MUMBAI: Motorola has acquired Soundbuzz, the privately held, leading pan-Asian music provider founded by Sudhanshu Sarronwala.

The acquisition, which is subject to customary conditions, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, says an official release.

Motorola has been delivering mobile music to consumers with its carrier customers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan through its Motomusic service. The acquisition of Soundbuzz will allow Motorola to expand the service beyond China, into India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

With well over 90 per cent of all digital music content in Asia sold via mobile channels, a level expected to remain in the coming years, Motorola's strength in music delivery will help its carrier customers access this growth opportunity, the release says.
Soundbuzz's multi-region music delivery platform enables the purchase and distribution of digital content through over-the-air and wired broadband connections. The company's end-to-end system includes subscriber management, content management, payment, client software and media delivery technologies. The company maintains a consumer-facing brand, Soundbuzz, and will continue to provide "white-label" services to carrier customers that offer tailored solutions for Multimedia delivery.

According to Motorola's senior vice president, future solutions and technology for mobile devices, Bill Werner, "This transaction with Soundbuzz will provide Motorola with one of the most extensive music libraries in the Asia Pacific region, advance our music and video offerings in Australia and South East Asia, and build on the success of our Motomusic services in China. "We are delighted to welcome Soundbuzz's strong management whose extensive region specific experience in the music and video industries will enhance the strength of our mobile device teams."

"Motorola's dedication to enhancing the digital music experience in Asia complements our own objectives and makes it the ideal partner," says Sudhanshu Sarronwala, CEO of Soundbuzz. "This combination will help us extend our platform and create exciting growth opportunities for Soundbuzz's employees and our partner music labels. Further, our customers will benefit from the technological advancements that we expect to deliver as part of a global leader in mobile communications."

Headquartered in Singapore, Soundbuzz has access to one of the most extensive music libraries in the Asia-Pacific region, through licenses from Sony BMG, EMI, Warner Music International and Universal Music Group, as well as over 45 independent record labels in Asia, the U.S. and Europe.

Motorola intends to maintain Soundbuzz's Singapore headquarters, which will be an integral component of Motorola's digital music development strategy in Asia.