14 DAY TRIAL // Announced two months ago, the deal between Synchronica and Nokia has just been completed, as the former announced that it has completed the acquisition of Nokia Messaging Service.
For those who are not aware, Nokia Messaging provides email, IM and social networking services to various carriers in North America, including T-Mobile USA, Verizon and AT&T.
The service is available on most Nokia handsets available in North America and allows users to easily access their MSN Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Gmail and multiple other portal/ISP email services, along with Google Talk, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger and AOL IM accounts.
According to the agreement, Synchronica will provide the messaging software which Nokia will continue to pre-load on Nokia Series 40 phones, while approximately 250 employees will be transferred from Nokia to Synchronica.
The deal lets Synchronica establish a strong foothold into the strategically important North American operator market.
“With today's completion, we have acquired Nokia's successful and highly complementary Operator Branded Messaging business, and have at a stroke transformed Synchronica's scale, profitability and geographic scope,” said Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica.
According to Synchronica, the company will pay about US$21 million in installments over time to Nokia, in addition to the initial cash consideration paid.
Furthermore, Nokia has been issued warrants at an exercise price of £0.16 per ordinary share, which have a term of three years, but can only be exercised during the first six months under certain limited conditions.
“The Nokia messaging platform complements our flagship, carrier-grade Mobile Gateway messaging infrastructure software, and we will work relentlessly on merging both products to create a superior solution with significantly enhanced functionality,” concluded Brinkschulte.
On related news, Synchronica has more than 80 existing carrier contracts in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Russia, and Asia.