Nine Entertainment Co CEO David Gyngell today announced that terms had been agreed with Microsoft to acquire its 50% share of Mi9 (ninemsn Pty Ltd).
“From 1 November, NEC will take control of Mi9. This agreement will see Mi9 continue to provide market leading digital solutions to Australian consumers and advertisers,” he said.
“This agreement allows NEC to retain the key elements of our almost two decade strategic partnership with Microsoft. It strengthens the platform for NEC’s growing digital video business and ultimately allows us to control 100% of our digital future,” Mr. Gyngell said.
Established in 1997 as ninemsn, a 50-50 joint venture between NEC and Microsoft, Mi9’s collective properties such as news.ninemsn.com.au and have been embraced by up to 12 million Australians each month. This is alongside the nearly 400,000 Australians who have downloaded and interact with Mi9 and Nine’s second screen app Jump-in.
<span style="Arial" ,"sans-serif""="">“ninemsn and Mi9 have been a critical part of NEC’s digital business for many years. With the continued convergence of TV and digital, I’m incredibly excited to be able to be able to leverage NEC’s extraordinary entertainment offering and our continued relationship with Microsoft to be the digital partner of choice for our users and clients,” said Mark Britt, CEO Mi9. “This is an exciting time for us at Mi9. NEC has always been a fantastic shareholder, so this is business as usual for us. Our commitment to our audience, users, advertisers and employees remains the same.”