Altruist In Interim Alliance With Phoneytunes.com; M&A In Works

Altruist Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Chandigarh-based mobile value-added services (VAS) provider, has tied up with Mobisoft Telesolutions Pvt Ltd that runs the website Phoneytunes.com, even as the company is in an advanced stage of development to acquire Mobisoft.

"We have set up a working relationship with Phoneytunes.com with a revenue share. We are also managing some of their contracts," said Altruist India founder and CEO Dheeraj Aggarwal.

Phoneytunes.com offers mobile wallpapers, ring tones, screensavers, games and logos. Delhi-based VAS provider Mobisoft has also developed other products such as the content and portal management system called The Mobile Genie, a VAS charging gateway, an SMS router, as well as VAS content and apps for mobiles.

Altruist's acquisition of Mobisoft is set to take place in a couple of months, pending clearance from the courts. The company has informed Techcircle.in that a shareholder-related issue is currently sub judice. There was a court hearing today (November 9, 2011) but no decision had been reached yet. Aggarwal declined to share the exact details of the proposed acquisition, stating it was too early to state the same. VoiceNData first reported the upcoming acquisition.

While Phoneytunes employs around 100 people at its Noida office, around 15 of them, including CEO Taron Mohan, have recently shifted to Altruist's Gurgaon branch. Altruist employs 500 people across 12 offices and plans to set up more facilities. By December 2012, the company will bring 100 more on board.

In July this year, Altruist acquired US-based Web and mobile technology firm RelayStrategy LLC that builds mobile applications for Android, BlackBerry and iPhone platforms. Altruist had also invested seed capital in a Mumbai-based mobile gaming start-up called Vegam, for a minority stake.

Altruist generated revenues of Rs 77 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2011, and is targeting Rs 120 crore for the next fiscal, according to Aggarwal. The firm competes with various VAS companies in the country such as One97 Communications, Affle, ACL Wireless, IMI Mobile, Indiatimes Mobile, ValueFirst Messaging, Comviva, OnMobile and Spice Digital.