Qualcomm Buys Mobile Banking Firm Firethorn For $210 Million
By James Quintana Pearce - Wed 14 Nov 2007 07:58 AM PST
Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) has announced it will buy Atlanta-based mobile banking provider Firethorn Horldings for about $210 million in cash. The deal is expected to close within 30 days, subject to some conditions. Qualcomm expects the deal to shave 2c from pro forma earnings per share this fiscal year. Firethorn’s employees will remain in Atalanta and will continue to be led by the current CEO Tripp Rackley, who will now be overseen by Qualcomm EVP and group president Len Lauer. Firethorn is putting together some good partners in the US, announcing AT&T yesterday, Verizon last month and a number of banks and other financial institutions. The rationale behind the acquisition is given as Firethorn’s expertise in financial services and commercially deployed platform complementing Qualcomm’s expertise in enabling wireless services across networks and devices—but I reckon the biggest attraction to Qualcomm was buying into the mobile banking market.
Posted in: Companies, Qualcomm, Money, VC M&A, Technologies, Payments
