NeoMedia Technologies, which provides wireless services and patented technologies that provide automatic links to mobile Internet-based information, has signed an agreement to purchase 12snap AG, the mobile marketing and applications company, headquartered in Munich, which has a strong presence in the UK.
The acquisition will be completed for $22 million (12.7 million) in cash and shares, before the end of February.
The purchase is NeoMedias second in recent weeks following last weeks acquisition of US mobile visual recognition technology company Mobot. 12snap and NeoMedia have been working increasingly closely together since the two companies signed a co-marketing agreement in 2003.
Founded in 1999, 12snap has 75 employees at its offices in New York, London, Milan, Vienna, Stockholm, Dsseldorf and Munich, and a technical development centre in Romania. The company is currently the only mobile marketing company to win Lions the Oscars of the advertising industry at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, for its work with Sony, Coca-Cola and Nokia, capturing four Lions in all.
12snap has built an enviable reputation for the creative and technological use of mobile phones said NeoMedia President and CEO, Charles T. Jensen. (It) has won, and won loyalty from, clients including Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Unilever, Vodafone, Adidas and Kelloggs, by intriguing consumer cell phone users throughout Europe with highly creative, national and cross-border marketing programs.
For 12snap, co-founder and CEO Dr. Michael Birkel described the tie-up as: an ideal match with regard to people, geography and a portfolio of intellectual property, as well as product and service offering.
“For 12snap, this marriage builds an outstanding platform to accelerate our growth on a global scale said Dr. Birkel.