News Corporation acquires a stake in MOBY Group

January 18, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

News Corporation is to become a minority investor in MOBY Group, a media company headquartered in Dubai and active in Central Asia, principally Afghanistan, and the Middle East. Under the terms of the agreement, News Corporation will contribute its 50 percent shareholding in Broadcast Middle East, its Farsi-language TV joint venture with MOBY, for a minority shareholding in MOBY and will also provide growth capital to MOBY for its expansion plans. Broadcast Middle East will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of MOBY following the investment.

Through Broadcast Middle East, News Corporation and MOBY have launched two successful Farsi-language channels, FARSI1 and Zemzemeh, reaching millions of Farsi speaking audiences across Central Asia and the Middle East.

The agreement with News Corporation will enable MOBY to strengthen its leadership position across the regions in which it currently operates whilst working to expand its presence in new and emerging markets. MOBY will continue to be chaired by Saad Mohseni while Zaid Mohseni will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer of BME.

News Corporation will provide strategic guidance and input via representation on the MOBY Board of Directors.

James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chairman and CEO, International, News Corporation said, “Merging our Farsi joint venture into MOBY allows us to expand our activities with what is surely one of the most dynamic and exciting media businesses in emerging markets anywhere. The Mohsenis are true pioneers and we are pleased to be able to invest alongside them in these challenging, yet very promising markets.”

Saad Mohseni, Chairman, MOBY Group said, “We are delighted to have in News Corporation both a partner with a long track record of growing entrepreneurial, innovative businesses and an investor that sees value in entering parts of the world which many media organizations have not traditionally looked to. Today’s agreement both recognizes the value we have created together in Broadcast Middle East and enables us to continue to grow MOBY for the future.”

UK, London & UAE, Dubai

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UK private equity investment in the £10M-£10OM market grows by 44%

January 18, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Data from the Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School UK Growth Buyout Dashboard shows that the UK has reinforced its position as the preeminent market for private equity investment in Europe, with activity in its lower mid-market having continued its strong recovery in 2011 to pre-recession levels of almost 100 deals.

Highlighting the segment’s robustness despite macro-economic challenges, the UK Growth Buyout Dashboard, revealed 44 per cent growth in the total number of transactions last year to 91, compared to 63 in 2010 and 34 deals in 2009.

The quarterly data, which analyses UK-headquartered private equity control deals in the £10 to £100 million enterprise value space, also shows that total deal value has more than trebled over the past three years, with aggregate values in excess of £3.4 billion last year compared to over £2.2 billion in 2010 and just above £1.0 billion in 2009.

Technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) was the stand-out sector – a trend which is likely to continue, driven by growth in innovative IT solutions such as cloud computing and mobile business applications. 26 TMT deals completed during 2011, contributing to 29 per cent of completed transactions, compared to 11 a year earlier and just four in 2009.

Click here to read the full UK Growth Buyout Dashboard.

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Future sells its US Music division to New Bay Media for $3M

January 13, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Future plc subsidiary Future US is selling its loss-making, New York based, Music Division to NewBay Media for a gross consideration of $3.0 million. The sale involves the US magazines Guitar World, Revolver and Guitar Aficionado and the related websites together with a licence to operate the Golden Gods Awards show in the US.

The gross consideration is payable as follows: $2.60 million in cash on completion; $0.15 million in cash on 30 September 2012; and $0.25 million in cash in the third calendar quarter of 2012 based on achievement of certain operational targets. In addition, NewBay will assume all subscription liabilities relating to the titles. The net sale proceeds will be used for the continued restructuring of Future US and to reduce the level of bank debt. The is made on a cash-free/debt-free basis.

Post completion of the sale, there will be a short transition period during which Future US will continue to support NewBay while NewBay integrates the US Music Division into its portfolio. Once this period is over, Future will market its New York property.

For the year ended 30 September 2011, the revenue and pre-tax loss attributable to the US Music Division was £8.5 million and £3.8 million, respectively.  At 30 September 2011, the US Music Division had gross assets of £1.8 million.

