Rakuten, one of the world’s largest Internet services companies, has acquired Viber, a pioneering messaging and VoIP company.

Rakuten will acquire Viber for a total consideration of $900 million, said a statement.

The acquisition represents another bold step for Rakuten into the digital content space, following its acquisitions of Kobo, Wuaki.tv, and Viki.

As people continue to shift from traditional content and communications platforms to mobile applications, Viber, one of the most popular mobile communications services worldwide with a rapidly growing global user base of 300 million registered users, perfectly complements Rakuten’s strategy in the digital space, the company said.

This acquisition will enable Rakuten to penetrate new markets with multiple digital content offerings, in combination with its e-commerce and financial services platforms, it said. - TradeArabia News Service