Nasdaq-listed AsiaInfo Holdings Inc announced yesterday it will spend more than US$700 million to acquire Nanjing-based Linkage Technologies International Holdings Ltd, which provides information technology services to top Chinese telecommunications carriers.

After the takeover, the total market capitalization of the new company, AsiaInfo-Linkage Inc, is expected to be more than US$1.8 billion. AsiaInfo will use cash and stock deal to acquire Linkage whose shareholders will receive US$60 million in cash and 26.8 million AsiaInfo shares.

"We are creating the pre-eminent software solutions provider in China's telecommunications industry," said Steve Zhang, AsiaInfo's president and chief executive.

The merged company will employ 8,000 employees, and Linkage's shareholders will own 35.8 percent stake while AsiaInfo shareholders will hold 64.2 percent.

The transaction is expected to close either by the end of the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2010, according to AsiaInfo.

AsiaInfo provides software and system services to China's enterprises. Linkage provides IT services to the domestic telecommunication industry, whose clients include China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom.

In the first nine months this year, Linkage generated US$112 million in revenue and earned US$25 million profit, both double the levels achieved in the year-ago period.

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