clear: Walla! is going head-to-head against Israel's largest portal, news site ynet, owned by Yediot Ahronot Ltd..
Mekusharim has never made the TIM/Teleseker list of Israel's top 20 websites. According to Google Trends, which only provides general impressions but no precise measurement, Mekusharim has 90,000 users a day. "Globes" obtained a Google Analytics report that Mekusharim has exposure to 270,000 users a day, a figure that would easily put it in the TIM/Teleseker top 20 list.
Both Walla! CEO Ilan Yeshua and Mekusharim CEO Shahar Bar-David declined to comment on the report.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 31, 2008
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