Nokia to acquire OZ Communications

By Heri Oct 2nd 2008 in Business, Mobile

OZ Communications, a very successufl mobile communication software provider, announced tuesday that they were being bought by Nokia, and they’ll integrated into their Nokia Services & Software division. Since OZ is a private company, details of the deal were not disclosed, and we’ll have to wait until Q4 2008 to see the amount paid by Nokia.

Nokia acquires OZ

Apart from OZ’s diverse array of mobile messanging software, its most valuable assets is its relationships with mobile carriers across North America and Europe, with 5.5 million paying users.

This is very good news for OZ’s founders, and for any other mobile software upstart in Montreal, as you can’t find any better exit than an acquisition by Nokia, the leading mobile company in the world, with a proven track record for innovation, and will still be the heavyweight in the room even if there are new contenders. Alternatively, you could wonder if OZ could grow and become a Fortune 500 company without Nokia, but they would have had to reinvent themselves, such as developing for the iPhone or the Android platform instead of their business model with carriers.

The question also remains if the OZ engineering team is to stay in Montreal and become a Nokia R&D center (I’m crossing fingers) or they’ll be “shipped” to Finland. Either way, I hope we’ll see the existing talent(s) at OZ starting new ventures in Montreal.

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