The recent several years in the contemporary IT industry are very replete in terms of numerous multi-billion merger deals and IPOs. According to some insider sources, it has become known that a brand new significant deal may take place soon. This time, it is about one of the most prominent and widely used messaging applications, called Viber. The service was initially launched in 2010, as a direct rival for the omnipresent Skype, and was available for iPhone users only. The main figure behind this application is an Israeli entrepreneur, Talmon Marco; furthermore, Viber is also owned by one of the largest file-sharing services/companies in Israel, called iMesh. Viber is officially registered on Cyprus, but the company has a Research & Development department in Israel. As for today, Viber has more than 200 million users worldwide (May 7, 2013 statistics), and is available on most of the major platforms, including Windows, OS X, Android, iOS and even on some of the desolate (less popular) ones, e.g. Symbian (Series 40), BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile.
The rumors, which spread throughout the Web with enormous speed, inform that Viber may be sold to some Chinese (or another Asia-based) company for approximately $200-300 million. It is know that about six months ago, Viber turned to the investment company, Goldman Sachs, in order to assist them for finding a potential buyer.
Even though Viber implements an advanced VoIP technology that significantly improves the quality of sound, and is still very popular amongst a great variety of similar free messaging services, it has however not been funded by any venture capital organizations this far. In addition, the company is constantly moving forward in order to be in pace with time. Hence, it has recently released a feature called Viber Out, which allows making calls even to non-Viber users all around the globe (it’s not a secret that Skype has been using such technology for years).
Nonetheless, according to other official source in the name of Reuters, Viber’s CEO and founder, Talmon Marco has officially announced that he had no idea about the speculations regarding his creation’s selling to the Asian partners.
It should also be mentioned that Asian market already has in possession pretty popular free messaging solutions, including WeChat (China), Line (Japan) and South Korean messenger, KakaoTalk.
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