INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - AUGUST 2006
THE MONTH THAT WAS...

DISNEY IN TALKS TO BUY MOBILE2WIN

US MEDIA conglomerate Walt Disney is in talks to acquire Mobile2win, a telecom content provider in China , say industry sources. Mobile2win is a subsidiary of Indian internet gaming and content company Contests2win.com, founded by Alok Kejriwal. Mobile2win's investors include Softbank China , Siemens Venture Capital Fund and Contest2win India.

Mobile2win is headquartered in Hong Kong with operations across China . The deal is likely to be announced this week. Disney is keen on expanding its footprint in China , but not as media c o m p a n y. Which is why the company is keen on acquiring a mobile content player which can help it in accessing the consumer base in China which is estimated at 426 million at the end of Q2. The value-added services market in China is estimated to be CNY6.59 billion .

Disney has recently bought stake in UTV and Hungama, the number two kids channel. The pattern suggests that Disney is aggressive on expanding into India and China .

Acquiring a content provider would help Disney deliver its animated content on wireless devices such as a mobile phone. The value-added services segment is rapidly growing in India and APAC region, say telecom analysts.

The growth rate is expected to be 60-70% for the industry. Being a valueadded services player, Mobile2win provide content such as ringtone and wallpaper download, caller back tones and games to mobile operators.

With the subscriber base rising by leaps and bounds, the value-added services players have assumed importance as mobile phone users look beyond purely voice services. This will be Alok Kejriwal's first exit in one of his ventures.