Link Mobility Group

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LINK Mobility Group AS
TypeAksjeselskap
OSE: LINK
IndustryTelecommunication
Founded19 December 2001
HeadquartersOslo, Norway
Area served
Europe
North America
Asia
Oceania
South America
Key people
Jens Rugseth (Founder & Chairman)
Guillaume Van Gaver (CEO)
Thomas Berge (CFO)
Torbjørn G. Krøvel (CTO)
ProductsVoice
SMS
MMS
RevenueIncrease NOK 3.539 billion
Increase NOK 391 million
Number of employees
Increase 700
SubsidiariesSoprano Design
Message Broadcast
Netsize
Websitelinkmobility.com

LINK Mobility Group AS is a Norwegian cloud communications platform as a service (CPaaS) company based in Oslo, Norway. Link Mobility allows customers to send and receive phone calls, SMS, MMS, RCS and eMails through their API. LINK is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 2017, LINK Mobility had a total turnover of 1,294 million NOK, increasing to NOK 3,539 billion in 2020.[1] With 24 offices across 17 countries[2] including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Poland, France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. LINK is the largest CPaaS provider in Europe.[3]

History[]

LINK Mobility was founded in 2001 by Jens Rugseth with headquarters in Oslo, Norway.[4] The company was originally called EMEMESS (an abbreviation for MMS messages), becoming LINK Mobility in 2007 after acquiring a Swedish CPaaS operator.[5]

LINK's first major customer was Norwegian Air, where LINK provided SMS services such as boarding alerts and flight delay alerts.

Listings and Delistings[]

LINK was first publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in the early 2010s before being privatised by Abry Partners of Boston in mid 2018 for NOK 3.4 billion (USD 416 million).[6] In December 2020, Abry chose to again list LINK on the OSE, with a list price of NOK 47 per share, rising 19% on its first trading day. After the listing LINK had a market value of NOK 12.6 billion (USD 1.56 billion).[7] LINK was named a Unicorn IPO by Bloomberg News and the 3rd largest European Technology IPO of 2020 by UK Tech News.[8]

Soprano Design[]

In May 2021, LINK agreed to acquire the Australian CPaaS provider Soprano Design for $600 million (NOK 3.56 billion).[9] It was the largest acquisition of a private Australian technology company in history. Soprano was founded in 1994 by Dr Richard Favero and is owned 75% by Richard Favero and 25% by Here There and Everywhere (HT&E) Ltd, an Australian publicly listed media company.[10] Soprano serves over 10 000 enterprise customers through their Soprano Connect software which allows customers to send and receive SMS, MMS, RCS, eMail, Voice and WhatsApp messages. Soprano also sells their software to carriers to be resold to end customers. At the time of purchase Soprano had $109 million (NOK 717 million) in revenue and $27 million (NOK 174 million) in operating income. Upon the completion of the transaction, HT&E will control 6.15% of LINK and Favero controlling 18.45%.[11] The purchase of Soprano radically expanded LINK's global reach, adding markets in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, The United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Romania, The United States, Colombia, Brazil and Chile.[12] Soprano added 10 billion additional mobile transactions to LINK's yearly totals, 150 Forbes Global 2000 customers and 4.5 million active users. Soprano had over 200 employees.[13]

Technology[]

LINK is a leading vendor of cloud communications services for the enterprise sector, LINK supplies communications software solutions to both direct customers and mobile operators to be resold.

LINK's SMS cloud communications platform enables enterprises to reach their customers and employees directly in their handset. The messages are sent as text messages or technology such as RCS or WhatsApp. The product segment includes personalised video messaging, where unique video messages are customised for each and every recipient. Messages can be sent in HTML format, enabling interactive compatibility for customers.

Within Operators, LINK develops software solutions for mobile operators, supplied as both products and services, to provide mobile value added services (VAS), handle online charging systems (OCS) in real time, and protect their networks and revenues. LINK offers products for cloud-based voice and video calls. The product segment includes Number Masking, a service that provides temporary phone numbers, and verification, where LINK helps enterprises verify their customers’ mobile phone numbers swiftly, easily and cost-effectively which enables effective communication.

LINK's software is focused mainly at small and medium enterprises, allowing them to communicate with their customers and suppliers through SMS, MMS, eMail, Voice & RCS. LINK's software allows customers to communicate on a large scale, to large volumes of recipients quickly and effectively. Examples of this usage is OTP (one-time-passwords) used by banks and large data holders to verify the identity of individuals logging into platforms, automated messages for marketing purposes and the communication of receipts/invoices through eMails and SMS.

Mergers and Acquisitions[]

Competitors[]

Competitors are Yenasys, CLX (Sinch, Symsoft, MBlox), Twilio, Infobip, Soprano Design (Orange Gum, SIT Mobile, Silverstreet), Vonage (Nexmo), Clickatell, MMG and BICS (TeleSign).

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "LINK Mobility 2020 Annual Report" (PDF). 26 April 2021.
  2. ^ "About Us". LINK Mobility International. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  3. ^ "Annual Reports - LINK Mobility Investor Relations". LINK Mobility Investor Relations. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  4. ^ MarketScreener. "Jens Rugseth - Biography". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  5. ^ "Founder Jens Rugseth and LINK Mobility: 20 Years Later". LINK Mobility International. 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  6. ^ Chopping, Dominic. "Abry Partners Makes $416 Million Takeover Bid for Norway's Link Mobility". www.penews.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  7. ^ "Bloomberg News: Link Mobility Becomes Europe's Newest Unicorn Startup". 21 October 2020.
  8. ^ "UKTN roundup: The largest tech IPOs in Europe in 2020". UKTN (UK Tech News). 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  9. ^ "Norway's Link Mobility pays $560m for HT&E backed Soprano Design". Australian Financial Review. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  10. ^ Zanda Wilson (2021-05-19). "HT&E to offload Soprano stake for $149 million". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  11. ^ Zanda Wilson (2021-05-19). "HT&E to offload Soprano stake for $149 million". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  12. ^ "NewsWeb". newsweb.oslobors.no. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  13. ^ "Why Soprano? | Discover Global Mission-Critical Messaging". www.sopranodesign.com/. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  14. ^ ASA, Link Mobility Group. "LINK Mobility Group ASA Acquires Netmessage in France". www.prnewswire.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  15. ^ "HSL Mobile | HSL Mobile to be acquired by LINK Mobility Group AS". RealWire. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  16. ^ "LINK Mobility Group AS positions itself as French market leader by acquiring Netsize". LINK Mobility International. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  17. ^ "Netsize, marque iconique du SMS disparait". Servicesmobiles.fr (in French). 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  18. ^ "Bulgaria's Allterco nearly doubles 2020 cons net profit on revenue rise". seenews.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  19. ^ "websms and SimpleSMS become LINK Mobility Austria". LINK Mobility International. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  20. ^ "Link Mobility agrees to buy Danish firm MarketingPlatform". www.telecompaper.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  21. ^ "Link Mobility to take over Italy's Amm". www.telecompaper.com. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  22. ^ Release, Press (2021-02-12). "LINK Mobility Group acquires Tismi B.V in the Netherlands for EUR 20 million". NewsnReleases. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  23. ^ "Norway's Link Mobility pays $560m for HT&E backed Soprano Design". Australian Financial Review. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  24. ^ MarketScreener. "LINK Mobility : strengthens foothold in US with Message Broadcast | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  25. ^ MarketScreener. "LINK Mobility : acquires U.S. based Message Broadcast, LLC continuing global expansion | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
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