Lebara, a global specialist in providing low-cost international mobile services, today announced its take-over of the Chippie brand and customer base in the Netherlands. Lebara will retain the Chippie name in the Netherlands to specifically address migrant communities with friends and family in North and South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia.
Lebara was founded in 2001 and first launched its award-winning Lebara Mobile service in the Netherlands in 2004. By 2008, Lebara Mobile was firmly established as the leading international mobile service provider in the country. The acquisition of Chippie, which operates on the same network as Lebara Mobile – KPN, further strengthens Lebara Mobile's position in the market.
Yoganathan Ratheesan, CEO of Lebara, commented: "It's been a very exciting year so far for Lebara and this acquisition further establishes us as the market leader in our segment. Lebara Mobile has been a strong performer in the Netherlands since its launch and given that over 20% of the Dutch population has international roots, we believe that there is a huge opportunity for us to continue to grow. We look forward to welcoming Chippie's customers to our high quality service."
The acquisition follows recent announcements this year about geographical expansion into the German and French markets as well as record financial results and the first country launch of the Lebara Mobile content portal in the UK.