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Digital Music Retailer 9Sky

China's Linktone Acquires Majority Stake in Digital Music Retailer 9Sky

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 18, 2005 - 11:18am.
Shanghai - Linktone, a distributor of wireless entertainment services in China, announced on Tuesday that it has made an undisclosed investment and acquired a majority stake in 9Sky International, a Chinese digital music retailer. Under the terms of the transaction, Linktone has the option to acquire 9Sky outright over the next two years. 9Sky has licensing agreements with Sony BMG and EMI, among other labels, to sell full-track music downloads. "Given recent crackdowns on pirated websites and search engines facilitating access to those websites and trends among consumers who are increasingly willing to pay for licensed services, we believe that the market for the licensing and the sale of music download services is at its early stages of growth and it is the right time for Linktone to enter this promising market," said Linktone CEO Raymond Yang. Linktone said it plans to leverage 9Sky's brand strength in the music download market with its own wireless presence, and integrate 9Sky's services with its own wireless music offerings.
tags: China | Linktone | Acquires | Majority Stake | Digital Music Retailer 9Sky |