BEIJING, Oct. 20, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Focus Media Holding (NASDAQ:FMCN) (FMCN.NASDAQ) and China Mobile (0941.HK; CHL.NYSE) have both refuted market hearsay which said that the former had acquired 51 percent equity of the "12580" information platform from the telecom carrier, according to Sina.com.
Gong Yu, CEO of Beijing Umessage, exclusive partner of China Mobile and the operator of the 12580 information platform, said that the information platform has not contacted Focus Media about the acquisition issue. Umessage will continue to promote 12580 services and further expand the market.
Jiang Nanchun, chairman of Focus Media, also said the acquisition rumor is totally untrue.
Focus Media, the leading digital media group in China, is trimming off its non-core businesses. After the restructuring, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the company will stick to three core businesses: the commercial location network, poster frame network and in-store network.
However, Jiang said that the company would not conduct any acquisitions in these three fields in the short term.
The company's restructuring is expected to dampen the coming third quarter financial results, dragging down by 40 percent to 50 percent the net revenue from continued operations of the non-core advertising businesses in the Internet, movie theatres, and traditional outdoor advertising channels.
