YottaMark acquires personalised food information company ShopWell

May 31, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

HARVESTMARK ACQUIRES SHOPWELLYottaMark has acquired substantially all the assets of ShopWell Solutions, Inc., the personalised food information company.  YottaMark will integrate the ShopWell team into its HarvestMark Insights group, and ShopWell’s website and mobile applications will become YottaMark branded properties. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The ShopWell app helps people make smart decisions about the food they eat. Personalised results show easy-to-understand food scores and recommend foods based on the shopper’s specific dietary needs. At home or in the store, shoppers simply scan a food’s barcode to get nutrition information and find out if the food is a good match. The recommendation engine technology is powered by patent-pending algorithms designed by Registered Dietitians and statisticians, and draws on guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Institute of Medicine, and the latest peer reviewed research.

“This acquisition anchors HarvestMark’s strategy as the leading provider of trusted information about food, and provides a critical channel to reach shoppers across the entire grocery store”, said Elliott Grant , YottaMark’s Founder & CTO.  He added, “a producer will now be able to determine which characteristics drive preference and repeat purchase.  A retailer will have the ability to rapidly measure how merchandizing, store operations or supply decisions are affecting shopper satisfaction.  In today’s highly competitive food market – this edge provided by shopper insights can make the difference between a profitable product and failure.”

USA, Redwood City, CA

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Yahoo! acquires gaming infrastructure start-up PlayerScale

May 30, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

YahooYahoo! has acquired gaming infrastructure start-up PlayerScale. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

PlayerScale was founded in 2009 and is based in Belmont, California. It develops infrastructure software for various gaming platforms across the social and mobile space. PlayerScale has 100 million users with 4000 titles from over 2,600 developers worldwide.

Other recent Yahoo acquisitions include Astrid, a task-management app maker;Summly, a news-condenser app maker; Stamped, a playerscalemobile-review app maker; OnTheAir, which specializes in broadcasting video chats or interviews to online audiences; Snip.it, which is a kind of clipping service for the web; Propeld, a location-based apps maker; Jybe, a social recommendation site and Loki Studios, a mobile gaming start-up.

The acquisitions are part of a strategy to broaden and strengthen Yahoo!’s expertise in the mobile segment as adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets continue to accelerate.

USA, Sunnyvale, CA & Belmont, CA

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Answers acquires Webcollage

May 29, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Answers, operator of answers.com, has acquired Webcollage, a SasS platform for managing and publishing rich product information. Founded in 1999, Webcollage has over 1,000  consumer brands who create and publish rich product descriptions, videos, and interactive tours through their  network of retail e-commerce sites. Webcollage has headquarters in New York City and R&D center in Tel Aviv, Israel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Webcollage is a perfect extension to Answers’ product suite for retailers and brands,” said David Karandish, CEO of Answers. “Consumer manufacturers and retailers who trust Webcollage as a publishing platform can now benefit from Answers’ complementary products for product reviews, product Q&A, retailer reputation management, and branded consumer engagement. With the stellar Webcollage team, we are committed to making Webcollage customers even more successful.”

USA, St. Louis, MI & New York, NY

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LexisNexis acquires Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt

May 23, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

logo-lexisnexisLexisNexis Legal & Professional, a  provider of content and technology solutions (and part of Reed Elsevier), together with Reed Elsevier Properties SA, has acquired the  publishing brands and businesses of Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt from the Thompson Media Group. Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Widely known for its “how to” guides for compliance professionals, the Sheshunoff collection of publications includes more than 100 sheshunofftitles offering expert information critical for the financial services industry with a strong focus on federally regulated banking and credit union lending activities. The A.S. Pratt collection has established itself as the “gold standard” of analytical content for the banking and commercial practice areas and includes 40 industry-leading titles covering key legal and regulatory issues – including respected treatises, journals and newsletters such as the Banking Law Journal, Pratt’s Letter, Brady on Bank Checks, Clark’s The Law of Secured Transactions, and others.

“Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt are highly valued brands that have built a trusted reputation by featuring some of the country’s most respected and recognized legal authorities,” said Bob Romeo, CEO, Research & Litigation Solutions at LexisNexis. “The addition of this trusted practice area content to our portfolio, and our ability to offer them through multiple channels further cements the status of LexisNexis as a premier provider of holistic banking and compliance information and analytical content.”

