India’s IMImobile today announced it has completed its acquisition of UK-based mobile content and services vendor WIN – a deal reported to be worth around US$26 million – and claimed it will help create an “open global mobile marketplace for applications and services” compatible with initiatives such as WAC. Vishwanath Alluri, Chairman and CEO of IMImobile, said he believed that the new, 600-strong, global company would help operators to create the “network-as-a-service” model and also to quickly launch new applications and content-led services. WIN has a strong presence within European operators, counting customers such as T-Mobile, Orange and Vodafone, as well as broadcaster the BBC, while privately-held IMImobile provides managed services to customers like Idea, Orange and MTN, as well as media companies and international corporations. About 70 percent of IMImobile’s revenue comes from India. A PCWorld report notes that in 2008 IMImobile acquired a digital content delivery services provider in the U.K. called dx3, as part of its plan to expand in Europe. The following year it purchased the Music2You music download and subscription service previously offered by Nokia Siemens Networks.

WIN’s former CEO, Graham Rivers, who becomes an Executive Director of IMImobile, claimed that the new company combined experience in service creation with expertise in service delivery. After the acquisition of WIN, IMImobile’s core technology platform – the DaVinci Evolved Service Platform – will serve more than 100 operator and blue-chip enterprise customers in 70 countries. It is expected that some of the services offered by WIN in Europe will now be introduced in India, where operators are planning the launch of 3G services. Some of the WIN applications for large enterprises like broadcasters, insurance companies, and banks will also be offered in India.