Japan’s largest cellphone career, NTT DoCoMo announced it has agreed to buy 51% stake for approx. USD310M in the country’s 4th largest TV infomercial company based in Nagoya, Oak Lawn Marketing(OLM).
OLM was co-founded by a Chicagoese and university graduate who visited Nagoya in 1989. The company is best known for selling a German stain remover “DiDi Seven” and an exercise program DVD title “Billy’s Bootcamp“. The deal is the mobile carrier’s attempt to diversify revenue sources for developing a new mobile commerce business of its own.
By the way, NTT DoCoMo also unveiled recently it would start the “1-seg” TV broadcasting service next month, which is specifically designed for its subscribers’ handsets and will be co-managed with the Tokyo-based independent music company Avex.
Masaru IKEDA