Mark Wood, Future’s Chief Executive, said: “The sale represents a big step forward in our strategy to streamline our US business and return it to profitability by 2013. The merger of our mainstream US operations and our UK business is on track, and we are making good progress in reducing costs. We continue to accelerate our transition to a digital business model and to create a single global product line, selling our entire range of digital content to high-value audiences in all key markets.”

USA, New York, NY

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Immediate Media acquires You & Your Wedding and Prima Baby from Hearst Magazines UK

January 12, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Immediate Media Co has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the magazine and website assets of You & Your Wedding and Prima Baby & Pregnancy from Hearst Magazines UK for an undisclosed sum. All staff working on the titles within the deal are expected to transfer to Immediate Media’s London offices.

The deal marks the first acquisition by the newly-created Immediate Media Co, formed out of the merger of BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing and Magicalia in November 2011. The company already publishes a parenting portfolio including Practical Parenting and Pregnancy magazine and the MadeforMums digital network, as well as bridal brand Perfect Wedding.

Tom Bureau, CEO of Immediate Media Co, says: “I am delighted that we have acquired these strong assets. They are an excellent fit with our existing brands and this acquisition is in line with our strategy of developing strong cross-media opportunities. The deal also demonstrates our ambition to invest in Immediate Media Co in order to create a fast-growing, dynamic business, and we look forward to welcoming the new teams.”

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive, Hearst Magazines UK, says:  “This deal reinforces our overall strategy to focus investment on Hearst UK’s core business and digital expansion, and we are confident this move will allow both You & Your Wedding and Prima Baby to succeed within the Immediate Media stable.”

UK, London

 

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Berkery Noyes Releases 2011 Year End Online & Mobile Industry Mergers and Acquisitions Report

January 12, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet
Berkery Noyes, an independent middle market investment bank, has released its 2011 Full Year Mergers and Acquisitions Trend Report for the Online & Mobile Industry. The report analyses the sector for 2011 and compares it with similar activity in 2009 and 2010.

Median revenue and EBITDA multiples increased from 2010 to 2011. The median revenue multiple went from 1.9x to 2.4x, a 26 percent rise, while the median EBITDA multiple increased from 11.4x to 12.5x. There were 1531 strategic transactions, an increase of 33 percent compared to 2010. Total volume in the Online & Mobile space increased 33 percent over 2010, from 1299 to 1723 transactions.

“M&A activity for social media and analytics companies continues to grow as a broader range of players seek to capitalize on this evolution in media and marketing communications,” said Kathleen Thomas, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes. ”The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, entered the market in April with their $300 million acquisition of Kosmix Corporation, and Kosmix, now known as @WalmartLabs, has already completed four deals.”

@WalmartLabs, which is now the retailer’s digital technology division, has been building what they call “the future of commerce” through their “Social Genome,” a database combining billions of tweets, YouTube videos, Facebook messages and more. They claim this will assist shoppers with making decisions through “a broad array of social commerce applications” and ultimately help Walmart achieve greater margins and sales.

Total acquisitions involving social media and analytics companies rose 39% from 116 transactions in 2010 to 161 in 2011. The median revenue multiple for this sector between 2009 and 2011 was 5.5x.

A copy of the Full Year 2011 Online & Mobile Industry Mobile Industry M&A Trend Report is available at the Berkery Noyes website.

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Elsevier acquires QUOSA

January 12, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Elsevier, the  provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, has acquired QUOSA a content management and workflow productivity solutions provider for researchers and information managers.

QUOSA’s current solutions and platform, including its Information Manager and Virtual Library, will continue to be supported. QUOSA’s technological capabilities will be developed into Elsevier-branded solutions, raising the efficiency of the search and discovery process. They will also allow researchers and information professionals to manage information more efficiently at the various stages of the research workflow including organizing, archiving and sharing.

“Elsevier is focused on delivering productivity enhancing tools to researchers and information managers to help accelerate and promote scientific discovery. Our acquisition of QUOSA ensures that we continue to deliver more value to our customers by improving the search, retrieval, management, analysis and sharing of the increasingly disparate types of information required to improve research outcomes,” said Alexander van Boetzelaer, Managing Director of Elsevier Corporate Markets. “QUOSA brings to Elsevier an innovative offering and technological expertise that align well with Elsevier today.”

