Viber, an Israeli instant messaging application which allows users to make phone calls and send free text messages along with instant messages is reportedly planning a sellout.
Reports on Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist suggest that the popular instant messaging platform is currently in talks to be acquired by a leading rival instant messaging company from Asia. While nothing is confirmed yet, it’s said that Viber has been offered between $300 and $400 million by the Asian instant messaging company.
Some of the potential buyers may include WeChat (China), Line (Japan) and KakaoTalk (South Korea), but the original report doesn’t reveal name of the buyer. The news comes six months after investment banking firm Goldman Sachs was approached by Viber to help it find a good buyer.
Entrepreneur and businessman Talmon Marco was the one who established Viber in 2011, with partners from iMesh, one of Israel’s largest media companies. The Cyprus based company has its development centers in Belarus and Israel. The company has received funds from its founders and a number of other private investors from the United States.
Viber has grown huge with more than 200 million registered users in around 193 countries. It launched an instant messaging app for personal computers just like its rival Skype that allowed making outgoing mobile calls to other Viber users and even to non-registered mobiles.
