GROU.PS acquires Social Project from MTV Networks

October 15, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

According to TechCrunch, DIY social network platform GROU.PS is acquiring Social Project, developers of the Flux social media platform, from MTV Networks. As part of the deal, GROU.PS will only be acquiring Social Project’s company and its users; and MTV will continue to own Social Project’s Flux social media publishing technology. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

GROU.PS is a social groupware platform that allows people to come together and form interactive communities around a shared interest or affiliation. The functionality of any online group is limited only by the members’ collective imagination and ambition. The GROU.PS platform is used to create a wide variety of community sites, including online gaming forums, e-learning classrooms, fan clubs, charity fundraising campaigns, college alumni societies, and event planning portals.

The company is privately held and headquartered in Palo Alto, CA with development offices in Istanbul, Turkey. GROU.PS was founded in 2008 by Emre Sokullu. The site has more than 6.2 million monthly unique visitors worldwide and 7.5 million registered members. The company is backed by Golden Horn Ventures.
USA, Palo Alto, CA

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Sugar Inc. acquires MyPerfectSale

October 15, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Online women’s media company, Sugar Inc., has acquired MyPerfectSale, a San Francisco-based fashion shopping service that connects over half a million registered members to the latest sales for high-end designer apparel and accessories.

MyPerfectSale operates MyPerfectSale.com, an online shopping destination that sends over twelve million customized email sale alerts per month. MyPerfectSale also runs DesignerApparel.com, a shopping service that helps customers find fashion products across the premier US department stores, luxury retailers, and fashion boutiques.

Sugar Inc.’s acquisition will accelerate the growth of MyPerfectSale in the U.S. and enable it to expand into international markets where Sugar Inc. currently operates, including the UK, Japan, France, Germany and Australia. MyPerfectSale will be maintained as a separate brand while becoming a part of Sugar Inc.’s ShopStyle network of shopping sites. MyPerfectSale’s eight employees will join the growing Sugar Inc. team.

“We are excited to add MyPerfectSale’s large membership base to ShopStyle’s network. MyPerfectSale will now be able to leverage ShopStyle’s network to increase its reach and differentiation in this fast-growing market,” said Andy Moss, President of Sugar Inc.’s ShopStyle.

“When we started Sugar four years ago, we believed future online media leaders would delight their audiences by combining content and commerce,” said Brian Sugar, founder and CEO of Sugar Inc. “MyPerfectSale has done a tremendous job growing their business and we are excited to have them join our commerce team.”

“We’re very pleased to join Sugar Inc. and extend our potential reach to the company’s 18 million plus unique users,” said Dominic Ang, President of MyPerfectSale. “MyPerfectSale fits perfectly into the Sugar Inc. family of sites, and will now connect even more fashion-conscious shoppers to name brands at great prices.”

USA, San Francisco, CA

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UBM acquires OBGYN.net for $0.8 million

October 15, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

United Business Media Limited has acquired the OBGYN.net website and related assets from MediSpecialty.com, Inc. for a total cash consideration of $0.8 million.

OBGYN.net is a women’s health website for obstetrics and gynaecology professionals and consumers. The site provides article-based and multimedia content generated by both contributors and users. OBGYN’s archived, searchable online forums – some of which have been running for over 10 years – comprise approximately one million posts and include professional peer-to-peer discussions and consumer-to-physician/expert forums, as well as patient-to-patient support forums. OBGYN.net has a registered population of approximately 140,000 and attracts more than 500,000 unique visitors a month.

The acquisition of OBGYN.net expands UBM Medica’s network of sites for physicians and allows the business to meet growing advertiser demand for access to online audiences as healthcare readers and marketers shift from offline to online media. This shift is driving growth of approximately 20% per annum in US pharmaceutical and healthcare online advertising spending (estimated at $1.4 billion in 2009). The acquisition of a digital presence in the obstetrics and gynaecology market will allow UBM Medica to market both existing and new products and services across a broader audience which includes digital agencies, pharmaceutical companies and device companies seeking to reach obstetrics and gynaecology professionals.

Henry Elkington, CEO, UBM Medica said, “I’m very pleased to bring OBGYN.net into UBM Medica’s network of online resources for healthcare professionals and consumers. OBGYN.net has strong brand recognition as one of the leading sites focusing on women’s health issues and over the course of the last 10 years has built and hosted the interactions of a vibrant set of professional and consumer communities. OBGYN.net is a great addition to our successful online business and we look forward to developing it further.”

UK, London & USA, Del Valle, TX

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Trinity Mirror takes full control of Fish4

October 14, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Trinity Mirror has been a shareholder in the Fish4 business for over 10 years and previously held a 50% joint venture interest alongside Newsquest Media Group.  Fish4 will sit alongside the brands in the Trinity Mirror digital classified portfolio including GAAPweb, totallylegal, SecsInTheCity and SmartNewHomes.
 
