Clickatell, MultiMode merge

Clickatell, the premier global mobile message carrier, today announced a strategic merger with MultiMode, a US-based application service provider that offers global delivery of time-critical notifications to communication devices of all types. The new company, Clickatell, will become the leading global force in corporate messaging and the announcement comes as the worldwide mobile messaging market is set for significant growth, particularly in North America. According to Forrester Research, mobile messaging will account for more than 126 billion messages and $8.6 billion in revenue in the US in 2009, with SMS dominating these numbers.  

Clickatell also said that its corporate headquarters would be relocated from Cape Town, SA to the US. A European headquarters has also been created in London.

The company will maintain a base in SA for its online sales team, call centre, research and development, and marketing services that support its international operations.

Clickatell is now set to fully address the growing demand for mobile messaging services by extending its short message service (SMS) capabilities to include multimodal messaging and real-time alerting communications.  Multimodal messaging allows users to choose on which devices they would like to be reached for time-critical alert messaging.  This is particularly important in North America where the breadth of communications devices is more prolific, from text pager, fax machine, landline phone and IP-connected devices as well as mobile phones.

The merger with MultiMode represents a major extension to Clickatell`s product family and offers enterprise customers and employees unprecedented application-initiated mobile message delivery with significant cost efficiencies.

"The Clickatell/MultiMode merger brings to the US proven solutions, such as real-time alerts for financial transactions that do not exist here today," said Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell. "The MultiMode Global Messaging Service (MGMS) extends our messaging capabilities to devices beyond the mobile phone and allows us to deliver a truly 'any message, anywhere` solution for corporate communication. The end result is a global messaging infrastructure that allows businesses to better communicate with their customers wherever their location and whatever their device preference."

In a world plagued by identity theft and unauthorised account activity, financial institutions, governments and agencies around the world are embracing Clickatell`s end-to-end global messaging solutions as they deploy their Text Alert Programs. For example, banks can now alert any Internet banking client whenever someone logs into their online account, making it much harder for criminals to access bank accounts without being detected. In Europe, Asia and even Africa, this type of alert communication is becoming commonplace but it is now a fast-growing trend in America.

"We are delighted to join with Clickatell, the global leader in the SMS mobile messaging space," said Tad Bogdan, former CEO and co-founder of MultiMode and now EVP Worldwide Sales at Clickatell. "This merger underscores Clickatell`s commitment to providing mobile users with unparalleled mobile message delivery methods. Customers will now be able to receive real-time alert notifications on any communications device, anywhere in the world."

Clickatell and MultiMode have collaborated on messaging and alerting services in the past including teaming together for the worldwide delivery of messaging for Oracle Corporation and its clients. Oracle uses messaging and alerting for calendar and email alerts, mobile sales force notifications, IT network events and emergency management.

Both companies are private and the terms of the deal were not disclosed.