
Mangrove in partial exit from Nimbuzz
Mangrove Capital Partners has partially exited Nimbuzz, a Dutch provider of instant messaging and calling services, to New Call Telecom for a reported enterprise value of $250m.
New Call has taken a 70% stake in the company, reportedly paying $175m.
Mangrove has retained an equity interest in the business. Nimbuzz CEO Vikas Saxena has also retained a shareholding and will remain in his current position.
India's mobile subscriber market is expected to grow from 795 million in 2013 to 1.14 billion by 2020, according to the company.
Previous funding
In May 2007, Nimbuzz received $10m from Mangrove, Holtzbrinck Ventures and internet services operator MIH Group (Naspers). According to unquote" data, the deal originated when Nimbuzz founder Evert Jaap Lugt approached Mangrove's Mark Tluszcz, who had previously provided the company with seed funding in 2006.
Holtzbrinck has since exited the company.
In July 2008, Mangrove and MIH injected a further $15m into Nimbuzz.
Company
Founded in 2006, Nimbuzz is headquartered in Rotterdam with an additional office in Gurgaon, India. The company's main market is India, with 20% of its 200 million registered users coming from the country.
Nimbuzz provides a free instant messaging and voice-over-internet-protocol service for mobile devices. The company employs 100 staff and generates revenues of $15m.
People
Vikas Saxena is the CEO of Nimbuzz. Michael Jackson is a partner at Mangrove.
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