Telstra Buys Two More Chinese Mobile Content Firms

Australian telco, Telstra has invested in two Chinese mobile content firms - which the company says is part of its plan to achieve A$1 billion (US$668 million) in revenue with strong margins and cash flow from its Chinese media assets by 2013. The financial details of the transaction were not published.

Telstra has acquired a 67% interest in both China M and Sharp Point. China M is a leading supplier of consumer mobile content serving 350,000 customers daily, while Sharp Point provides technical services for China Mobile's rapidly growing central mobile music platform.

Together the businesses enjoy strong commercial and contractual links with the country's mobile telecoms providers. The acquisitions put Telstra in a central position in the mobile data value chain in China, where the company is already a market leader in three key online business segments: real estate, automotive and consumer electronics.

"Today we've added consumer mobile content and music to Telstra's online real estate, automotive and digital device businesses in China, expanding our position in the world's fastest-growing online market," Telstra's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sol Trujillo, said.

"We also believe that pro forma revenues from China M and Sharp Point for fiscal 2009 will be around A$100m. Both businesses are EBITDA and EBITpositivetoday, and we expect the acquisitions to be earnings-per-share accretive from 2010."

Since 2006 Telstra has purchased majority interests in SouFun, China's number one real estate website; Norstar Media, operator of popular Chinese auto and digital device sites Che168.com and IT168.com; and Autohome/PCPop, operator of the country's leading automotive online sales site Autohome.com.cn and popular digital device site PCPop.com.

Posted to the site on 11th February 2009