OnMobile buys Swedish firm Appland to grow gaming biz

OnMobile Global Ltd, which specialises in mobile value-added services, has acquired a 100% stake in Sweden-based mobile app distribution platform Appland AB in a cash deal.

In a stock-exchange disclosure, Onmobile said the value of the deal will not exceed $15 million (around Rs 110 crore at current exchange rates).

The Bengaluru-based company said the acquisition would help expand its business operations in the mobile games subscription space.

As part of the transaction, Appland chief executive and co-founder Jonatan Redvik will take charge as the vice-president of the newly-formed games subscription business unit while co-founder Henrik Lewander would assume the role of chief technology officer of the same unit..

“The combination of OnMobile and Appland will provide immediate business value and innovation to our customers,” said OnMobile chairman and CEO François-Charles Sirois.

“Our roadmap is to roll out over 100 games clubs by the end of this financial year, increase subscriptions and boost revenues through a joint marketing effort with our operators and distribution partners,” he added.

Appland AB

Founded in 2013 by Redvik and Lewander, Appland is a cloud-based mobile distribution and monetisation platform. It helps its customers with content licenses, management and experienced advice so they can launch an app store or subscription club. It provides white label app stores and app subscription clubs to operators, mobile manufacturers, and mobile commerce experts.

Appland’s value-added services offerings include app subscription, game, kids & apps clubs, according to information available on its website.

Its games club and kids app offerings, which are the primary focus of this acquisition deal, operates similarly to a Netflix and Spotify subscription where consumers pay a fixed recurring fee and get unlimited access to the apps.

Appland claims to have installed its solutions on over 10 million devices across more than 200 countries.

OnMobile

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in India with offices across the world, OnMobile claims to be delivering more than 575 million music plays daily to mobile customers worldwide. It has an addressable base of more than 1.5 billion mobile users across several geographies.

OnMobile divides its offering under two broad umbrellas; carrier services and consumer services. Its carrier and subscription-based services include games, news and sports, videos, quizzes, and music.

Its consumer- based services are offered under the brand name ONMO, which it launched in October 2016.

OnMobile’s games offering, ONMO Games, was launched in July this year.

A spin-off from homegrown IT giant Infosys, OnMobile was originally incorporated in the US under the name Onscan Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. It subsequently relocated to India and  changed its name to OnMobile Asia Pacific Pvt. Ltd in April 2001 and got its current name in August 2007. OnMobile was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India in 2008.