16 Dec 2009 12:06

Kongzhong mounts $80 mln takeover of Dacheng

Beijing. December 15. INTERFAX - Nasdaq-listed Chinese mobile Internet company Kongzhong Corp. will acquire the 3D massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG) developer Shanghai Dacheng Network Technology Co. Ltd., in a transaction valued at $80 million, according to a Dec. 15 Kongzhong announcement.

The acquisition has been approved by Kongzhong's board of directors and projected to close in the first quarter of 2010, the announcement said.

Wang Leilei, Kongzhong's chief executive officer (CEO), said that the company has formulated its market strategy for 2010, which includes exploring mobile Internet games, increasing its game R & D budget and capacity and expanding into international markets via Dacheng's global network.

Dacheng was founded in January 2004 and has offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province.

Dacheng's flagship game is its proprietary 3D game engine, Dazzler3D. Dacheng launched its 3D MMORPG game World of Kung Fu in 2007. The game is now available in a number of foreign markets, including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

-CG