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Cheetah Mobile continues to grow, acquires News Republic for $57 million
The Chinese tech company best-known for Clean Master has bought News Republic for $57 million. Although what it plans to do with the Flipboard-esque news aggregator is unclear at the moment, one thing is for sure: Cheetah Mobile’s aggressive (and often controversial) growth isn’t stopping anytime soon.
I don’t blame you if you’ve never even heard of Cheetah Mobile or News Republic, but curiously enough, both have a long history with the Android platform: the former has an extensive portfolio of Android apps available, and the latter is an official partner of HTCBlinkFeed.
Cheetah Mobile has more than 568 million monthly active users, and you will probably recognize at least one of the many products that this Beijing-based company offers. For instance, the immensely popular game Don’t Tap the White Tile is Cheetah Mobile’s very own. Cheetah Mobile is also the developer behind Clean Master, an Android optimization app, which is integrated into most Galaxy S6 devices and Samsung phones that followed. Although Clean Master has proven itself to be fantastically popular, its effectiveness seems to be a different story.
Well, it looks like Cheetah Mobile’s diverse expansion isn’t going to stop anytime soon. On August 2nd, it acquired News Republic in a cool $57 million deal, and we are curious to see how the acquisition will shape Cheetah Mobile’s future.
According to the company, the acquisition of News Republic will help improve the exposure of user-generated content and Internet celebrities. In fact, Cheetah Mobile is expected to officially launch its social live app named Live.me in the US, which will let users stream live shows but also interact with their audience, and News Republic will undoubtedly be a part of this ambitious project.
In whichever way Cheetah Mobile chooses to use News Republic, at the end of the day, Cheetah Mobile is an advertising company. That’s how it’s got itself in a bit of trouble in the past, and that’s how it ultimately makes money, so it won’t be too surprising to see ads playing a big role in Cheetah Mobile’s global expansion.
Do you think Live.me will generate enough interest? What are your thoughts on this $57 million acquisition? Let us know in the comments below!