News Corp. makes it ring with Jamba

Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corp. acquired 51 percent of the shares in German ringtone provider Jamba on Tuesday. News Corp. received the shares from the previous sole shareholder VeriSign. The IT service provider VeriSign had bought Jamba in May 2004 for 273 million US dollars. Based in Berlin, Jamba claims to sell digital entertainment services in more than 28 countries and employs around 550 people.
A purchase price of 187.5 million dollars was agreed, as a Jamba spokesperson confirmed to SDA in a Wall Street Journal report. According to the Wall Street Journal, a merger of Jamba with the News Corp. unit Mobizzo is planned. Mobizzo is responsible for the production and distribution of Mobisodes, episodes of TV series for mobile consumption. However, the unit is making losses, the Wall Street Journal reports. These losses are now to be offset with the profitable company Jamba.

The takeover is intended to create a leading provider of music, videos and other entertainment services for cell phones. Among other things, video clips for cell phones featuring the characters from the animated series "The Simpsons", which is broadcast in the USA by Murdoch's Fox television station, are planned. Jamba is also to sell ringtones via the community portal Myspace, which is also owned by News Corp.