SingTel Acquires HungryGoWhere, Continues Expanding Outside Core Mobile Business

By | 28 May, 2012

Singapore Telecommunication Limited has added another company in its portfolio after acquiring local food review portal HungryGoWhere.com from GTW Holdings Private Limited (GTW) for SG$12 million (US$ 9.5 million ). With this purchase, GTW would be a whole-owned subsidiary and merge their operations with the telco search engine inSing.com, targeting to grab two million members.

Singtel has acquired HungryGoWhere, and is planning to integrate location-services and user-reviews with their mobile services. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

One of the largest mobile network operators in the world, Singtel plans to add features such as automated restaurant reservations, and use their expertise to expand its operations across Asia utilizing the food website’s regional presence in Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Vietnam. The Temasek Holdings subsidiary already has regional associates in 25 countries as of last year.

SingTel will serve around 1.4 million members that heavily rely on mobile apps in looking for food and restaurant guidance and advice. What’s in it for the users? Aside from automated reservations, users can easily find, rate and book restaurants in a personalized manner. SingTel gain easy access to 100,000 restaurant reviews, food-related deals, discounts and 15,000 restaurants through desktops, tablets and mobile devices.

“We are delighted to be joining the inSing.com and SingTel family. This deal allows our award-winning content to be seen by even more people in the region and will accelerate the investment and distribution of our new online restaurant reservation system,” says Dennis Goh, Founder and Managing Director of Singapore’s leading food portal.

This 100% acquisition follows only a few weeks after one of SingTel family mobile advertising company Amobee bought over 3D mobile ad specialists Adjitsu. Both million dollar investments have been done in line with further business expansion outside of its core telecom business.

“A cornerstone of SingTel’s growth strategy is to build digital solutions that help consumers in their daily lives — as they live, work and play.  Possessing the local knowledge and content is critical as it allows us to compete effectively in these areas. SingTel will continue to form partnerships for important and unique content, including in retail, entertainment and other lifestyle needs,” CEO Group Digital L!fe at SingTel Allen Lew said.



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