[August 05, 2010] Apple Close to Purchasing Handseeing Tweet BEIJING, Aug 05, 2010 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- As US-based Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is close to making the purchase of Handseeing Information Technology Co., Ltd., a mobile Internet service provider and a mobile game developer in China, for as much as USD 150 billion, the emergence of more potential buyers has added to the uncertainty of the deal. Apple's plan to take over the Chinese company underscores its mounting interests in China's potentially huge mobile Internet sector, which has been basically ignored by it for a long time. In June 2009, Shenzhen-based Green Pine Capital Partners Co., Ltd. invested CNY 50 million in Handseeing Information in exchange for about 25% to 35% stakes in it. The deal with Apple will quintuple Green Pine Capital's return on investment. With Apple flush with cash, it is on the hunt for various targets. The second-quarter financial report of Apple shows that it has over USD 40 billion in cash. Apple is not alone in making acquisitions in the mobile Internet sector. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) lately acquired Palm Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) to the tune of USD1.2 billion. The primary asset of Palm is the WebOS mobile platform, an asset that puts HP in a strong position to create a tablet device to compete with Apple's iPad. The iPad defies established market definitions, competing at once with e-readers, netbooks, smartphones, PC's, and of course other tablet computing devices. While there are a slew of tablet devices coming to market, it is the HP Slate that has drawn the most attention and defined the argument between the iPad tablet device and the Slate tablet computer. HP doesn't have an existing mobile OS platform to compete with WebOS, and it seems safe to assume that HP wouldn't gamble USD1.2 billion to purchase Palm if it planned to axe the WebOS platform. WebOS gives HP an established platform to expand into the popular smartphone market, as well as a more compelling platform for creating a tablet to contend with the iPad. Mochi Media, a Flash game advertising network and payments platform funded by Accel Partners and Shasta Ventures, has been acquired by Shanda Games for USD60 million in cash and USD20 million in equity. The company has raised USD14 million over two-venture rounds. Handseeing Information Technology Co., Ltd. is established in 2005 by senior staff that had been engaged in this field for more than 10 years and the key management personnel have had a long history of cooperation. The main technology is RIA high-end Application Engine; the main business model is RIA super community and RIA. (USD 1 = CNY 6.83) Source: news.ccidnet.com (August 05, 2010) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]