March 22 2004
 

SINA Corp  said it has entered into a deal to buy mobile value-added service provider Crillion for up to 125 mln usd, with payment to be made 60 pct in cash and the balance in SINA shares.

The deal is expected to bring 2 mln paying subscribers to the Chinese online media company and value-added service provider.

Shenzhen-based Crillion, with its 2 mln customers each paying between 0. 70 usd and 1.00 usd per month, posted around 4.4 mln usd in net profit and 10. 5 mln in revenues last year.

SINA will initially pay around 17.9 mln usd in cash and SINA shares upon closing, with the balance to be paid on an earn-out basis over the next two years.

Succeeding payments will be roughly 1.5 to two times 2004 and 2005 earnings respectively, provided that Crillion's pretax profit for 2004 and 2005 is over 6.7 mln usd and 13.3 mln, respectively.

Crillion provides job referrals via short messaging service (SMS) to a large number of job seekers in China.

SINA said China has a migrant population of over 121 mln, according to a National Bureau of Statistics report based on the 2000 census, of which a large majority are job seekers.

Wang Yan, chief executive officer of SINA, said the deal ""will allow SINA to expand into new market segments and further solidifies our leadership position in the mobile value-added service market in China.""

The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close no later than the second quarter of 2004.