Shine Group acquires ChannelFlip

January 9, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group has acquired ChannelFlip the online broadcaster and original content producer. ChannelFlip’s programming includes Richard Hammond’s Tech Head, David Mitchell’s Soapbox and Dom Joly’s Joystick. ChannelFlip, was founded in 2008 by Justin Gayner and Wil Harris.

Elisabeth Murdoch, the CEO and chairman of Shine Group, said: “Wil and Justin are true like-minded creative entrepreneurs and we welcome them and their team to Shine Group. They have built ChannelFlip into its leadership position through creative and commercial excellence, producing compelling and innovative online productions whilst persuading advertisers of the deeper relationships they can play within these. Following our entry into social gaming with Bossa Studios, this acquisition further underlines Shine Group’s relentless commitment to delivering excellence across all platforms and our determination to develop powerful direct to consumer models and connections to audiences, wherever they may be.”

Shine Group was acquired by News Corporation in April 2010 for a reported £415M.

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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CBS Television Stations Group to acquire New York Station WLNY-TV

December 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase independent New York television station WLNY-TV (Channel 55).  Terms of the agreement with the seller, WLNY Holdings, Inc., were not disclosed.  The acquisition of WLNY-TV (whose call letters stand for We Love New York), along with WCBS-TV (CBS 2), will give CBS a duopoly in America’s largest media market.

“Our acquisition of WLNY-TV presents a tremendous opportunity for our TV Stations Division,” said Peter Dunn, President, CBS Television Stations.  “The combined strengths of CBS 2 and WLNY-TV will give us a terrific platform for serving the entire New York area.  Our plans for the station include adding people and resources to fuel a significant expansion of local news programming well beyond the nightly half-hour that currently airs.  And, of course, in doing so we will continue to honor the station’s already deep commitment to serving the people of Long Island and the entire tri-state area.  We also look forward to having a bigger and better news bureau on Long Island that will be a terrific resource for WCBS.”

WLNY-TV is widely distributed by cable, satellite and other subscription television service providers in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut tri-state area.  The station appears as either Channel 10 or Channel 55 on most channel lineups and Channel 55 as an over-the-air service.

Once the acquisition of WLNY-TV has been finalized, CBS will own duopolies in 10 markets, including New York, Los Angeles,Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Sacramento and Pittsburgh.  Currently, the CBS Television Stations group includes 28 stations, including 16 that are part of the CBS Television Network, eight affiliates of The CW Network, two independent stations and two MyNetworkTV affiliates.

USA, New York, NY

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Microsoft acquires video discovery technology company VideoSurf

November 22, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Microsoft Corp. has acquired California-based video discovery technology company VideoSurf Inc.

Founded in 2006, VideoSurf offers a back-end computer vision technology that “sees” frames inside videos to make discovering content fast, easy and accurate. Over time, Microsoft will integrate this technology across its entertainment platform to augment the Xbox 360 ecosystem and evolve search and discovery of entertainment content on Xbox LIVE.

“VideoSurf’s content analytics technology will enhance the search and discovery of entertainment content across our platform,” said Alex Garden, director of Xbox LIVE for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “This holiday we will launch voice search across our entertainment partners on Xbox LIVE. Over time, as we integrate VideoSurf’s technology into our system, we are excited about the potential to have content tagged in real time to increase the speed and relevance of the search results.”

“Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Division is at the leading edge of connected entertainment,” said Lior Delgo, CEO and co-founder of VideoSurf. “We are incredibly excited to be working together on our mutual passion for creating amazing consumer experiences and reinventing how consumers search, discover and enjoy content on their televisions.”

In the coming months, Microsoft will bring nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers to Xbox LIVE, includingBravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K.; Telefonica in Spain; Rogers On Demand inCanada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and Mediaset in Italy. This acquisition will also make it easier for world-class video partners to take full advantage of advanced features such as voice search enabled by Kinect for Xbox 360. With Kinect, users will be able to easily search and discover content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE and then interact with and enjoy content in extraordinary ways using voice search powered by Bing on the Xbox 360.

USA, Redmond, WA & San Mateo, CA

 

 

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The world’s richest man buys 3.2 pct stake in Spain’s Prisa

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, has bought a 3.2 percent stake in Promotora de Informaciones SA (Prisa), Spain’s largest media company whose shares have slumped by about 50 percent this year.

The purchase of 14.7 million shares of Prisa was made through Slim’s investment arm Inmobiliaria Carso SA, according to an exchange filing made in Spain on Friday. The statement did not specify how much Slim paid.

Based on the price of Prisa shares at Thursday’s close, the stake would have been worth 11 million euros. The shares jumped 12 percent on Friday to 0.84 euros, helped by the news of Slim’s investment.

Prisa’s business spans radio and TV assets in Spain and Latin America, as well as Spain’s best-selling newspaper El Pais. The company is trying to shed assets and cut its debt after borrowings topped 4 billion euros in 2010.

