October 7, 2008 7:38 AM PDT

VeriSign sells Jamba stake to News Corp.

by Dawn Kawamoto

VeriSign on Tuesday announced that it has sold its minority stake in mobile-entertainment joint venture Jamba to partner News Corp. for approximately $200 million.

The sale bumps News Corp.' unit Fox Mobile Entertainment's share of Jamba from a 51 percent stake to full ownership. And it enables VeriSign to focus on its core Internet infrastructure business, according to Jim Bidzos, the company's interim CEO. VeriSign runs the master database for such domains as .com and .net.

The joint venture was announced two years ago, when Rupert Murdoch's media company acquired a controlling stake in VeriSign's mobile-ringtone subsidiary, Jamba, for $188 million.

That deal propelled News Corp. into one of the world's largest mobile-entertainment companies, providing through Fox Mobile Entertainment Jamba's ringtones, mobile wallpaper, and other such offerings.

Dawn Kawamoto covers enterprise security and financial news relating to technology for CNET News. E-mail Dawn.

Topics:: Personal communications

Tags:: VeriSign,; Jamba,; News Corp,; ringtones,; cellular phones,; mobile entertainment

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