NewTel Corporation, which owns the WellcoM Mobile brand operating in Thailand, has been acquired by Spice i2i for $22 Million, reports the Indian Express. Spice i2i is a Singapore based company previously known as MediaRing, which was acquired by BK Modi's Spice group last year. NewTel has around 8% marketshare in Thailand, and is among Thailand’s leading producers, distributor and wholesaler of mobile phones. In 2009, NewTel reported a turnover of around $56 million, and sold over 700,000 mobile phones; it has a network of over 3000 sub-dealers, and over 60 WellcoM partners. The acquisition gives Spice the opportunity to expand operations into countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Post acquisition, Spice i2i has opened its first retail store in Myanmar on 5th December 2010. This is the second mobile handsets related acquisition from Spice this year: earlier this year, the company acquired Spice-CSL, a handsets distribution entity based in Malaysia. Spice i2i is targeting the "Indonesia to Ivory Coast" region, in line with Modi's focus on the Asian region. For the quarter ended September 30th 2010, Spice i2i reported a turnover of $65.7 million, up 137 percent year on year, much of the increase being contributed by Spice-CSL, as well as Spice i2i's mobile handset supply chain management business that was started in December 2009 with Singapore as its hub. Remember that prior to being acquired by the Modi's MediaRing/Spicei2i was primarily an internet telephony business. Post acquisition, the Spice Group is using Spice i2i to expand…
