Positive Coffee Blog

After months of speculation, Friendster's search for a buyer in Asia has finally ended with today's announcement that an affiliate of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based online payment solutions provider MOL AccessPortal Berhad is acquiring the pioneer social networking site.

The affiliate, MOL Global Pte. Ltd., will acquire 100 percent of Friendster, which recently unveiled its new look and repositioned itself to cater to the Asian market, where most of its users are.

Here's a video showcasing the new look that was unveiled on Dec. 4.



Here's an excerpt from the press statement issued by Friendster.

“The merger with Friendster will continue to transform the social networking industry, combining a highly intuitive and successful social media site and online marketing channel with an integrated payment platform and content network which includes games, goods, gifts, music and video. We are creating a unique company that will be well positioned to provide content to a huge, regional user base, here in Southeast Asia,” said Ganesh Kumar Bangah, president and chief executive officer of MOL.

MOL uses the leverage of a network of over 500,000 physical and virtual payment channels across 75 countries worldwide to collect payments for content and services. Its core markets are Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and India. MOL has relationships with over 70 online game publishers that have a suite of over 200 online game titles. It also has partnerships with music, movie and video content owners and distributors across the region.