Sindicatum Carbon Capital Group acquires Verdeo Group

March 18, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Singapore based Sindicatum Carbon Capital Group, a company that produces clean energy and environmental commodities (such as carbon credits) through the abatement or displacement of Greenhouse Gases from a global portfolio of projects, has acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of Verdeo Group, a developer of emission reduction projects in North America.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Verdeo will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCC and will operate as SCC’s North American business unit with the primary objective of expanding SCC’s asset base in that market.  Verdeo will continue to be led by Josh Green, its current CEO, and will operate from its existing office in Washington D.C.  SCC’s current US operations will be integrated with Verdeo’s.

USA, Washington & Singapore

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Yahoo in talks to sell its share of Yahoo Japan for $8 billion

March 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Reuters is reporting that Yahoo! is in advanced talks to sell its 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan to Softbank Corp, which already controls 42 percent of the unit. It will free up as much as $8 billion to fight Google and Facebook.

It is not clear what Yahoo is likely to do in China, where it owns about 40 percent of prominent Internet company, Alibaba Group, the parent company of Alibaba.com. Softbank also owns a stake in Alibaba.

Read the full story.

Japan, Tokyo

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UBM acquires Indian travel tradeshow SATTE

March 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

United Business Media has acquired SATTE, India’s largest travel and tourism exhibition. UBM has acquired the event on behalf of UBM Asia from Cross Section Publications Pvt Ltd.

Launched 17 years ago, SATTE  takes place each January in New Delhi and is now India’s largest travel and tourism event. The show performed strongly in 2011 attracting approximately 600 exhibitors and 9,300 attendees from more than 40 countries. SATTE has progressively expanded beyond its original focus on inbound travel to India and now also supports the outbound market. This reflects the rapid rise of domestic Indian spending on international travel. The 2011 edition of SATTE took place on 27 January.

SATTE is supported by T3, the leading controlled circulation monthly publication for the Indian travel indusry and which is an official publication at many of India’s travel industry events. T3 contributed around 15% of the business’s $1.6m revenues in 2010. Completion of the acquisition of T3 is subject to Indian regulatory approval. Approval is expected to be granted by the end of April. As at 31 March 2010, SATTE’s gross assets were £630,000.

Navin Berry, SATTE’s founder, owner and publisher of Cross Section will remain with the business post-completion. In addition to Mr Berry, the business employs 12 staff in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The acquisition is anticipated to exceed UBM’s cost of capital criterion in its first full year of ownership.

Jimé Essink, President & Chief Executive Officer of UBM Asia said, “The acquisition of SATTE brings us a leading position in India’s rapidly-growing travel and tourism industry and adds to our portfolio of tradeshows in India where we are already one of the country’s largest commercial event organisers. We are committed to continuing to invest in and expand our business in India, leveraging UBM’s existing worldwide interests in the travel and aviation markets.”

India, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalor

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UBM to acquire stake in Famdent, India’s largest dental exhibition and conference business

March 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

United Business Media has agreed to form a joint venture with Drs Anil and Jyotika Arora to operate the Famdent dental exhibition and conference business in India. UBM will own 60% of the Famdent business, with the remainder of the business being owned by Drs Anil and Jyotika Arora. The transaction is expected to complete in the next three months. UBM is forming the joint venture on behalf of its UBM Medica business.

Established 11 years ago, Famdent (www.famdent.com) launched its first event for the professional dentistry community in Mumbai in 2005, adding its Delhi event in 2009. The shows combine exhibition and conference elements, between them attracting more than 120 exhibitors, 2,200 conference delegates and 3,300 exhibition visitors. The success of Famdent’s events reflects the rapid expansion of the Indian dentistry profession, estimated to be a $120 million industry and growing 15-20% annually. There are more than 100,000 qualified dentists currently practising in India, with around 13,000 new dentists entering the market each year from 191 dental colleges. India’s major cities now have approximately 12,000 dental clinics.

Famdent’s events are supported by an eponymous clinical dental publication which has a controlled circulation of up to 12,000 copies per quarter. The publication contributed around 30% of the business’ revenues in 2010.

Famdent’s founders, Drs Anil and Jyotika Arora, will remain with the business following the formation of the joint venture, together with a further 13 employees. For the year ended 31 March 2010, the business generated revenues of approximately £0.4 million. Its gross assets were £0.3m.

UBM’s investment in the joint venture is anticipated to provide a return in excess of UBM’s cost of capital criterion in its first full year of operation.

Henry Elkington, Chief Executive of UBM Medica said: “The creation of our Famdent joint venture brings us a leading position in India’s rapidly-growing dental industry. I look forward to working with Anil and Jyotika Arora to grow the Famdent shows and to extend them to new territories across India and Asia. With our expanded platform in this space, we will also seek to broaden our offering in other Indian medical exhibition and conference markets.”

