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Vodafone gulps Wayfinder for $29.4 Million
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 21:24 IST
Vodafone acquired Sweden based maker of wireless navigation and LBS solutions Wayfinder for $29.4 million. The Wayfinder Systems board of directors unanimously accepted the public offer from Vodafone Europe.
Shareholders in Wayfinder, together holding approximately 44.9 percent of shares, have given Vodafone irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer. The bid represents a premium of 252.9 percent compared to the closing price of SEK 3.40 for Wayfinder's shares on its last trading day prior to the offer.
"Vodafone Group is committed to delivering new revenue growth around a rich set of mobile internet services. Location-based services make up an important part of this commitment, enabling Vodafone Group to offer customers new, exciting services as a differentiator while driving mobile data growth. This acquisition will help to ensure that more of these unique services are delivered to a wider base of customers across the Vodafone group footprint," said Vodafone.
WayFinder develops mobile GPS-enabled location applications, including a GPS routing app called Wayfinder Navigator, a POI database called Wayfinder Earth, and an application called Wayfinder Active that helps athletes monitor their progress in outdoor activities. The applications are available for a wide variety of phones.
Vodafone intends to use the WayFinder team and technology to develop new geo-aware applications, but existing services will continue to function.