Launched in 1999, Fish4 operates one of the UK’s best-known websites for jobs, cars and homes.  Fish4jobs was one of the UK’s first mass-market recruitment websites and attracts over 3.3 million jobseekers every month.
 
David Black, Trinity Mirror’s Group Director of Digital Publishing, said: “Fish4 is an excellent addition to our digital portfolio. The acquisition demonstrates continued progress with our strategy of building a growing digital business of scale, and increasing our share of the online recruitment market.”
 
Paul Halliwell, Managing Director, Trinity Mirror Digital Recruitment and Property, said: “We have ambitious plans for the future of the Fish4 business. Fish4 is a strong brand, to which we will add considerable value for advertisers and consumers alike through our digital recruitment and classifieds expertise.”

UK, London

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Facebook’s Russian investor Mail.Ru Group plans an IPO on the London Stock Exchange this year

October 12, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

MAIL.RU GROUP has announced its intention to proceed with an offering of ordinary shares in the form of Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) to be admitted to a Standard Listing on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker “MAIL”.  One GDR will represent an interest in one ordinary share of the Company
 
The Offering is expected to consist of outstanding shares (in the form of GDRs) from existing shareholders and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, subject to market conditions.  The Company has appointed Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan as Joint Global Co-ordinators and, together with Morgan Stanley and VTB Capital, Joint Bookrunners in connection with the Offering. Pacific Crest Securities has been appointed Co-lead Manager in connection with the Offering.
 
Yuri Milner, Chairman of Mail.ru Group said: “I am very pleased to announce our intention to list on the London Stock Exchange, and we are proud to have reached this important milestone in our Company’s development.”
 
Dmitry Grishin, Chief Executive Officer added: “Russia is a very exciting and fast-paced Internet market and we are proud to be at the forefront of developments here.  With a highly engaged and fast growing Internet user community, our leading communications and entertainment platform targets significant growth opportunities that may arise from the more than 250 million Russian speakers worldwide. We believe we are well positioned to benefit from the expected growth of the Russian Internet advertising market and the increase in Internet Value Added Services.”

Mail.ru Group holds 2.38% shares of Facebook, 5.13% shares of Groupon and 1.47% shares of Zynga.

UK, London & Russia, Moscow

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DeNA to acquire mobile games developer ngmoco

October 12, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

DeNA today is acquiring ngmoco for up to US$400 million in cash and securities, creating the world’s largest mobile social games platform company.

ngmoco’s shareholders and employees will receive US$300 million in cash and securities and are entitled to additional consideration, up to a maximum of US$100 million, contingent upon the achievement of certain performance milestones through Dec. 31, 2011.

“In ngmoco and its team we see a lot of the same talent and dynamic traction that we have in the Japanese market, making the merger a perfect fit for us,” said Tomoko Namba, founder and CEO, DeNA. “This acquisition cements DeNA’s leadership position in the U.S. We’re building the largest mobile social gaming platform in the world and populating it with incredible games and services.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, and with studios in New York and Portland, ngmoco was founded in 2008 by games industry veterans Neil Young, Bob Stevenson, Alan Yu and Joe Keene. ngmoco’s games are played more than 50 million minutes a day and have been downloaded more than 60 million times on Apple’s iOS devices, resulting in 20 top 10 applications. The company’s Plus+ social network has over 13.5 million registered users, with more than 50 million friend connections and has been installed more than 86 million times. In September, ngmoco announced its commitment to the Android platform with games and services arriving in the fourth quarter.

“We are delighted to be joining forces with DeNA, a company that we have admired and aspired to,” said Neil Young, founder and CEO, ngmoco. “The opportunity to be a part of creating the number one social mobile game platform company and to benefit from the unique learning and knowledge that DeNA possesses is an amazing way to accelerate our vision for gaming.”

As a wholly owned subsidiary, ngmoco will be responsible for bringing DeNA’s “X-Device X-Border” strategy to Western markets by making DeNA’s Mobage a global service and platform for games. A key focus for the company is the creation of a unified open developer platform that combines ngmoco’s state of the art smartphone technology framework with DeNA’s pioneering Mobage Open SDK. The unified Mobage Smartphone Platform will allow developers to target both iOS & Android and access both Western and Japanese customers.

USA, San Francisco, CA

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A Fusion Deal: eLitigation business Legal Inc is acquired by Grant Thornton

October 11, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Legal Inc Ltd has been acquired by Grant Thorton as a key addition to its Forensic Team.   Established in 2005 and based in London, Legal Inc is the leading independent UK specialist in eLitigation, eDisclosure and eCourt services.

