Pozitron gave us some hope

Monitise, a UK-based company that works with the likes of Visa to build and roll out mobile 
payment solutions, has acquired mobile commerce technology provider Pozitron for $100 million in an all-share deal. According to Ingrid Lunden of Techcrunch this is about inorganic expansion; Pozitron is based in Istanbul, Turkey and is most active in its home market and the Middle East, two regions where Monitise has been less strong.

The $100 million will only be payable after three years; Monitise will pay £24 million initially based on Monitise’s closing share price of 66.5p on Friday 31 January, 2014, and will then give a three-year earn-out of up to £36 million based on achieving “aggressive” performance targets.

According to Techcrunch other acquisitions at Monitise to push geographic expansion have included Clairmail in 2012 for $173 million to expand into the U.S. market. It’s not the only one: in 2011, Visa acquired Fundamo for $110 million to expand into Africa and other developing world markets.

The founder of Pozitron Fatih İşbecer sent an email this mail to all stakeholders and said that “We are excited to announce that Pozitron has been acquired by Monitise, one of the world’s leading Mobile Money specialists, to deliver its award-winning mobile solutions to even more enterprises. Our combined offering will continue to help businesses engage with consumers via the mobile channel, anywhere, anytime. Since starting the business nine years ago, my vision has always been to be the first choice partner of businesses in the mobile age. I look forward to continuing on this path as part of 
Monitise, a world leader that shares our passion for connecting people and businesses across mobile devices.” 

After the news of this sale hit all the news outlets in Turkey I have closely followed the readers remarks to the development. I could not believe what people were writing. Many wrote that it is a shame to sell the company to foreigners. They claim that by selling a Turkish company the Fatih and Fırat İşbecer are committing something like treason to the country. Others were saying that they have earned easy money. These type of remarks are part of the reason why there are not many successful entrepreneurs in this country. 

People hate you if you are successful and people despise you if you are a failure. In this environment it is really difficult to concentrate on being an entrepreneur. No one really cares how Fatih İşbecer worked for every single lira they have earned. No one really cares about how Fırat İşbecer made Pozitron a hit among international circles. 

Those who write that we are losing every important company to foreigners should know that Pozitron gave hope to new entrepreneurs and we should thank them. Many more young people would be inspired by them. Furthermore if they were based in London they could have been the company to acquire others. So all in all let us please treat our entrepreneurs well.