Both collections will continue to be offered in print format. Additionally, LexisNexis intends to offer them through digital channels, including as eBooks and online.

Other acquisitions in the past year include Law360 legal news, Knowledge Mosaic securities content and services and Oxford University Press intellectual property titles.

USA, New York, NY

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DMGT Half Year Preliminary Results

May 23, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

DMGT have announced their half Yearly Financial Report for the six months ended 31 March 2013. They report a good underlying performance, with the full Year outlook unchanged.

Financial Highlights

                  Half Year   Half Year    Reported   Underlying  Half Year  Half Year
                    2013         2012      Change~     Change~      2013       2012
                             (restated)+                                    (restated)+
Revenue             £915m       £974m        -6%         +2%        £866m      £866m
Operating profit    £146m       £133m        +10%        +7%        £97m       £68m
Profit before       £137m       £105m        +30%                   £97m       £37m
tax
Earnings per        25.8p       19.6p        +32%                   28.2p      15.8p
share
Dividend per                                                        5.9p       5.6p
share
  • DMGT underlying revenue up 2%; underlying operating profit up 7%
  • Adjusted profit before tax of £137m, up 30%
  • Good performance from B2B; underlying revenue up 6% and underlying profit up 5%
  • Underlying revenue decline of 2% at dmg media; improved profit margin driven by cost efficiencies, resulting in underlying profit up 7%
  • Active portfolio management; bolt-on acquisitions and disposal of non-core assets
  • Net debt up £111m to £724m; net debt:EBITDA ratio of 1.85
  • Share buy back programme progressing well
  • Dividend increased by 5%
  • Outlook for the full year unchanged

Martin Morgan, Chief Executive, said:

“We have delivered a good underlying performance in the first half reflecting the strength of our B2B companies and the resilience of our national consumer titles. As expected, reported operating profit increased despite a decline in reported revenue resulting from recent disposals.

Our international B2B companies have increased their underlying revenues and profits* by 6% and 5% respectively. Our UK consumer business, dmg media, continued to experience challenging conditions and underlying revenues were slightly down, although the increase in digital revenues more than offset the decline in print advertising revenues and the business delivered a 7% underlying increase in operating profit*.

We have continued to actively manage our portfolio of businesses and have made several acquisitions and disposals during the period and into the second half, to improve the overall quality and growth prospects of the Group.

Relative to last year, the first half of the year benefited from the timing of biennial events and the absence of a bond redemption premium. Conversely we expect the comparatives in the second half of the year to be adversely impacted by the timing of biennial events and the Olympics, which were one-off benefits for us in the second half of the last financial year. Overall, the outlook for the full year remains unchanged.”

For further information click here.

UK, London

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Yahoo! to Acquire Tumblr for $1.1BN – promises not to screw it up

May 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Yahoo! Inc. is to acquire Tumblr.

The announcement follows:

YahooPer the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.

With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of the fastest-growing media networks in the world. Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent on site each month. On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app and do an average of 7 sessions per day. Its tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network. The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! is expected to grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50 percent to more than a billion monthly visitors, and to grow traffic by approximately 20 percent.

The deal offers unique opportunities for both companies. Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search tumblrinfrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.

Total consideration is approximately $1.1 billion, substantially all of which is payable in cash.

“Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” said Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. “On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn’t be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the Internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands – established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday.”

“I’ve long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of the creator. That’s why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I’ve ever met. He’s also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I’ve ever worked with,” continued Mayer. “David’s respect for Tumblr’s community of creators is awesome. I’m absolutely delighted to have him join our team.”

David Karp, CEO of Tumblr, addressed the Tumblr community, “Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from.”

The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second half of the year.

USA, Sunnyvale, CA & New York, NY

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Future plc – interim results for the half-year ended 31 March 2013

May 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Future plc, the  specialist media group and  digital publisher,has announced  unaudited interim results for the half-year ended 31 March 2013.

Financial Highlights

Future results 2013 v2

Click on the table for a larger image.

