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Shanda to buy majority stake in Hurray Holding

By Wang Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-10 11:13

Chinese online gaming company Shanda Interactive Entertainment Inc is buying a 51 percent stake in wireless value-added service company Hurray Holding for $46.2 million, in an effort to establish a digital entertainment conglomerate.

Shanda said in a statement yesterday that it plans to acquire a controlling stake in the bleeding NASDAQ-listed Chinese ring tone provider.

"We respect the work done by Hurray's board and management and their efforts in defining the strategies and direction and believe that Shanda's user base, resources and platform will facilitate the continued execution of these strategies," said Shanda Chairman Chen Tianqiao in a statement.

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Hurray started operations by selling ring tones and wallpapers but soon diversified into the artist development and music production business.

Shanda's takeover offer comes close on the heels of a failed bid by a Chinese investor group to acquire Hurray. The company also received a $160 million merger offer in 2007 from domestic TV production firm Enlight but failed to materialize the deal because of disagreements between the two companies.

By acquiring Hurray, Shanda has managed to enter China's wireless service market, which is expected to get a fillip as telecom operators are aggressively pushing their 3G services.

Established in December 1999, Shanda has emerged as one of the largest online game operators in China by licensing the "Legend of Mir II" from South Korean online game company Actoz Soft in 2001. The company has been striving in the recent years to expand its business outside the online game market.

Last year, the company announced plans to establish Shanda Literature, a new business unit that focuses on publishing online literary works. Last month, Shanda submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the proposed IPO of its online game business, which takes up about 20 percent of China's booming online game market.