Slim is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and América Móvil and has extensive holdings in other Mexican companies. As of early October, Slim held 8.1 percent of Class A shares of New York Times.

Mexico, Mexico City & Spain, Madrid

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Vivendi and Universal Music Group to acquire EMI Music

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Vivendi and its subsidiary, Universal Music Group have agreed to purchase EMI’s recorded music division from Citigroup for a total consideration of £1.2 billion representing 7 x EBITDA prior to synergies.

EMI Group is one of the world’s most prominent music companies. Its recorded music division, EMI Music, operates around the world and represents artists spanning all musical tastes and genres through record labels including Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Latin, Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Classics, EMI CMG, EMI Records, EMI Records Nashville, Manhattan, Parlophone, Virgin Classics and Virgin Records.

Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO of Vivendi, stated: “We are very proud to welcome EMI into the Vivendi family. We all respect the labels within EMI as well as the artists and employees who contribute to its success. They will find within our Group a safe, long-term home, headquartered in Europe.” He then added: “We plan to acquire EMI’s recorded music division on attractive terms, adhering to our principle of total financial discipline. We are confident that we will be able to create additional value for our shareholders thanks to our knowledge of the industry and our proven track record of successful integration. Lucian Grainge’s personal experience and heritage will be a major asset in making the combined entity a great success.”

Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group, added: “This is a historic acquisition for UMG and an important step in preserving the legacy of EMI Music. For me, as an Englishman, EMI was the preeminent music company that I grew up with. Its artists and their music provided the soundtrack to my teenage years. Therefore, UMG is committed to both preserving EMI’s cultural heritage and artistic diversity and also investing in its artists and people to grow the company’s assets for the future. As a result, we will be better positioned to fully capitalise on the many new and exciting opportunities in the current marketplace, and also able to better serve our artists, songwriters and business partners, while offering fans even more choice.”

Vivendi will finance the transaction from its existing credit lines. Concurrently, Vivendi and UMG will also sell 500 million euros worth of non-core UMG assets.

Vivendi and UMG have been advised by Allen & Co. and SJ Berwin on this transaction. Citi Global Banking acted as financial advisor to Citi and EMI. Clifford Chance LLP, Shearman & Sterling LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted as legal advisors to Citi and EMI.

UK, London & France, Paris & USA, New York, NY

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PA Acquires Globelynx “TVready” Network

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The Press Association has acquired Globelynx, the fixed-camera network which enables corporate executives, financial analysts and commentators to be interviewed on TV news programmes from their offices.

The acquisition of Globelynx, whose network is widely used by the BBC, Sky News, ITN, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters and many of the world’s major broadcasters, marks the latest move in PA’s strategy of diversifying its core news and information business into corporate markets, and adding value to its existing services for media customers.  Under the terms of the deal announced today, PA is immediately acquiring 50% of Globelynx and will acquire the remaining 50% over the next four years.

Globelynx, which was founded in 2001, has a growing number of blue-chip corporate customers across financial services, media, and industrial companies. The network carries over 6,000 live interviews a year and has grown rapidly in recent years as a result of increased interest in financial and business TV coverage.

Interviews are conducted via self-operated fixed cameras, located in offices and dealing rooms, which are connected to TV networks via Globelynx’ master control room and fibre network. Broadcasters can book interviews up to a few minutes before going on air – without the inconvenience or cost of using outside broadcast facilities, or transporting interviewees to a TV studio. Globelynx also enables corporate executives and spokespeople to be interviewed on live TV without leaving their offices.

Clive Marshall, Chief Executive of PA Group, commented: “Globelynx is a fantastic business which provides an invaluable service connecting spokespeople with news broadcasters. The explosion in 24 hour news channels has created a huge demand for live comment, a demand which Globelynx, with PA’s support, is ideally placed to capitalise on.”

UK, London

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The E.W. Scripps Company third quarter results

November 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Consolidated revenues from continuing operations were $168 million, a decrease of 8.6 percent from $184 million in the third quarter of 2010.

Operating expenses totalled $165 million, down 4.9 percent from the second quarter, and down 2.3 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Restructuring costs, largely for the ongoing efforts to standardise and centralise certain functions that should benefit the newspaper division starting in 2012, were $2.6 million.

The third quarter results include a non-cash charge for the impairment of long-lived assets at four of the company’s newspapers. The company concluded that the fair value of certain of its newspapers was less than the carrying value of its net assets. Scripps recorded in the third quarter a $9 million, pre-tax, non-cash charge to reduce the carrying value of property and equipment.

Largely due to the impairment charge, the company reported an $18.2 million loss from continuing operations before income taxes, compared with what was essentially a break-even quarter a year ago.

