Business News
Amdocs to Acquire ChangingWorlds
Thursday 06. November 2008 - Acquisition bolsters capabilities across entire Amdocs CES portfolio enabling service providers to deliver personalized interactions, improved mobile Internet usability and content relevance
Amdocs (NYSE:DOX), the leading provider of customer experience systems, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Changing Worlds Ltd. (“ChangingWorlds” ), a privately-held provider of personalization and intelligent portal solutions for mobile service providers. Under the terms of the agreement, Amdocs has agreed to acquire all of ChangingWorlds’ shares for $60 million in cash, net of cash on hand, subject to post-closing adjustments. Additional consideration may be paid later based on the achievement of certain performance metrics. The acquisition is subject to conditions customary to such transactions, and is expected to close during Amdocs’ fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2008.
ChangingWorlds’ technology, combined with the Amdocs CES portfolio, will enable better customer experiences by allowing end users to quickly get relevant information based on what they use most, making it easier to navigate the Internet on their phones and reducing the time they spend looking for content. ChangingWorlds’ technology currently addresses mobile devices, and Amdocs intends to expand the technology to three screens (mobile, PC and television) to personalize the customer experience across all touch points. ChangingWorlds and Amdocs share several customers including Sprint, the Vodafone Group and Telefonica O2.
“Sprint is committed to delivering the best possible customer experience across a wide range of data services, including Internet browsing,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president of product and technology development for Sprint. “Sprint and Amdocs have worked together for years on a number of important projects designed to enhance the customer experience. ChangingWorlds has been integral to our Sprint Web offering and provides the technology and expertise that will help us continue to deliver enhanced and personalized Internet services.”
“Personalization is a cornerstone of Amdocs’ strategy to offer Customer Experience Systems and ChangingWorlds is a recognized global expert in this area,” said Dov Baharav, chief executive officer of Amdocs Management Limited. “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.”
ChangingWorlds’ patented technology automatically builds subscriber profiles based on user behavior and usage patterns that require no user input or action to make finding relevant content faster and requiring less clicks. For example, a sports enthusiast will see the link to latest information about his favorite football team on his home page, while a classical music fan will see the link to the upcoming concerts in his area.
“Amdocs and ChangingWorlds recognize the power of the customer experience and the potential for service providers to further exploit their place in the digital value chain,” said David Moran, chief executive officer of ChangingWorlds. “Both Amdocs and ChangingWorlds will continue to aggressively execute on the shared vision of enabling service providers to offer the most compelling customer experience, to grow revenue from data services and retain customers.”
The impact of the acquisition on Amdocs’ non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be neutral in fiscal 2009. The impact on GAAP results will be finalized after Amdocs completes the purchase price accounting for the acquisition. Amdocs may incur a one-time acquisition-related expense in the quarter ending December 31, 2008 to account for certain costs related to the acquisition.