STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Wireless application and entertainment company Aspiro announced it has applied for protection from its creditors through bankruptcy, and as part of its restructuring efforts will sell its text messaging network business to mBlox. The company said it will continue its operations during the restructuring, and that its 34 operator customers will not be affected by the move.
Aspiro said it has undertaken a range of cost-savings measures and staff reductions over the past few months to adjust to the current market condition. The company also said “discussions are going on with external parties involving possible industrial consolidations in order to strengthen the company’s financial position and secure future income stream.” Aspiro said it will work with its creditors to reach an agreement on its restructuring.
As for its short message service network business, Aspiro said it continues to lose money because of the fluctuating costs of text messaging.
“Since SMS Network is not Aspiro’s core business, we cannot allocate enough resources to develop an infrastructure for full control of this volatile market,” said Hakan Persson, the company’s chief executive officer. “And because of that, I see small possibilities for this business area to ever generate any profit of size.”
