InfoSpace, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its mobile services business to Motricity, a privately held provider of mobile content services and solutions, for $135 million in cash.
In February of this year InfoSpace joined forces with FAST Search to provide mobile search services. The combined offering was selected by Virgin mobile, one of the largest MVNOs in the world, to allow their subscribers to search the Web, WAP sites and Virgin’s own portal and storefront.
Now InfoSpace has sold the service to Motricity for the sum of $135 Million in cash. Under the terms of the agreement, Motricity will acquire the entire mobile services division, called mCore, which provides managed services infrastructure for mobile carriers, including technology and services spanning mobile search, storefronts, portals and messaging services.
The acquisition expands Motricity’s customer base to include 11 of the top 13 carriers in North America as well as expanding its international presence by adding offices in the U.K., Paris, and the Netherlands and customers throughout Europe including Virgin UK, KPN and Vodafone.
Less than a month ago InfoSpace announced the sale of their online directory business to media company Idearc Inc. for $225 million.
In spite of working to improve their mobile services offering, InfoSpace saw mobile revenues fall to $30.8 million in the second quarter of 2007, down $14.7 million from the second quarter of 2006. A $19 million decrease in revenue for the quarter was attributed to the company’s exit from the mobile media business. Revenue earned by the mobile services group, however, grew $4.3 million from the second quarter of 2006. This growth shows that their partnership with FAST was a smart move. Exiting the market while the services group is faring well is probably a good move for InfoSpace.
InfoSpace Press Release: Mobile services business sold
