Linktone ponders bid for MonsterMob

Chinese mobile content firm Linktone said it is mulling a £39.9 million bid for U.K. ringtone and games developer MonsterMob if Spanish rival LaNetro Zed's £34 million offer is rejected by shareholders. MonsterMob investors are scheduled to make a decision on the Zed offer on February 23--MonsterMob says it is duty-bound to further explore the possibility of a Linktone acquisition, however, and urged investors to wait until after it makes another announcement before taking action.

MonsterMob last year acquired Chinese mobile content providers W-Infinity Communications and M Dream shortly before an abrupt change in Chinese telecom regulations made it much easier for consumers to unsubscribe to value-added services, resulting in a $60 million market slump between the second and fourth quarters of 2006. MonsterMob's shares in turn declined almost 70 percent over the last six months, and the company has warned additional bad news is on its way. Linktone ranks among China's six largest mobile data providers, but it too has seen revenues drop roughly 15 percent in each of the previous two quarters following the new regulations.

For more on the MonsterMob bidding:
- read this AFX News article

Related articles:
- MonsterMob in takeover talks with Zed
- MonsterMob buys Chinese company