Asian media and entertainment content and services provider Linktone has acquired Okezone.com, an Indonesian online portal that focuses on delivering breaking news, entertainment, information and video content.
Okezone.com hosts a staff of over 100 reporters and editors and is the third most popular news and entertainment website in Indonesia. It's also expanding into Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States, said a statement from the two companies.
Linktone also announced it had completed the incorporation of media content-distribution services provider PT InnoForm as a variable-interest entity controlled by a Linktone subsidiary, and that it would relocate its principal executive offices from Shanghai to Singapore.
"These recent changes to our business are in line with our efforts to transform Linktone from a China-focused provider of mobile value-added services into a multi-platform media distributor serving the entire pan-Asian region," Linktone CEO Hary Tanoesoedibjo said.
Okezone.com, for instance, provides the company with "an immediate online presence and another digital platform to engage Indonesian audiences," he continued. "I believe that we can leverage Okezone.com's popularity to help expand our reach among both consumers and content owners, diversify our revenue base and grow our business across a wider range of end markets in Indonesia."
Incorporate PT InnoForm will help make Linktone "a leading regional media content distributor" by giving the company "access to a sizable portfolio of highly rated Indonesian TV content and channels," Tanoesoedibjo continued.
Finally, he said, moving the offices "will allow us to better pursue growth opportunities outside China, especially in the highly populous ASEAN region (and to) more effective address the needs of our partners in other targeted countries throughout the region."
For more:
- see the release
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