News Corp Buys Rest of Jamba
In 2007, News Corp paid $188m to buy 51% of VeriSign’s mobile content provider Jamba (aka Jamster in the U.S.). Today, News Corp paid another $200m to acquire the rest.
VeriSign originally bought the mobile games and ringtone vendor in 2004 for about $273m. The company was founded in Berlin in 2000. Ringtones, and phone wallpaper are among its leading products. Games and video excerpts are also offered. Jamba has been operating in the US and China since 2005 but also maintain a presence in Australia, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK.
The company’s marketing literature says they support more than 2,800 handsets and provide billing connectivity to more than 125 operators worldwide. Jamba also offers branded content from more than 800 content providers from around the world
News Corp, which will house the now wholly owned company as part of Fox Mobile Entertainment, will be relying on the service in part (via Ringtone sales) to help monetize the newly launched MySpace music.
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