Japanese mobile content provider Cybird Co. will pay about $77 million for a majority stake in Canadian wireless publisher Airborne Entertainment Inc., the companies announced Tuesday.
Cybird said it will acquire 85 percent of Airborne, a Montreal-based publisher whose branded offerings include Donald Trump’s Real Estate Tycoon, Wine Spectator Mobile Companion and content from Twentieth Century Fox Television. Airborne added many of the brands last October, when it acquired the publishing division of porting technology developer Tira Wireless.
The 5-year-old Airborne, which had been rumored to be targeted for an acquisition for weeks, also plans to produce mobile versions of 16 titles from the popular “For Dummies” book series.
Cybird will create a subsidiary for the Airborne operations. Garner Bornstein, Airborne’s chief executive officer, and former president Andy Nulman will stay on to oversee the business.
Bornstein said partnering with a fellow content provider in a more mature market allows Airborne to get a glimpse into the “crystal ball” of wireless.
“The areas of synergy I’m most excited about are the technologies,” said Bornstein. “(Cybird) is out with products in the Japanese market based on products that have not yet come to the forefront in North America.”
The publicly held Cybird announced the acquisition after the close of regular trading in the Japanese markets Tuesday.
In a separate announcement, Airborne said it has licensed Tira’s flagship porting software. Airborne said it will use the Tira Jump Product Suite to manage the deployment of its content and applications across a variety of handsets. Terms of the licensing deal were not disclosed.
