MobileSys, mBlox Merge

LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO -- A global leader in the field of Short Message Services (SMS) has been created by the merger of mBlox Ltd, Europe’s leading SMS services provider and MobileSys Inc., the premier US provider of SMS services to corporations. This merger provides a defining moment in the mobile messaging market, as it creates a financially strong global player from two complementary leading companies.

As part of the transaction venture capital and private equity totalling $8 million has been raised to finance planned expansion. Participants in the financing included Norwest Venture Partners, Duff Ackerman Goodrich, Novus Ventures and Bank of America. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners and Duff Ackerman Goodrich.

The combined company, mBlox Inc., will be headquartered in London with an operational centre in Sunnyvale, CA. It will be led by MobileSys CEO Chip Hoffman. mBlox CEO Andrew Bud becomes Chairman and President .

Andrew Bud said, “This merger of two strong leaders, fuelled by a major investment, creates a technical and financial powerhouse in the SMS services market. This sector is ready for consolidation and with our financial muscle and market position we will drive this process forward. mBlox has been a profitable company since early 2002 and has made a major impact in the European market. Combined with MobileSys’ premier position amongst the Fortune 100, we will be in an enormously strong position as the US market for SMS explodes.”

Bud noted, “SMS is a huge and fast-growing media channel in Europe, where content services and marketing now provide a substantial portion of the 10 billion messages sent every month. The US has recently introduced the service, with message volumes already exceeding 1 billion per month and forecast to approach European levels within the next 18-24 months. Content and service providers are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to leverage their brands and content across both continents. Only mBlox can help them make it happen.”

CEO Chip Hoffman said, “Our shared vision is to become the world’s Number One provider of SMS and wireless messaging transmission services to content and service providers and enterprises worldwide. These customers and mobile operators will be excited by the geographical coverage, commercial strength and focus of the company this merger has created.”

Lead investor, Norwest Venture Partner’s Robert Abbott said “We are very excited about the potential of this new business. A market growing to $10bn annually, ideal timing, and two complementary teams dedicated to profitable aggressive growth make this a very important transaction for the wireless industry.”

MobileSys is America’s leading provider of wireless messaging services to global corporations including Cisco, Chevron and EDS. Its leadership is based on its direct connections to US carriers, its proprietary technology and its SMS expertise.

mBlox, based in London, is Europe’s leading provider of SMS transmission services to European content and applications providers. It has premium-rate SMS services in 12 countries and is unique in owning and operating its own Short Message Service Centre (SMSC).

MobileSys Inc.

mBlox Ltd.