The loss from continuing operations, net of tax, was $10.7 million, or 19 cents per share in the 2011 quarter, compared with income from continuing operations, net of tax, of $5.4 million, or 8 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the effect of the impairment charge, the loss from continuing operations, net of tax, would have been 9 cents per share in the most-recent quarter.

The tax provisions in the third quarter of both 2011 and 2010 include the impact of favourable settlements of the examinations of prior-year tax returns.

“We continue to reshape Scripps, improving the company’s short-term and long-term opportunities for growth,” said Rich Boehne, Scripps president and CEO. “We believe local TV stations are both good businesses today and attractive launching pads for the future, which is why during the quarter we agreed to purchase the nine stations now owned by McGraw-Hill Broadcasting. At a purchase price of $212 million, we should show a strong return on investment and gain access to TV and digital media consumers and advertisers in Indianapolis, Denver and San Diego. Plus we picked up a great small-market station in Bakersfield, Calif., and access to the developing Spanish-language market through five Azteca stations in Colorado and California. We’re eager to close the deal and bring these businesses into the Scripps fold.

USA, Cincinnati, OH

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Endemol to reject bidders

November 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to the FT, Endemol and its lenders are set to rebuff recent approaches for the indebted television production group behind Big Brother and Deal or no Deal, and pursue a debt for equity swap. Time Warner recently tabled an offer of about €1bn ($1.4bn).

Read the full story here

Netherlands, Amsterdam

 

 

 

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mergermarket Q3 Monthly M&A Insider report

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to the mergermarket Q3 Monthly M&A Insider report (October 2011), global m&a in the first three quarters of 2011 totalled us$1,718bn – a 21.5% increase from the us$1,414.4bn worth of deals registered in the first three quarters of 2010 – and the financial services sector saw an even steeper 37.4% increase during this nine-month window. The first three quarters of 2011 brought us$208.5bn in financial services deals to market, up from us$151.7bn in the same period last year,

Sectors covered by Fusion DigiNet

The largest sector by market share was Energy, Mining and Utilities at 23.1% (835 deals) down 10% (-125 by volume), in 7th place is Business Services at 4.4% (1,159 deals) -17% (+62 by volume), media is in 8th place at 1.9% (279 deals) +23% (no change by volume).

See the full report at mergermarket

Posted in B2B Services, Broadcasting, Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Consultancy, Content Media, e-Commerce, Energy & Environmental Services, Games, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Marketing/Advertising, Mobile Apps, Research Reports, ~Asia, ~Europe, ~Latin America and Caribbean, ~Middle East & Africa, ~North America, ~Oceana. Leave a Comment »

Mattel acquires HIT Entertainment

October 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Mattel has entered into an agreement to acquire HIT Entertainment for $680 million in cash from a consortium led by Apax Partners funds. HIT Entertainment owns a global portfolio of popular preschool brands, including Thomas & Friends®, Barney®, Bob the Builder®, Fireman Sam® and Angelina Ballerina®. With more than $180 million of revenues, HIT Entertainment represents one of the largest independent owners of preschool intellectual property. The purchase price equates to a multiple of about 9 ½ times trailing earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

“Mattel is the right home for Thomas & Friends®. This powerhouse brand is joining the ranks of such iconic brands as Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price® and American Girl®,” said Robert A. Eckert, chairman and chief executive officer of Mattel. “Thomas & Friends® routinely ranks among the world’s leading preschool toys. Additionally, with more than half of the Thomas & Friends® revenue generated from non-toy products, this transaction will marry Mattel’s global marketing, distribution and brand management capabilities with HIT Entertainment’s global programming and licensing expertise to accelerate growth of the combined portfolio.”

Thomas & Friends® is the premier brand in the HIT Entertainment portfolio. Created more than 65 years ago, the brand has grown into the number 1 licensed preschool property in the world, with television programming, home entertainment products, toys and other consumer products available throughout the globe.

Mattel currently markets many Thomas & Friends® toy products under a license from HIT Entertainment which extends through 2014. Mattel’s global sales of Thomas & Friends® die-cast and plastic toys are more than $150 million, and Mattel believes that this transaction will allow the company to continue to expand and grow these product lines into the foreseeable future. Another key advantage to the acquisition is that Mattel will be able to reunite two key pieces of the Thomas & Friends® toy business: plastic and die-cast toys with the wood-based business. The current wood license expires at the end of 2012, at which time Mattel expects to add that line of business to its portfolio. Historically, the sales of wood-based toys have been around half the size of the plastic and die-cast business.

The HIT Entertainment portfolio also includes a number of other highly popular preschool brands with established television broadcast and licensing relationships around the world. The acquisition does not include HIT Entertainment’s interest in the cable network station, Sprout.

RBC Capital Markets, LLC acted as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to Mattel in connection with the transaction. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal advisor to HIT Entertainment in connection with the transaction.

USA, El Segundo, CA & UK, London

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