EA to Acquire Assets of Hands?On Mobile Korea
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that it had agreed to
acquire the assets of Hands-On Mobile Korea, a leading Korean mobile
developer and publisher, best known for its mobile role-playing game
Heroes Lore. Upon completion of the acquisition, the former Hands-On
Mobile Korea team will become EA Mobile Korea and will play a strategic
role in the EA Mobileâ„¢ Asia development and
publishing growth plans. The acquisition is subject to customary closing
conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of this fiscal
quarter. Hands-On Mobile Korea is a subsidiary of parent company
Hands-On Mobileâ„¢, based in the United States. "This acquisition is a major milestone in
growing our mobile business in Asia," said
Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager EA Mobile. "Hands-On
Mobile Korea brings us a great leadership team, proven studio talent
and outstanding carrier and OEM handset manufacturer relationships." "We are excited about joining EA Mobile and
its mission to bring to market some of the world´s
most innovative, cutting-edge and commercially proven mobile games and
applications," said Gilbert Kim, CEO of
Hands-On Mobile Korea, who will become head of EA Mobile, Korea
Division. "Korea is one of the most
ubiquitous entertainment markets in the world, and we look forward to
continually pushing the edge with our partners here to enrich the mobile
user experience across all aspects of daily life." Following completion of the acquisition, Hands-On Mobile Korea will
continue to be managed by Gilbert Kim as head of the EA Mobile, Korea
division. The studio will remain in Korea with growth planned for both
the development and publishing teams, and will work within the
management structure of the EA Mobile Asia Publishing organization. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. EA does not
expect the acquisition to impact the company´s
fiscal year 2009 financial guidance. About Hands-On Mobile Inc. Hands-On Mobile, Inc. is the world´s leading developer of connected
games and applications. Established in 2001, with operations on four
continents, Hands-On Mobile develops and distributes mobile content to
more than 200 of the world´s leading operators in 60 countries. Hands-On
Mobile provides operators and their customers with the world´s best
entertainment brands and content. The company´s diverse catalogue
includes games, applications and personalization suites from top brands
such as Activision, Billboard, CBS, LEGO, Marvel, NBA, NBC Universal
Paramount Pictures, and World Poker Tour. The Hands-On Mobile Developer
Network (HDN) brings mobile development to the masses enabling
developers to create and distribute mobile applications through Hands-On
Mobile´s core platform and ecosystem. Hands-On Mobile is a U.S.
corporation with headquarters in San Francisco and offices in San Diego
California; London and Manchester, England; Krakow, Poland; Sao Paulo
Brazil; Shanghai and Beijing, China; and Seoul, Korea. For more
information about Hands-On Mobile please visit www.HandsOn.com. Hands-On Mobile is a trademark of Hands-On Mobile, Inc. About Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
the world´s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded
in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular
handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTSâ„¢, EAâ„¢
EA SPORTS Freestyleâ„¢ and POGOâ„¢.
In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of USD 3.67 billion and had
27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA´s homepage and
online game site is www.ea.com. More
information about EA´s products and full text of press releases can be
found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com. EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries Safe Harbor For Forward-Looking Statements Some statements set forth in this release, including those regarding
EA´s pending acquisition of Hands-On Mobile and the expected impact of
the acquisition on EA´s strategic and operational plans and financial
results, contain forward-looking statements that are subject to change.
Statements including words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate"
or "expect" and statements in the future tense are forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual events or actual future results to
differ materially from the expectations set forth in the forward-looking
statements. Some of the factors which could cause results to differ
materially from the expectations expressed in these forward-looking
statements include the following: the satisfaction of customary closing
conditions and receipt of necessary regulatory approvals; the
possibility that the acquisition will not be consummated or that the
consummation may be delayed; the effect of the announcement of the
acquisition on EA´s and Hands-On Mobile´s
strategic relationships, operating results and business generally
including the ability to retain key employees; general economic
conditions; and other factors described in EA´s SEC filings (including
EA´s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2007 and
Quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2007).
If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, the acquisition may
not be consummated or may not be consummated on the anticipated terms
the potential benefits of the acquisition may not be realized, EA´s
operating results and financial performance could suffer, and actual
results could differ materially from the expectations described in these
forward-looking statements. EA assumes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.