Elsevier and QUOSA have collaborated successfully since 2007 when the latter’s PDF Download Manager was incorporated in SciVerse Scopus.  Later the feature was embedded in SciVerse ScienceDirect. Elsevier’s acquisition of QUOSA marks a continuation of this collaboration which has boosted research productivity for the users of both solutions.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Boston, QUOSA began by targeting the academic and government segments and now also serves a range of corporate customers, including more than half of the Top 25 pharma-biotech companies. Financial details of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

The Netherlands, Amsterdam & USA, Boston, MA

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Berkery Noyes releases 2011 Year End Media Trends Report

January 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

2011 Key Highlights

  • The largest announced transaction for 2011 was West Australian Newspapers’ acquisition of Seven Media Group, a portfolio company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., for $4.15 billion.
  • The segments with the largest disclosed median enterprise value multiples for 2011 were Broadcasting with 3.8x revenue and Internet Media at 17.5x EBITDA.
  • There were 174 fi nancially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $11.05 billion, representing 12 percent of the total volume and 20 percent of the total value, respectively.

2011 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2011 increased by 15 percent over 2010, from 1225 in 2010 to 1409 this year.
  • Total transaction value in 2011 increased by 41 percent over 2010, from $38.31 billion in 2010 to $54.12 billion this year.
  • The median revenue multiple rose from 1.5x in 2010 to 1.9x in 2011. The median EBITDA multiple moved slightly from 10.4x to 10.6x.
  • The segment with the largest increase in volume in 2011 over 2010 was Marketing with a 29 percent increase from 332 transactions in 2010 to 428 transactions in 2011.

M&A Market Overview

  • Berkery Noyes tracked 3572 transactions between 2009 and 2011, of which 1013 disclosed fi nancial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $119.95 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project the value of the 2550 undisclosed transactions to be $25.33 billion, totaling $145.27 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.
  • The largest transaction tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2009 and 2011 was Comcast Corporation’s acquisition of NBC Universal, a subsidiary of General Electric Company for $22.85 billion, which was announced in 2009 and closed in 2011.
  • The most active acquirer by volume in the Media and Marketing industry between 2009 and 2011 was Publicis Groupe SA with 39 transactions, 24 of which were announced or closed in 2011.

Visit the Berkery Noyes website to download the full report

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Hustler Acquires Sapphire Media

January 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Adult entertainment media business Hustler has acquired Sapphire Media, a European distributor of adult content to television, VOD and wireless devices. The new parent entity for Sapphire Media is LFP Media BV.

Sapphire Media International BV distributes 7 adult channels across Europe, including Blue Hustler, Hustler TV, HustlerHD/3D and Daring!TV to over 900 distribution partners. It is a provider of adult content to IPTV, VOD and mobile operators. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam.

“We started working with Sapphire to bring Hustler TV to Europe back in 2005 and within a month we were the mostly widely distributed adult network there thanks in a large part to their efforts,” said Michael H. Klein, President, Hustler. “Based on our strong relationship with them and the prospects for future growth, we felt bringing the Sapphire team on board full time as part of our Broadcasting Group was the smartest move for us.”

USA, Beverly Hills, CA & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

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AdMedia’s Industry Survey – 2012 Mergers and Acquisitions Prospects for Media, Marketing Services and Related Technology Firms

January 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

AdMedia Partners has released its latest industry survey, “2012 Mergers and Acquisitions Prospects for Media, Marketing Services and Related Technology Firms.’

The report reveals the viewpoints of buyers and sellers regarding 2012 valuations, advertising spending, M&A activity, and key trends affecting all industry participants, such as the changing nature of content delivery, consumption and monetization.

Respondents were generally optimistic about prospects for their industries and their own businesses in the year ahead, and expect that strong M&A activity in 2011 will continue into 2012. They believe there will be an increase in M&A activity driven by strategic buyers with historic amounts of cash on their balance sheets, private equity firms with large amounts of uninvested capital and changing industry dynamics.