India, Mumbai

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Publicis Groupe acquires Interactive Communications Ltd in Taiwan

February 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe is to acquire Interactive Communications Ltd (ICL), a Taiwan public relations and social media consultancy. For the past seven years, ICL has been an affiliate of MSLGROUP, Publicis Groupe’s flagship specialty communications, PR and events network.
Founded in 1998 and employing 30 communications professionals, ICL specializes in innovative communications campaigns combining public relations, social media and event experiences. The ICL team has worked for companies across more than 25 different sectors, and clients include Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Sony, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Particularly renowned for its creativity and innovative social media capabilities, ICL was recently recognized at Campaign Asia-Pacific’s 2010 ‘Digital Media Awards’ for its social media work for Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Following the acquisition, the agency will continue to be led by founders Cindy Chou, who serves as Chair of ICL MSL, and Mario Fang, Managing Director. Both leaders have more than 15 years of experience in the marketing industry. Cindy Chou was named Taiwan CEO of the year in 2009 and 2010 by BRAIN magazine, Taiwan’s leading marketing and technology publication. Both Cindy Chou and Mario Fang will join the MSLGROUP Greater China Management Board, and Cindy Chou will henceforth report to Glenn Osaki, President, MSLGROUP Asia.

The acquisition of ICL is Publicis Groupe’s fourth in Asia for the MSLGROUP network in the past five months. MSLGROUP Greater China is a top five international PR agency with eight offices and 225 staff across Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Olivier Fleurot, Chief Executive Officer, MSLGROUP remarked, “We are delighted that ICL has become a fully fledged member of MSLGROUP. This new addition reflects our commitment to provide our local and multinational clients with a best-in-class team in Taiwan and seek out partners who share our long-term vision and commitment to building an innovative offering for clients.”Cindy Chou, Chair of ICL MSL and member MSLGROUP Greater China Management Board, commented, “ICL has worked with the MSLGROUP global network as an affiliate for the last seven years and our staff and clients have come to rely upon this relationship to add value to our activities in Taiwan. Now that we are officially joining MSLGROUP, we will be focused on expanding our role in the Greater China team to service key clients and deepening our expertise in social media marketing.”

France, Paris & Taiwan, Taipei

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Investments in green companies and technologies globally now total more than $2 trillion

February 22, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

A new report from Ethical Markets Media which tracks private investments since 2007 in green companies and technologies globally, says investments now total more than $2 trillion.

The Green Transition Scoreboard® (GTS) represents time-based, global research of non-government investments and commitments for all facets of green markets. This update of the GTS totals  $2,005,048,785,088 from 2007 to the end of 2010. This is significant because many studies indicate that investing $1 trillion annually until 2020 will accelerate the Green Transition worldwide.  The updated 2010 finding puts global investors and countries on track to reach the $10 trillion in investments goal by 2020.

Hazel Henderson, D.Sc.Hon., FRSA, former US government technology advisor and president of Ethical Markets Media said, “this new total is remarkable in spite of economic uncertainty.  It indicates that the global transition away from the 300-year fossil-fueled Industrial Era is accelerating toward the cleaner, greener, information-rich economies of the 21st century.”

Timothy Nash, M.Sc., Senior Advisor to Ethical Markets Media, adds, “This over $2 trillion total does not include nuclear, ‘clean’ coal or CCS, nor biofuels from food or agricultural sources, which we consider unsustainable.”

Rosalinda Sanquiche, Ethical Markets Media’s Executive Director and editor of the Green Transition Scoreboard® report, points out, “this startling amount does not include thousands of deals under $100 million, which we hope to include in future reports.  We have added and will continue to track our exclusive Corporate R&D sub-report and invite companies to alert us to any investments we may have missed.”

The full report is available at www.greentransitionscoreboard.com.

USA: St. Augustine, FL

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HTC makes strategic investment in mobile content delivery services business Saffron Digital

February 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Mobile telecoms firm company HTC is making a strategic investment in London-based mobile content delivery services business Saffron Digital.

Saffron Digital has experienced a successful year with its innovative technology integrated into products and services in Europe by HTC, LG, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile and Nokia, among others, and in the US by Samsung. It has entered into partnerships with industry-leading companies such as Microsoft, and Widevine, to ensure that customers are given the best possible video experience across a range of devices.

“HTC’s investment increases our global expansion capabilities and provides us with an opportunity to expand into new markets like Asia and new sectors like games and music delivery,” says Shashi Fernando, CEO of Saffron Digital. “We have grown Saffron Digital into one of the best and most exciting digital service providers in the world and this enables us to take digital content delivery to a new level for our customers around the world.”

