VODone pays big for 'paperless lottery'

Online media service provider VODone, which is partly owned by the state-funded China Association of Social Workers, has agreed to pay HK$12.6 million in cash and stock to acquire the technology and rights behind a so-called 'paperless lottery platform' from software firm Chinasatcom Technology Consultation. The system will form an integral part of VODone's service to sell lottery tickets and broadcast lottery results to all mobile-telephone subscribers on the mainland, a business it started last year under a pact with the Heilongjiang Welfare Lottery Centre.