Legal Inc is able to handle and decipher huge complicated files for its accounting and legal and government clients.  As the company says: ” Our aim is always to be an ally in the fast-changing world of information management, where our know-how and, experience and market awareness can assist you in you in meeting today’s challenges.  The exponential growth of edata, the impact of disruptive technologies and a changing rulebook make for a ‘shifting sands’ environment. Add in operational pressures that revolve around efficiency, risk, cost control and client satisfaction and you can understand why so many organisations look to leverage Legal Inc to improve legal delivery and enhance business returns.”

 

Paul Slight was the Partner responsible for the transaction.  Fusion acted exclusively for the shareholder vendors.

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Amazon acquires BuyVIP

October 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Amazon is to acquire Madrid based BuyVIP.com, a fashion and lifestyle online buying community with more than 6M members in Spain, Germany and Italy.  BuyVIP offers members time-limited campaigns from top fashion and lifestyle brands at low prices, generally 30 to 70% below the retail price..

BuyVIP was founded in 2006 with the launch of its German and Spanish websites at the same time.  It is rumoured the price paid is somewhere between $60M and $80M.   The transaction is expected to close in Q4.

Source: Press Release

USA, San Francisco, CA

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Deltek to Acquire INPUT

September 30, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Deltek, a provider of enterprise applications software and solutions for project-focused businesses, is to acquire INPUT for $60 million in an all cash transaction. The transaction is expected to close on October 1st, 2010.

The addition of INPUT’s industry leading opportunity intelligence and business development capabilities to Deltek’s comprehensive portfolio of government contracting solutions and its govWin network expands Deltek’s product offerings to manage all facets of the government contracting value chain from opportunity identification to project delivery.

Based in Reston, VA, INPUT has nearly 200 employees and had revenues of $26.2 million for 2009 – an increase of 13% from 2008. With more than 2,100 customers, INPUT enables companies to successfully identify and develop new business opportunities with federal, state and local government and other public sector organizations. Many of the largest government contractors and agencies rely on INPUT for the latest and most comprehensive opportunity database and market research information. INPUT powers an active network of over 30,000 members that collaborate on federal, state and local government opportunities, develop teaming relationships and win new business.

“Our entire INPUT team is extremely proud of the great company that we have collectively built over the years,” said Peter Cunningham, Chairman of INPUT. “Our services provide a unique combination of content and context (software). This is the direction for the information services industry in the 21st century, and we are ahead of the game. The combination of INPUT with Deltek makes for a perfect match to accelerate our growth and commitment to our members. Deltek’s enterprise software capability, industry expertise, and customer list are completely synergistic with INPUT’s capabilities and customer base, creating a combined organization that no competitor can match. Our association with Deltek will provide a wonderful opportunity for our 2,100 member organizations to get increased value from our services and for our staff to have an almost unlimited career growth opportunity. I cannot imagine us finding a finer and more appropriate partner to carry out our mission.”

“Acquiring a market leader like INPUT is a landmark move for Deltek,” said Kevin Parker, President and CEO of Deltek. “We are fully committed to investing in INPUT to expand its offerings, deliver new capabilities, and ensure that its customers continue to receive tremendous value from its products and services. We also look forward to combining INPUT’s world-class business development and market research capabilities with our existing solutions. Together, we are now powering the entire government contracting value chain, while providing our customers with the timely, data-driven market research they need to navigate their way to success. This move solidifies Deltek’s standing as the premier government contracting solutions provider and thought leader in the market today.”

USA, Herndon, VA

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Marketron Acquires mSnap

September 30, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Marketron, a provider of business software solutions and services for the media industry, has acquired mSnap, the largest broadcast-based mobile advertising network in the U.S. and a leading provider of mobile advertising solutions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Mobile is one of the fastest growing advertising segments in our industry and mSnap has established itself as an innovative leader in the category,” said Mike Pallad, Executive Vice President of Sales for Citadel Broadcasting. “The acquisition of the company by Marketron, which offers a host of cross-channel solutions for media companies, will increase mSnap’s capabilities and development. We’re proud of our partnerships with Marketron and mSnap and look forward to the benefits this merger will offer our stations and advertisers.”

“We are excited to join Marketron, as the company provides the technology and services integral to the success of thousands of media organizations around the world,” said Tim Favia, CEO of mSnap. “By combining our expertise in mobile advertising technology with Marketron’s software, services and distribution, we will enable media companies to leverage the mobile ad medium, and for the first time be able to sell, fulfill and account for it. This combination also provides significant scale to our network, increasing our leadership position and making us more relevant to advertisers as they move to the mobile medium.”

This acquisition enables Marketron to accelerate the growth of the already largest broadcast-based mobile network, consisting of 30 million unique subscribers and 1,400 premium publishers and serving 250 million advertising messages per month. The acquisition helps Marketron solidify mobile’s position as a growing advertising channel in the digital space, offering benefits to media companies and advertisers alike. 

USA, Hailey, ID

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