TripAdvisor, has acquired Wanderfly, a travel recommendation search engine. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The Wanderfly team understands the value in social travel planning,” said Steve Kaufer , co-founder and CEO TripAdvisor. “They’re a great asset as we continue our developments in this area and I am delighted to welcome them to TripAdvisor.”
USA, Newton, MA
HotelTonight, the last-minute hotel booking app, has made its first acquisition. It has acquired San Francisco-based restaurant reservation start-up PrimaTable. Launched in December 2010, HotelTonight has so far raised $35.7 million. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
PrimaTable has built a sophisticated platform to help restaurants optimise revenue and better manage their scarce table resources. HotelTonight will be incorporating this platform into its own yield management system, presently targeted at top quality hotels.
Jamie Davidson, Co-Founder and CEO of PrimaTable, will join HotelTonight as Vice President of Product. Colin Zima, Co-Founder of PrimaTable, will join as Data Scientist.
Sam Shank, Co-Founder and CEO, HotelTonight said, “We’re thrilled to be working with the PrimaTable team to continue to make booking a hotel room at the last-minute a seamless and magical process for consumers, and a windfall for hotels. When we look to acquire companies we look first and foremost at the talent. It’s clear that we struck gold with the PrimaTable team — not only are they brilliant, they also have more experience solving these problems than practically anyone else in the world.”
USA, San Francisco, CA
Salem Web Network, the online division of Salem Communications Corporation, a U.S. radio broadcaster, Internet content provider and publisher targeting audiences interested in Christian and conservative opinion content, has acquired Christian website, Godvine.com.
Godvine.com is a leading source for Christian and family-friendly videos, reaching approximately 3.5 million visitors and nearly 30 million page views per month. Godvine.com has over 2.8 million Facebook fans.
The addition of Godvine.com will make Salem Web Network the largest online destination for Christian content with an average of 5.8 million unique visits per month.
“The acquisition of Godvine immediately delivers a substantial new audience to Salem. We’ve watched it become one of the most widely visited Christian websites and we are thrilled to put our expertise and knowledge behind this rapidly growing website and take it to the next level,” said Rick Killingsworth, Executive Vice President at Salem Web Network.
David Evans, President of New Business Development, Interactive and Publishing at Salem Communications added, “Over the past two years Godvine.com has experienced phenomenal social media growth. With this acquisition Salem now has a great opportunity to really begin to take advantage of social media for sharing inspiration and the Gospel of Christ.”
USA, Richmond, VA
Chime Communications plc, the communications and sports marketing group, is to acquire pH Associates Limited, a company providing market access and data to the pharmaceutical industry, for an initial consideration of £6.92 million.
The initial consideration comprises £6.07 million in cash, and £0.85 million in cash representing working capital of PHA at acquisition that is surplus to requirements after PHA joins the group.
Chime is acquiring the business from PHA’s two owner Directors; Kate Peperell and Lesley Howell. Following completion, Kate and Lesley will continue to develop PHA as part of Chime’s healthcare division, OPEN Health. PHA’s clients include: Abbott, Janssen Cilag, Novartis and Sanofi.
PHA reported revenue of £1.7 million for the year ended 30 September 2011 and operating profit of £584,000. The gross assets of PHA were £966,000 as at 30 September 2011.
Further tranches of deferred contingent consideration totalling a maximum of approximately £14 million, may be payable depending upon the future trading performance of PHA. Three such tranches may be payable, in 2013, 2014, and 2016. In the case of 2014 and 2016, at Chime’s option up to 20% of the deferred consideration may be satisfied through the issue of new Chime ordinary shares.
UK, London & Marlow, Buckinghamshire
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Pearson PLC has acquired EmbanetCompass from an investor group led by Technology Crossover Ventures and Knowledge Universe, for $650m in cash.
EmbanetCompass partners with leading non-profit colleges and universities in North America to provide online learning solutions for more than 100 university programmes. It provides a range of services including: programme design and development, marketing and student recruitment, faculty training and support, data-driven student retention and learning analytics; student services (counselling, tutoring, mentoring), technology support and launch funding.
Institutional services are one of the fastest growing areas of the US higher education market. Out of 6,700 degree-granting institutions in the US, approximately 175 institutions engage third-party vendors to power online programmes. Of a total post-secondary student population of 22 million, 2.5 million participate in purely online programmes with over 6 million taking at least one online course. Pearson believes the number of students learning online and the number of institutions serving those students will grow rapidly, as academic institutions seek low-risk and cost-effective ways to better serve new and existing customers by boosting student access, affordability, achievement and retention.
EmbanetCompass revenues have grown strongly in each of the last three years and are expected to be approximately $130m in 2012. The transaction is subject to a Hart-Scott-Rodino review. Pearson expects the acquisition to enhance adjusted earnings per share and to generate a return on invested capital above Pearson’s weighted average cost of capital from 2014.
