European mobile managed services provider End2End today completed its acquisition of brodos messaging, a business unit of German wireless applications firm Brodos AG.

Although far from a household name, SMS connectivity firm brodos messaging is apparently a relatively big cheese in the European mobile market, delivering unified access to some 350 GSM, CDMA and TDMA networks around the world. Its customers include Lycos Mobile, Citibank, Motorola, SAP, Masterfoods and Bertelsmann.

According to End2End brodos' messaging portfolio will fit snugly with its own service delivery infrastructure from which it delivers third-party developed software offerings as managed services to operators, portals and handset manufacturers.

Under the terms of acquisition, all assets of brodos messaging, including its employees, customer contracts and German service delivery infrastructure, will be incorporated into a new division of End2End. Financial details were not disclosed but Brodos AG, a privately held company that develops business applications for mobile messaging through brodos messaging, as well as pre-paid systems through brodos CashUp, had sales of €75 million in 2002.

The brodos messaging business unit will continue to operate under the leadership of director Frank Stöcker, from its existing headquarters in Baiersdorf, Germany. Stöcker said that the firm's customers will benefit from the buy out as it will result in an expansion of its SMS connectivity data service offerings, such as content downloads, through End2End's managed services.

Soren Ravn, chief executive officer of End2End predicted that the acquisition will be the first of many in a fast consolidating European mobile market: "We also expect to see significant consolidation in the industry over the coming months and plan to actively participate in that process."®