Espoo, Finland / Montreal, Ont. Sept. 30, 2008 -- Nokia and OZ
Communications today announced
that Nokia is to acquire OZ, a privately
held company with approximately 220 employees and headquartered in
Montreal, Canada. OZ, a leading consumer mobile messaging solution
provider, delivers access to popular instant messaging and email
services on consumer mobile devices.
"With
OZ, Nokia is renewing its mission of Connecting People by enabling
consumers to easily connect and communicate using their favorite
Internet communities," said Niklas Savander, Head of Nokia Services
& Software. "OZ's team and technology will help Nokia to address
the fast growing consumer messaging market."
By
acquiring OZ, Nokia will enable easy-to-use, fast access to leading
instant messaging and email services, including AOL®, Gmail, ICQ®,
Windows Live™ Hotmail, Windows Live™ Messenger and Yahoo!®. With
more than 5.5 million monthly paid users, OZ's solutions have been
deployed by leading mobile operators on a wide array of mobile device
platforms.
"OZ has been
working closely with Nokia since 2003 - joining forces at this point is
a natural extension of our partnership," said Jim Knapik, President and
CEO of OZ. "We are excited about taking OZ's solutions to consumers
worldwide by leveraging Nokia's devices and distribution scale."
The
expertise and technology Nokia acquires through OZ is complementary to
Nokia's existing portfolio of messaging solutions and will provide a
complete portfolio of mobile messaging solutions for Series 40 and S60
devices. Nokia will continue to work closely with OZ's existing
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and mobile operator customers.
The
acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected
to be completed in the fourth quarter 2008. After the closing, OZ will
become part of Nokia's Services & Software operative unit.
OZ
empowers consumers to stay connected with the most popular messaging
and Internet services, including IM, email and online communities,
through their mobile phones. Working with the leading mobile operators,
handset manufacturers, portals and online communities, OZ delivers
innovative and standards-based solutions that provide rich and fully
integrated messaging experiences on millions of mobile devices.
Leading
companies that are Powered by OZ™ include: 3 Scandinavia, Alcatel
Lucent, Alltel, AOL®, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, AT&T, Dobson,
HTC, ICQ, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Orange France Telecom, Palm,
Pantech & Curitel, Rogers Wireless, Samsung, SonyEricsson, Sprint
Nextel, TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones, TDC, Telefónica Móviles
España, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, Telus Mobility, T-Mobile
USA®,T-Mobile International, UTStarcomm, Verizon Wireless, Virgin
Mobile USA and Yahoo!®.
OZ is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada, with regional offices in the United States, Europe and India.
Information Source: Nokia
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