Specific survey findings include:

  • Fifty-nine percent of respondents expect to seek an acquisition, up markedly from last year when 40% had the same expectation.
  • Highlighting the fact that significant capital is sitting on the sidelines, 55% of respondents who anticipate making an acquisition expect to fund using existing cash reserves; in addition, 43% expect to raise outside equity (e.g., from a private equity firm) and 27% plan to use debt financing.
  • Almost half of respondents (48%) anticipate contemplating the sale of their company and/or subsidiary operation in 2012, a significant increase over the 36% who expressed this opinion in 2011.
  • Approximately three out of four respondents anticipate that M&A by strategic buyers will be up in 2012.
  • Almost half of respondents anticipate that M&A by financial buyers will be up in 2012.
  • The most popular areas of expansion interest within the services sector were analytics, social and mobile. User-generated content and mobile were hottest topics for content respondents.
  • Respondents predict that valuations will remain strong in 2012, particularly for mobile marketing, social marketing, and digital media firms.

Visit the AdMedia Partners website to download a full copy of the report.

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A Fusion Deal : Energy specialist Utilyx sold to MITIE Group

January 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce our first deal of 2012. The sale of leading energy and carbon management specialist Utilyx Holdings Limited to MITIE Group PLC, the strategic outsourcing and energy services company.

Utilyx provides a number of services relating to its clients’ energy demands including strategic planning, procurement and risk management, all of which are designed to manage the business impact of energy consumption and rising energy costs.

The acquisition of Utilyx will complement and enhance MITIE’s existing CarbonCare energy services capabilities. The energy services market is significant for MITIE, with 35% of the Group’s revenues derived in this area. MITIE is ranked as the second largest energy services company in the UK, providing a full range of integrated services that help its clients manage their energy use and carbon footprint. MITIE’s energy services proposition supports all the key energy issues facing businesses and public sector organisations across the UK. These include business continuity through security of energy supply, value through cost reduction, reduction of carbon emissions and renewable energy.

As a leading consultant on corporate carbon and energy strategy, Utilyx counts a range of major UK energy users among its clients, from the industrial, commercial and public sectors. Utilyx has excellent high-level working relationships with numerous blue-chip companies including Scottish Water, Iceland and McDonald’s. It has excellent strategic relationships across the fast-growing energy services market and also provides specialist services to generators and developers of renewable energy projects.

Established in 2000, Utilyx purchases a significant proportion of the UK corporate energy market on behalf of its clients. The business has a deserved reputation for excellence and innovation, having introduced a number of new products and concepts to the market, including flexible risk managed electricity purchasing, open-book agreements and end-user Power Purchase Agreements.

Utilyx has annualised revenues of over £7m and is well placed to support MITIE’s progress in the growing energy services market in the UK. The total consideration for the acquisition will be up to £16.2m. Initial consideration of £15m was paid in cash on completion and the balance (capped at a maximum additional payment of £1.2m) will be paid in cash, dependent on future business performance. The proforma EBITDA of Utilyx is £1.7m and it is expected the acquisition will be earnings neutral in the first year of ownership.

Ruby McGregor-Smith CBE, Chief Executive, MITIE Group PLC, commenting on the transaction, said: “We are delighted to have acquired Utilyx. There is no doubt that the need for all organisations to use fewer natural resources is changing our marketplace. Energy management is integral to what we do and this acquisition forms part of our considerable investment to further develop MITIE’s energy services capability.

Chris Bowden, Chief Executive Officer of Utilyx added: “We are excited by the opportunity this presents for us and our clients. The energy sector is fast-moving and by bringing together our expertise and experience, we will be in an even stronger position to help our clients meet the challenges and opportunities that the new low-carbon economy .

Paul Kelly, Director at Fusion, said “We were delighted to work with Chris and his team at Utilyx. They have built a great business and the fit with MITIE is excellent. The energy services sector has become an important part of the Fusion business. This our sixth energy services deal. Besides private equity interest, we are seeing an increase in acquisition interest from large energy management, FM, environmental services and building services companies. We expect to continue to be active in the sector for some time to come.”

Previous Fusion energy services deals:

UK, London & Bristol

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Other Fusion Deals:

Media and Information

Events, Broadcast and Other deals
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