Rakuten, one of the world’s largest Internet services companies based in Japan has acquired Cyprus-based Viber Media, one of the popular cross-platform VoIP app maker for $900 million. Rakuten said it would enter global messaging market with this acquisition, and it already has vast global portfolio of services such as e-readers, financial services, baseball team and more. It acquired Toronto-based eReader business Kobo and several e-commerce providers. It owns 40 different services and seeks to become the world’s No. 1 Internet services company.
Regarding this, Hiroshi Mikitani, Chief Executive of Rakuten told Reuters and other reporters in Tokyo,
Viber, run from Cyprus by Israeli entrepreneur Talmon Marco, will add 300 million users to Rakuten’s existing 200 million users. This acquisition is a totally new strategy that will take Rakuten to a different level. This would help Viber become a platform for digital content, not just a provider of free voice calls and messages.
Viber CEO and Founder, Talmon Marco, said
Rakuten is one of the world’s most important Internet companies. It is truly dominant in its home market of Japan and has been rapidly expanding globally. This combination presents an amazing opportunity for Viber to enhance our rapid user growth in both existing and new markets. Sharing similar aspirations with Rakuten, our vision is to be the world’s No.1 communications platform and our combination with Rakuten is an important step in that direction.
Rakuten reported a 80% increase in operating profit YoY to 90.2 billion yen ($882.89 million) and net profit of 43.5 billion yen. Viber was launched for Android in 2011. It released Viber Out feature back in December that lets users call any mobile or landline number. It launched the app for Windows Desktop platform and also released it for Nokia’s Asha platform.