Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Tom Online buys Indiagames for $17.73 million cash.
By siliconindia staff writer
|
Tuesday, 21 December 2004, 20:30 IST
NEW YORK : Chinese wireless media company Tom Online Inc. (TOMO) signed a definitive agreement to buy 80.6% of Indiagames Ltd., a wireless-game developer based in India, for $17.73 million cash.
Tom Online said the acquisition will allow it to dig into the wireless-game market India and China and broaden its growth worldwide.
Tom Online acquired around 77% of Indiagames' existing shares from investors. The rest of the stock will be in new shares worth $4 million. Top management of Indiagames, including founder and Chief Executive Vishal Gondal, retain a 19.4% stake and will continue to handle daily operations. 'Indiagames already has a strong presence in major markets like Europe and North America, and a major market share in India in the wireless gaming segment,' Gondal noted. 'With Tom Online's popular online platform and expertise in China's local wireless entertainment business, we will have access to a total of more than 1 billion mobile phone users and gain a leadership position in the two largest emerging wireless entertainment markets in the world -- India and China.'
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Tom Online earned $26 million on revenue of $88.2 million. Shares of Tom Online last changed hands at $14.66. In the past 52 weeks, the company's stock hit a high of $17.21 March 10 and a low of $9.40 Aug. 11.