New Call Telecom grabs majority stake in Nimbuzz for $175 million

UK-based New Call Telecom has acquired a 70 percent stake worth US$175 million in Nimbuzz, the India-based mobile messenger, reports The Economic Times. Vikas Saxena, CEO of Nimbuzz will continue to spearhead Nimbuzz as part of New Call Telecom Unit in India.

This acquisition comes as part of New Call Telecom’s plans to pump about US$100 million towards India-based technology companies working in Wi-Fi, fixed line broadband and e-commerce areas. But it’s not clear if New Call Telecom’s purchase of stake in Nimbuzz will be materialized in cash, stock or both.

Conceived in Europe, Nimbuzz’s headquarters moved to India in 2012 after the app attracted a lot of users from there. With a current user base of 30 million Indians, Nimbuzz offers over-the-top (OTT) services including cross-platform instant messaging, voice over IP services, mobile brand advertising, and international calling. An array of other features are weaved inside the N-world digital store including apps, avatars, digital gifts, and games. Banking on this portfolio, Nimbuzz will also incubate New Call Telecom’s Apps for India.

We reached out to Nimbuzz to share more details on this stake buyout by New Call Telecom.

Even though WhatsApp looks like it’s dominating mobile messaging in India with 65 million monthly active users in the country, competitors don’t seem deterred. Back in August, New Delhi-based messenger Hike scored US$65 million in funding led by Tiger Global Management. At the time, that app had 35 million registered users, slightly higher than Nimbuzz’s current count of 30 million. If we assume that one-third of those users are montjly active users, Nimbuzz’s and Hike’s MAU count should hit over 10 million each. Of course, MAUs are one thing, revenue is another. Investors might be bullish on messaging, bullish on India, yet extremely bearish on WhatsApp’s ability to bring in revenue in the long run.

(source: The Economic Times)