In recognition of the growth of music on the Internet, Australian mining
company Richfield Resources has announced it will acquire Sprint, the
Melbourne-based owners of MP3.com.au.
Richfield joins a growing number of Australian mining companies including
Golden Hills and Western Minerals who have recently invested in local Web
businesses.
Richfield however, is hoping to ride on the success of music on the Net and
in particular the success of MP3.com which floated in the US last week and
is now valued at around US$3-4 billion.
The deal, which is expected to raise over AUS$10 million, is yet to be
approved by shareholders but announcements are expected within the next few
weeks.
Sprint, which started out as a traditional software distribution business
back in 1993, also owns Ozhosting.com.au an e-commerce and Web hosting
service, and Sprintweb.com.au, a Web design business.
However, it is the MP3.com.au site, which Richfield sees as having the most
potential according to Sprint’s managing director and co-founder Domenic
Carosa.
MP3.com.au to be launched in September, will aim to become the biggest free
music site in Australia, according to Carosa. The local site is expected to
be linked to the US site, which provides music from some 11,000 artists.
Carosa said the Australian MP3 site was a major focus of the deal and that
recent success in the US reaffirms for Richfield the potential of
music on the Web.