Media giant News Corp. is reportedly exploring the sale of its Jamster direct-to-consumer mobile content unit. Citing sources familiar with the company as well as three venture capital investors, The Financial Times reports News Corp. wants to concentrate its digital business around social networking service MySpace and compete more aggressively with rival Facebook--the company has divested several digital media properties in recent months, including Photobucket and Rotten Tomatoes. News Corp. declined comment.
News Corp. acquired [1] a 51 percent controlling interest in Jamster (known internationally as Jamba) in late 2006, forking over $188 million to network infrastructure services provider VeriSign and combining the business with its Fox Mobile Entertainment unit. VeriSign sold [2] its remaining Jamster share to News Corp. in late 2008 for about $200 million.
According to The Financial Times, sources indicate that possible Jamster buyers include digital entertainment firm Zed, mobile and online media company Flycell, and mobile music startup Dada.net. Two bankers suggest that European operators including Vodafone, Telefonica and Telecom Italia are in the running as well.
For more on the rumored Jamster sale:
- read this Financial Times article [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/newscorp-buys-51-of-verisign-s-jamba/2006-09-12
[2] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/news-corp-acquires-remaining-share-jamba-200m/2008-10-07
[3] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5014fe6e-2c3a-11df-9187-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html