Summary

  • Group revenues down 1%, EBITDAE down 23%, impacted by cyclical decline in Games market
  • Group digital revenues up 33% year-on-year and now represent 25% of Group revenues
  • US operations on track to return to EBITDAE profitability in FY13
  • New credit facility for four years to February 2017
  • Sale of UK Rock titles in April for £10.2m strengthens the balance sheet to support continued investment in the transition to a predominantly digital business

Digital highlights

  • Unique users up 46% year-on-year to 51.4 million a month
  • Page views up 38% year-on-year to 299 million a month
  • Digital advertising now represents 57% of total advertising, up from 47% a year ago
  • Over five million digital editions sold across all platforms
  • Over 300,000 subscribers to digital editions, up over 75% since March 2012
  • FutureFolio signed up to power 80 digital magazines for third parties

Mark Wood, Chief Executive, said, “We experienced some difficult trading conditions in the first half, above all in the Games market, which has been in a trough ahead of new console releases from Microsoft and Sony. However, the first half figures mask tremendous progress towards a predominantly digital business, reflected in a 33% growth in digital revenues. “Our refocusing of the US business is on track to meet our commitment to return the US to EBITDAE profitability this year.

“Despite continued challenging conditions, and the impact of the Games cycle, we are seeing increased momentum on commercial revenues, contributions from new initiatives and bottom line improvements from cost efficiencies. These all point to a strong performance in the second half of the year, much as we saw in FY12, and we believe we are on track to achieve results broadly in line with our expectations.”

UK, London

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RKG Acquires ex-Googler Vanessa Fox’s Company, Nine By Blue

May 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

rkgDigital and search marketing company RKG has acquired Nine By Blue, ex-Googler Vanessa Fox’s software and consulting company.

The acquisition includes Blueprint, Nine By Blue’s search analytics and diagnostics proprietary software, which will become part of the RKG technology suite.

Vanessa Fox is  known as the creator of Google’s Webmaster Central and helped launch sitemaps.org. She is also the author of Marketing in the Age of Google. Fox will take on the new role of Chief Product Officer. Fox and the Nine By Blue team will continue to be based in Seattle, operating as RKG Seattle.

USA, Seattle, WA

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Ziff Davis acquires NetShelter from inPowered

May 20, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ziffdavisZiff Davis, the  digital media company in the technology, gaming and men’s lifestyle categories, has acquired NetShelter. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ziff Davis is a division of j2 Global, Inc.

NetShelter is a network of over 150  consumer and business tech sites, including AndroidCentral.com, MacRumors.com, Neoseeker.com, SlashGear.com and TechSpot.com, which create over 40,000 articles every month, delivering nearly 16 billion ad impressions per year.

Vivek Shah, CEO of Ziff Davis, said: “The acquisition of NetShelter fully returns Ziff Davis to the dominant netsheltermarket position in the technology vertical. We will combine our best-in-class ad targeting capabilities and trading desk expertise with what our marketers need most today: High-quality, high-impact inventory that’s available at scale on trusted sites frequented by tech enthusiasts.”

Hemi Zucker, CEO of j2 Global, said: “This acquisition not only extends Ziff Davis’ leadership position in the tech vertical but makes Ziff Davis overall one of the largest digital media companies in the U.S. that can deliver advertisers targeted, highly desirable audiences of significant scale.

USA, New York, NY

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Intelligent Living Inc. acquires Israeli on-line brain games company, Mind360

May 17, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

intelligent livingFEEL Golf Co., Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary, Intelligent Living Inc., has acquired Mind360, a company which offers a series of scientifically developed online brain games targeted to improve cognitive skills and memory function. The games on Mind360 are aimed toward sharpening memory, increasing focus, building logical reasoning skills, increasing alertness and awareness, boosting productivity, and exercising the mind. Each player gets a virtual personal brain trainer that helps build up brain function.

Danny Aboody and co-founders Dr. Eran Chajut and Gil Steiner spent 2008 quietly building Mind360, a suite of brain-training games mind360that according to the company “help people boost overall well being and maximize their potential through online well-defined, entertaining cognitive training activities.”

Mind360 has over 10,000 users in every continent with more than 40 games. Sign-up is free and monthly or annual subscriptions are available.

USA, Fort Lauderdale, FL & Israel, Tel Aviv

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