Start-ups Celltrex and Valis today announced they will be merging, as first reported in "Globes". The goal is to create a leading player in the field of Person-to-Person communications services.
The new company will be called Axis Mobile. The main shareholders are venture capital funds Pitango Venture Capital, Concord Ventures, SFKT and US-based Bassini Playfair and Company, as well as AOL Time-Warner.
The merged company will have a workforce of 60. It will be headquartered in Israel, with branches in Hong Kong, Paris and Dusseldorf.
According to the company, Person-to-Person communications is currently considered a hot field in the cellular market, with services ranging from SMS messages to e-mail.
"The merged company is the first to offer Person-to-Person communications services including location-based services, community-based tools, messaging services, e-mail and multimedia messaging. The company has installations at over ten cellular providers in Europe and Asia, including Vodafone (LSE: VOD), Telefonica and Orange (LSE:OGE; XETRA:ORA)", said Celltrex CEO Miki Migdal, who will now serve as CEO of Axis Mobile.
"Celltrex and Valis together create a unique player in the market, with a good number of installations and significant revenue", said Valis CEO Ariel Napchi.
The merger is expected to take place immediately, and is contingent upon shareholder approval. The two companies are privately owned; the value of the transaction was therefore not disclosed.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on 06 January 2003