Amdocs continues mobile content expansion with $60M ChangingWorlds purchase

Amdocs announced plans to expand its mobile business with a $60 million acquisition of Ireland’s ChangingWorlds.
ChangingWorlds targets network operators and off-deck vendors with portal-management technology that supports mobile advertising and includes a content-recommendation engine. The 8-year-old company boasts four dozen carrier customers including Sprint Nextel Corp., O2, TeliaSonera and Vodafone Global.
Amdocs, which provides customer-relations technology to mobile operators and other telecommunications companies, jumped into wireless in a big way two years ago with the $275 million pick-up of Qpass, a Seattle-based mobile content delivery company and transaction provider. Amdocs said it plans to integrate ChangingWorlds’ wares to offer more targeted and personalized solutions.
“Personalization is a cornerstone of Amdocs’ strategy to offer customer experiences systems, and ChangingWorlds is a recognized global expert in this area,” said Dov Baharav, CEO of Amdocs Management Ltd. “ChangingWorlds’ dynamic portal offerings surpass the traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach, and no single vendor can match its range and sophistication of personalization services.”
Shares of Amdocs lost ground following the news, however, sliding $3.82, or 16%, to $19.81 by mid-day.