Accenture Agrees to Acquire Mackevision

January 10, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

AccentureAccenture has entered into an agreement to acquire Germany-based Mackevision, a leading global producer of 3D-enabled and immersive product content. The acquisition will add state-of-the-art visualization capabilities to Accenture Interactive’s digital services portfolio – strengthening its ability to create compelling, next-generation customer experiences and industrial, extended reality applications. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Mackevision’s creation, visualization and production services are used for online product configurators, digital and print catalogues, virtual showrooms, point-of-sale kiosks, augmented and virtual reality experiences, as well as broadcast video and feature films. Mackevision has developed a differentiated ability to leverage engineering data to construct ‘digital twins’ of complex physical products. By applying the latest techniques in CGI, visual effects and AR/VR, Mackevision can generate nearly any type of visual content from these twins – effectively turning engineering data into immersive product experiences and virtual applications. This highly-specialized approach has the potential to transform product design as well as fuel the next generation of consumer experiences.

Mackevision has earned international acclaim for its work on the HBO Series “Game of Thrones” – for which it was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects. The company’s high-end creative and visual effects capability is especially relevant in the growing field of extended reality, where life-like models and environments are considered critical to creating fully-immersive experiences.

Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive, said, “Mackevision’s capabilities will add a whole new dimension of content innovation to our portfolio of services. The ‘digital twin’ concept has massive implications not only from a scaled media production and marketing standpoint, but also for our broader vision of helping clients render the most compelling experiences possible.”

Ireland, Dublin & Germany, Stuttgart

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Hearst completes acquisition of Rodale magazine and book businesses

January 9, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

HearstThe publisher Hearst has finalised the acquisition of global health and wellness content company Rodale’s magazine and book businesses, announced in October 2017. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With 93 editions in 64 countries, Rodale is credited with having launched the organic movement in the U.S. in 1942, and publishes many established health and wellness lifestyle brands, including Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, Rodale’s Organic Life, Runner’s World and Bicycling. Rodale Books is known for conversation-changing titles including Former Vice President Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s Onward and Dave Asprey’s The Bulletproof Diet. Upon completion of the acquisition, Rodale’s multi-platform content business will be managed by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst with more than 300 editions and websites around the world.

Hearst Magazines President David Carey said, “Maria Rodale has grown her family’s business into a peerless authority that reaches an enormous audience. Hearst and Rodale are already publishing partners around the world, including the U.K., the Netherlands and Japan, and we’ve seen first-hand how the content resonates. We are pleased to add them and all of Rodale’s brands to our vibrant and varied global portfolio, providing readers with dependable information and offering marketers unbeatable scale and a trustworthy environment in the increasingly important health and wellness space.”

United States, New York, NY & Emmaus, PA

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Endeavor acquires marketing agency 160over90

January 9, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

WMEEndeavor, the new name for the entertainment conglomerate formed after WME’s acquisition of IMG, has agreed to acquire branding and marketing agency 160over90 from private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

160over90 handles branding and marketing for a number of colleges, sports teams and brands, including Ferrari, the Indianapolis Colts, the Philadelphia Eagles, UCLA and Under Armour. The agency, which has about 180 employees, will be housed within Endeavor Global Marketing, the division that in recent years has acquired experiential agencies IMG LIVE and Fusion Marketing, as well as public relations firm Catalyst. Endeavor also has a stake in ad agency darling Droga5.

Mark Shapiro, co-president of WME and IMG, which still exist as independent businesses within Endeavor, said, “As the business continues to move away from the 30-second spot and into a full-fledged focus on experiences, we want to be fully armed and stand out with a unique platform. The 160over90 agency can enhance the platforms and channels and content that we are creating and producing for our clients, from Hollywood to sports.”

USA, New York, NY & Philadelphia, PA

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Apple acquires app developer Buddybuild

January 2, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

AppleApple has acquired Buddybuild, a Vancouver-based app tools developer focused on continuous integration and debugging tools. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Buddybuild was founded in 2015 by former Amazon employees Dennis Pilarinos and Christopher Stott. In its nearly three years of existence, the startup has managed to raise around $8.8 million. Its existing customers includes Mozilla, Hootsuite, Reddit, SoundCloud, FourSquare and The New York Times.

As part of the acquisition, Buddybuild will be rolled into Xcode, Apple’s suite of development tools for iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS.

USA, San Francisco, CA & Vancouver, BC

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Walt Disney set to acquire 21st Century Fox businesses for $52.4BN

December 14, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

walt disney companyThe Walt Disney Company has entered into an agreement to acquire 21st Century Fox, including the Twentieth Century Fox Film and Television studios, along with cable and international TV businesses, for approximately $52.4 billion in stock.

Prior to the acquisition, 21st Century Fox will separate the Fox Broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2 and Big Ten Network into a newly listed company that will be spun off to its shareholders.

Combining with Disney are 21st Century Fox’s film production businesses, including Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox 2000, and its storied television creative units, Twentieth Century Fox Television, FX Productions and Fox21. Disney will also acquire FX Networks, National Geographic Partners, Fox Sports Regional Networks, Fox Networks Group International, Star India and Fox’s interests in Hulu, Sky plc, Tata Sky and Endemol Shine Group.

Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of 21st Century Fox will receive 0.2745 Disney shares for each 21st Century Fox share they hold. Disney will also assume approximately $13.7 billion of net debt of 21st Century Fox. The acquisition price implies a total equity value of approximately $52.4 billion and a total transaction value of approximately $66.1 billion for the business to be acquired by Disney, which includes consolidated assets along with a number of equity investments.

The acquisition is expected to yield at least $2 billion in cost savings from efficiencies realized through the combination of businesses, and to be accretive to earnings before the impact of purchase accounting for the second fiscal year after the close of the transaction.

Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, said, “We’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings. The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world.” Mr. Iger will continue as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company until the end of 2021.

USA, Burbank, CA & New York, NY

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Apple acquires music recognition app Shazam

December 11, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

AppleApple has acquired the music recognition app Shazam, expanding its existing music offerings. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 1999, Shazam is an app that captures a clip of music that is playing. The clip is matched with a large database to return a matching result which can then be downloaded, currently from Spotify but in the future users could be directed to Apple Music instead. With a reported over one billion downloads to date, Shazam also has visual recognition capabilities which let users identify any TV show, film or advert by listening to an audio clip or a visual fragment.

Apple released a statement saying “Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users.”

USA, San Francisco & Cupertino, CA

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Bubble Communications acquires VOX National Events

December 5, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

Bubble Communications, the PR, marketing and events agency specialising in the media and entertainment technology and services sectors, has acquired VOX National Events, the established organiser and producer of the VOX Summit (the UK conference for the voiceover and audio industry), VOX Awards and VOXMAS festive party. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

posy-brewer-sadie-groom

Posy Brewer and Sadie Groom

“As the organiser of many events including awards ceremonies, conferences, product launches and social events, this acquisition opportunity was a perfect fit with our PR and marketing work in the pro-audio and production communities,” said Sadie Groom, Managing Director, Bubble Communications. “Posy has built an amazing business which attracts the top level of talent in the voiceover community. We are excited to build on the events and community she has created and take them to the next level.”

Posy Brewer, owner of VOX, commented, “Bubble and VOX National Events come together to create the perfect match with their deep industry roots and well-respected brands. Sadie and her team are brilliant at what they do, and I’m thrilled to see Bubble taking over the helm of VOX and building on the solid and well-established foundations to promote audio excellence to its optimum level.

UK, Pinewood Studios & Guildford

 

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Meredith Corporation to acquire Time Inc.

November 26, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

MeredithMeredith Corporation has announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Time Inc. for $18.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $2.8 billion, expected to close during the first quarter of calendar 2018.

The deal will create a diversified media and marketing company with $4.8 billion in revenues, including $2.7 billion of advertising revenues. Additionally, Meredith anticipates generating cost synergies of $400 million to $500 million in the first full two years of operation.

Time Inc. is a multinational mass media corporation which owns and publishes over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake Time, Sports Illustrated, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Fortune, People, InStyle, Life, Golf Magazine, Southern Living, Essence, Real Simple, and Entertainment Weekly. It also has subsidiaries which it co-operates with the UK magazine house Time Inc. UK, whose major titles include What’s on TV, NME, Country Life, and Wallpaper. Time Inc. also co-operates over 60 websites and digital-only titles.

“We are creating a premier media company serving nearly 200 million American consumers across industry-leading digital, television, print, video, mobile, and social platforms positioned for growth,” said Meredith Corporation Chairman and CEO Stephen M. Lacy. “We are adding the rich content-creation capabilities of some of the media industry’s strongest national brands to a powerful local television business that is generating record earnings, offering advertisers and marketers unparalleled reach to American adults.”

USA, New York, NY & Des Moines, IA

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CBS Corporation acquires Network Ten in Australia

November 16, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

CBSCBS Corporation has acquired Network Ten, one of three major commercial broadcast networks in Australia. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This transaction adds Network Ten to CBS Corporation’s global content and distribution portfolios. In addition to core linear channel TEN, the deal includes digital terrestrial television (DTT) channel ELEVEN, which CBS already had a stake in, as well as the DTT channel ONE and Network Ten’s rapidly growing digital platform, TENPLAY.

“The closing of this acquisition marks the beginning of an exciting opportunity to build and expand on our close working relationship and the great legacy of Network Ten in Australia, and to paving the way for further multiplatform distribution opportunities for CBS content,” said Leslie Moonves, Chairman and CEO, CBS Corporation. “I believe our ownership helps ensure that Network Ten’s business will grow long-term, while also benefiting the Australian Media sector as a whole. We look forward to welcoming Ten and its employees to the CBS family.”

USA, New York & The Netherlands, Amsterdam & Australia, Sydney

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Zinc Media Group to acquire Tern Television Productions

October 25, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

ZincZinc Media Group plc, the TV and multimedia content producer, is to acquire Tern Television Productions Limited, for up to £5.45 million.

In the financial year ended 31 March 2017, Tern’s turnover was approximately £5.3m with profit before tax of approximately £0.3m.

Zinc Media will pay an initial £2 million for Tern, plus £1.1 million for surplus cash and an earnout consideration of up to £2.35 million.

Zinc is raising £3.5m before expenses in an oversubscribed share placing to pay for the deal.

Peter Bertram, Zinc Media’s Chairman, said, “We are delighted to announce this key acquisition for Zinc Media and are delighted to welcome the highly regarded Tern Television team into the Company. We believe this acquisition will place us in a strong position to further expand and grow in an industry which is experiencing ever-increasing demand for original content, due to the rapid growth of connected devices and new TV platforms.”

Tern, established in 1988, is an independent TV production company specialising in factual TV production. The company has key production bases in Scotland and Northern Ireland and typically produces over sixty hours of TV annually for UK broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky 1, as well as international broadcasters such as Discovery, PBS and National Geographic Channels.  It has won numerous awards including BAFTAs, Prix Italia, Royal Television Society awards and a Cine Golden Eagle. Tern has a profitable track record and reported an increased turnover of approximately £5.3m in the financial year ended 31 March 2017, up from approximately £4.4m in the year ended 31 March 2016.  

UK, Scotland, Edinburgh & Aberdeen

 

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