Mobile: 3C Media Purchases Upstart Games for $15.25M

Chinese new media company Sun 3C Media announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Dublin-based mobile game developer Upstart Games (I.Q. Academy, Frogger) for UKP7.85 million ($15.25 million) in cash and shares. Upstart specializes in partnerships with major Western or Eastern developers to bring their portfolio of mobile content to international markets. In 2005 the company launched a "Best of West" portal in Japan to expose Japanese mobile gamers to titles from Digital Chocolate, and other Western publishers. 3C specifically touted Upstart's significant R&D, which has lead to numerous proprietary mobile technologies, as well as te company's library of international content ripe for Chinese localization as the primary drivers of the acquisition. "'This deal is an important milestone for Sun 3C. Through the acquisition we are gaining a global distribution network, international mobile media management expertise, and world-class product development capabilities that will give us a critical competitive advantage in the China market as we migrate our leading media brands onto mobile handsets," Sun 3C CEO Matthew Burr said in a statement.