Will Ethridge, CEO of Pearson North America, said, “The acquisition of EmbanetCompass extends Pearson’s investment in two areas where we see great opportunities for growth and impact-online education and educational services. The combination of Pearson and EmbanetCompass creates the premier provider of online learning and education services and will further enable us to advance the goals of the institutions and students we serve with innovative and proven programs.”
Founded in 1995, with locations in Chicago, Orlando, and Toronto, EmbanetCompass has 580 employees and is headed by Steve Fireng. He will stay on as CEO of EmbanetCompass and as a senior executive at Pearson.
UK, London & USA, Chicago, IL
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Informa plc, the business information and events group, has acquired Zephyr Associates from Kemmons Wilson Companies for a consideration of $62m in cash.
Founded in 1994 and based in Lake Tahoe, Zephyr is a provider of integrated business intelligence and decision support solutions for investment and wealth management professionals. Serving more than 800 international customers across the investment management industry, it offers sophisticated and functional analytical tools that help investment professionals make informed decisions about investment products and portfolio construction.
Zephyr’s high-end analytical platform and extensive customer base is highly complementary to the products and services offered by Informa Investment Solutions (“IIS”) and the combined offering is expected to lead to good growth opportunities. Informa expects the acquisition to generate an attractive return on invested capital from 2013.
Peter Rigby, Chief Executive of Informa said, “The acquisition of Zephyr is perfectly aligned with Informa’s strategy to focus on high quality, digital subscription revenues attracting strong renewal rates and attractive cash dynamics. It is a great fit with our existing business in this area and will enhance our leading market position, ensuring a healthy return on investment.”
UK, London & USA, Zephyr Cove, NV
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GiftCardLab.com, an online provider of gift cards, has acquired 1-800-GIFTCARD.com, Inc., including its client portfolio and vanity 1-800 number. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the 1-800-GIFTCARD.COM team. They have built a wonderful business based upon superior customer service and had amazing vision to register and trademark key assets in the gift card industry. We plan to continue in this tradition, now as a team. With sales now approaching $100 Million, we believe this acquisition is the first step in reaching $1 Billion in annual gift card sales by 2014” said Dave Jones, CEO of Gift CardLab.
USA, Dallas, TX
Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC have issued a pre-close trading update ahead of the announcement of its results for the year to September 30, 2012.
Trading
Since issuing its Interim Management Statement on July 25, 2012, trading has continued in line with the board’s expectations. As highlighted in that statement, market conditions became noticeably tougher from June, particularly in Europe. As a result, revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to be broadly in line with the same period last year, with growth in subscriptions offset by weakness in advertising and delegate revenues.
Total revenues for the year to September 30, 2012 are expected to show a headline increase of approximately 9% on 2011. The underlying increase, excluding acquisitions, is expected to be 3%. Exchange rate movements have not had a significant impact on headline or underlying revenues.
Despite the challenging market conditions, the group expects to announce a record adjusted profit before tax* of not less than £105 million for the year to September 30, 2012 (2011: £92.7 million), helped by a reduction in net finance costs following the sharp reduction in the group’s net debt, as well as a lower long-term incentive expense.
Financial Position
At current exchange rates, group net debt at September 30, 2012 is expected to be no more than £40 million, against £88.5 million at March 31, reflecting the group’s strong second half operating cash flows. Movements in the US dollar exchange rate have not had a significant effect on net debt levels.
Next Trading Update
The year end results will be announced on the morning of November 15, 2012, followed by an analyst presentation and investor meetings.
* Adjusted profit before tax is profit before tax, acquired intangible amortisation, accelerated long-term incentive expense, exceptional items, movements in deferred consideration, and non-cash movements in acquisition option commitment values.
UK, London
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Groupon has acquired Savored, a provider of reservations at restaurants across the United States. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Savored works with around 1000 restaurant across the United states. After booking a reservation on Savored.com and visiting the restaurant, diners receive up to a 40% discount applied automatically to their bill. The restaurant get incremental revenue for tables that would otherwise be empty.
“Savored’s platform nicely complements Groupon’s efforts in yield management, an area we’ve pioneered with Groupon Now!,” said Dan Roarty, VP of Groupon Now. “We look forward to working together to achieve a common goal – making dining out even more fun and affordable for consumers while helping restaurateurs manage inventory and grow their businesses.”
USA, Mountain View, CA & Chicago, IL
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RSS advertising service Mediafed is acquiring mobile search and technology company, Taptu, known for its consumer apps and news aggregation platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Our acquisition of Taptu will create the first global platform to monetize RSS across all digital devices,” said Ashley Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of Mediafed. “This is the future of publishing and we are elated to gain the incredible Taptu product, technology, team and committed user base in this quest.”
UK, Cambridge & USA, Denver, CO
Fusion Corporate Partners 
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