Israeli mobile advertising solutions developer Amobee Media System Ltd. has acquired British mobile advertising agency RingRing Media Ltd. Amobee did not disclose the size of the deal, but market sources believe that it will pay more than $15 million. Amobee expects to close the acquisition during the first quarter.
With the acquisition, Amobee is following the lead of industry giants Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). Google acquired AdMob for $750 million in November 2009, and Apple acquired Quattro for $275 million last week.
RingRing Media's 20 employees will join Amobee's staff, which currently number 70.
Herzliya-based Amobee has developed a platform for adapting advertising campaigns to all mobile formats, including SMS and MMS, video clips, music, mobile internet, and mobile games.
Amobee CEO Zohar Levkovitz told "Globes", "RingRing Media is the world's largest mobile advertising agency. It's profitable, with over $20 million in annual revenue, and more than four billion advertisements a month."
Levkovitz added, "As in every field, the mobile advertising market has supply and demand. The supply comes from mobile operators, and Appstores, and independent websites where ads can be placed. Demand comes from advertisers who want to buy advertising space.
"Amobee has technology tailored for mobile operators, and RingRing works with advertisers. This acquisition will turn Amobee into a full-service provider."
Amobee's customers include Telefonica SA (NYSE: TEF; IBEX:TEF; LSE:TDE) and Vodafone Group plc (LSE; Nasdaq: VOD). Levkovitz says that RingRing's customers include some of the largest mobile advertisers, one of which is "an important mobile telephone manufacturer and another is a very large beverages firm."
Levkovitz added that, following the acquisition, Amobee will launch a mobile advertising exchange product that will link supply and demand.
Commenting on previous acquisitions in the mobile advertising market, he said, "When the acquisition is completed, Amobee will be larger than the companies acquired by Apple and Google in this field."
"Globes" named Amobee as Israel's most promising start-up in 2008. In December, the World Economic Forum named the company as a Technology Pioneer 2010.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 13, 2010
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