Saffron Digital will continue to provide its media and content services to its third party partners, which include device manufacturers, network operators and content providers in 26 countries. The company’s headquarters will remain in London and Los Angeles while its management team will continue unchanged.

Taiwan, Taoyuan & UK, London

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Three JVs in India to become subsidiaries of Dentsu India Group

February 4, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Dentsu has purchased the respective 26% equity stakes held by Mogae Consultants Pvt. Ltd. in Dentsu Communications Pvt. Ltd., Dentsu Marcom Pvt. Ltd. and Dentsu Creative Impact Pvt. Ltd., three full-service advertising agencies established as joint ventures between Dentsu and Mogae.

As part of a strategy to grow the Dentsu brand in India, the three companies, together with other companies under the Dentsu Communications umbrella that includes Dentsu Mediatech and Clickstreamers, were integrated into an organization referred to as the Dentsu India Group.

In accordance with the terms of the transaction, Sandeep Goyal, the incumbent Chairman of the Dentsu India Group, will resign his position. He will also resign from the boards of the three advertising agencies. Mr. Goyal will, however, continue to support the Dentsu India Group as its Founder Chairman. Ms. Tanya Goyal will also resign from the boards of directors and will become a Principal Advisor to the Dentsu India Group.

Since the establishment of Dentsu Communications and Dentsu Marcom in 2003, and Dentsu Creative Impact in 2005, Dentsu has been steadily expanding its business in India through the three agencies. In view of the recent growing importance of the Indian market, however, and faced with the need to provide an increasingly higher level of unique services to its global clients, Dentsu decided that the time had come to make the joint-venture companies into wholly-owned subsidiaries. With this move, Dentsu will be able to positively expand its business domain from advertising to other areas such as sports and digital-related services.

According to the December 2010 edition of Advertising Expenditure Forecasts published by ZenithOptimedia, India’s advertising market, which grew slightly in 2009 to US$4,463 million, is expected to grow 13% in 2010 and 13–15% in 2011–2013, year on year. The total projected market size of US$7,548 million in 2013, an increase of 69% when compared to the 2009 figure, will make India one of the world’s leading advertising markets.

Yuzuru Kato, the Dentsu Inc. Executive Officer in charge of global business development, said, “By making these three companies wholly-owned Dentsu subsidiaries in the rapidly developing and increasingly important Indian market, we aim to enhance our infrastructure to provide the best integrated solutions to our clients in all the business domains. Focusing on the area of communications, we will implement marketing communication strategies that solve the management and business issues facing advertisers and media content companies today. Ideas that reach beyond the imaginable. Technology that crosses the bounds of possibilities. Entrepreneurship that surpasses the expected. We will use these three sources of strength stated in the Dentsu Group Corporate Philosophy to create innovation.”

India (Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumba)

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Sir Run Run Shaw sells control of Hong Kong’s TVB

January 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Sir Run Run Shaw,  founder of Hong Kong’s television station TVB, has sold control of the business.

Shaw has signed an agreement to sell his 26% stake in Shaw Brothers to an investment group controlled by Hong Kong business man Charles Chan, Taiwanese business women Cher Wang and Providence Equity Partners. The deal is expected to be completed on or before March 31.

Shaw will also sell a portion of the 6.3% he owns of TVB through his charity, The Shaw Foundation Hong KongShaw will remain as chairman, Cher Wang and Thomas Nelson, CEO of Providence Equity Partners, will join the board.

Hong Kong

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Pearson acquires TutorVista – Expands Pearson’s education business in India

January 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Pearson has agreed to increase its shareholding in Indian education business TutorVista to a controlling 76% stake for a consideration of $127m.  Pearson acquired a minority stake in TutorVista in June 2009 and this transaction takes Pearson’s total equity investment in the company to approximately $139m.

TutorVista was founded in 2005 by Krishnan Ganesh and is headquartered in Bangalore. India’s government currently invests $40bn each year or three per cent of GDP in education, while Indian consumers spend more than $40bn on private educational institutions and services. Both segments of the market are growing rapidly as a result of government commitment to increase the quality of and access to learning opportunities as a means of sustaining economic growth and reducing poverty.

TutorVista will be integrated into the Pearson education business in India. Pearson expects the acquisition to enhance Pearson’s adjusted earnings per share and return on invested capital in 2012, its first full year.

Marjorie Scardino, Pearson’s chief executive, said: “TutorVista is an innovative and effective education company that we have worked with and respected for several years. This acquisition – which we believe is the largest transaction in education in India by any company – signals our excitement about the vitality of India’s education sector.”

India, Bangalore

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