Digg sold to Betaworks for just $500K

July 13, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Digg CEO Matt Williams has announced on the company blog that social media pioneer Digg has been sold to Betaworks. Details of the deal were not disclosed. However, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Digg, once valued at more than $160 million dollars, was sold for just $500,000. The reason for the price drop is likely due to Digg’s lack of valuable technology

Digg has raised $45 million in four rounds of venture funding since its formation in 2004. None of dig’s employees are to join Betaworks.

Betaworks founder John Borthwick, who is to be the CEO of the new Digg, said “betaworks has acquired the core assets of Digg. Digg is one of the great internet brands, and it has meant a great deal to millions of users over the years. It was a pioneer in community-driven news. We are turning Digg back into a startup. Low budget, small team, fast cycles.”

USA, New York, NY & San Francisco, CA

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CRISIL acquires Coalition Development

July 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., a division of Standard & Poor’s has acquired Coalition Development, a privately-held U.K. analytics company, and its subsidiaries. Coalition provides high-end analytics to leading global investment banks and other financial services firms. Coalition will be part of CRISIL’s Global Research & Analytics business.

“This acquisition reflects our commitment to helping customers succeed in the knowledge economy and also our strategic focus on high-growth businesses,” said Harold McGraw III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McGraw-Hill. “CRISIL is a leading provider of research and analytics services to the world’s top financial institutions and corporations. The acquisition of Coalition will expand CRISIL’s presence in the fast-growing high-end analytical space to reach more global customers and markets. CRISIL already operates in research centers located in Argentina, China, India and Poland.”

Coalition provides high-end analytics, mainly to leading global investment banks. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in the U.K. Coalition deploys unique proprietary analytics and algorithms covering market size, revenue dynamics and human capital. Coalition’s analytics provide a clear, actionable picture of the markets and are used by boards, strategy teams and top management at leading investment banks.

Coalition Development Limited were advised by Osborne Clarke. Mike Turner led the transaction assisted by Thomas Colmer and Mathias Loertscher and Prashant Mara and Ranjini Ghose of OC’s India desk.  Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, led by Linda Giunta Michaelson, provided US assistance.

UK, London and India, Mumbai

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A Fusion Deal: Econsultancy sold to Centaur

July 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce our latest deal, the sale of Econsultancy.com Limited to business information and events group Centaur Media plc.

Econsultancy is a leading digital and events-led information provider to the global digital marketing and e-commerce community in the UK, with a growing presence in the USA, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Econsultancy’s revenues stem from subscriptions, events, training, professional qualifications and media. The company has approximately 110,000 registered users and approximately 5,000 subscribers.

Centaur are paying an initial consideration of £12m in cash, with deferred consideration of up to £38m due in 2016, based on EBITDA performance for the year ending December 2015.

Econsultancy was founded in 1999. In the financial year to 31 December 2011, Econsultancy reported revenues of £6.6m (representing an increase of 50 per cent. on the prior period) and adjusted EBITDA of £1.1m. Econsultancy’s CEO and key executives will remain with the business following the acquisition

The acquisition is a key part of the strategy to transform the Centaur Group into a predominantly digital and events-led business. The deal complements Centaur’s market-leading publications, events and digital services in the marketing, design and creative sectors.

Geoff Wilmot, Centaur Chief Executive, said, “The earnings enhancing acquisition of Econsultancy provides us with an exciting opportunity to acquire a leading information brand in a high growth sector with global potential which fits well with Centaur products including Marketing Week and New Media Age. Econsultancy is highly complementary with Centaur and gives us a prominent position in the rapidly growing digital marketing sector with the opportunity to scale internationally. We see considerable potential for collaborative growth through leveraging our existing position in marketing and the development of high value, paid-for information services.”

Paul Slight, Director at Fusion, said, “We were delighted to work with the team at Econsultancy. The company has become the leading source of independent advice and insight on digital marketing and ecommerce. It will be an excellent fit with Centaur products.”

UK, London

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OTHER FUSION DEALS:

Media and Information

Business Services
Events, Broadcast and Other deals
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Progressive Digital Media Group acquires Kable from Guardian News and Media

July 5, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Progressive Digital Media Group has acquired Kable from Guardian News and Media. Kable tracks local government’s technology expenditure plans for suppliers hunting contracts. Kable provides business information, tactical intelligence, research, analysis and consultancy to a number of the UK’s leading blue chip companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

PDMG said in their announcement that the acquisition “is in line with PDMG’s stated strategy of growing its exposure to subscription-based content revenue streams“

Kable was acquired by Guardian News and Media just five years ago in a deal managed on behalf of the shareholders by Fusion Corporate Partners.

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Perform acquires Turkish digital sports media company Mackolit

June 30, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Perform Group plc a company that distributes and commercialises sports content across connected digital platforms, has acquired a majority stake in Mackolik Internet Hizmetleri Ticaret A.S. which owns and operates a number of Turkey’s sports websites including mackolik.com and sahadan.com.

Perform is acquiring an initial 51% stake in the business for cash consideration of 40.8 million Turkish Lira (TRY) (£14.6 million) based on an agreed ten times multiple calculation of the full year audited EBITDA results of the business for the year ending 31 December 2012.  This initial payment will be made out of the Group’s existing cash resources and will be adjusted if reported EBITDA for 2012 is higher or lower than the current forecast of TRY 8 million.  In addition, Perform will acquire the remaining 49% for cash, based on an agreed ten times multiple calculation of the average full year audited EBITDA results of the business for the years ending 31 December 2014 and 2015 weighted 25% and 75% respectively, with maximum additional consideration payable in March 2016 of up to £60.4 million.

Oliver Slipper, joint CEO of Perform commented: “We continue to execute our strategy of augmenting our strong organic growth with selective acquisitions and are delighted to have announced the acquisition of Mackolik. Turkey is a hugely exciting opportunity for Perform, given the rapid growth in online advertising and internet usage and its young and growing population.  Within this important geography, Mackolik is the clear market leader with a fantastic portfolio of websites and content.  We are delighted to be able to welcome Mackolik to the Perform Group.”

Perform will report first half results on 30th August 2012.

UK, London & Turkey

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DiMi Telematics International acquires Green Genie

June 28, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

DiMi Telematics International, a cloud-based, M2M communications solutions provider, has acquired mobile app provider Green Genie.

Available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Green Genie is an app that provides its users with a collection of green projects and resources, making it a comprehensive guide to sustainable living. It provides a breakdown of certified green products and technologies, glossary of green terms, collection of essential reading, links to the best green web sites and organisations, and links to various carbon footprint calculators. Users can also submit their own ideas, projects and resources. As of June 1, 2012, Green Genie had nearly 14,000 active app subscribers.

“In addition to providing DiMi with a new high margin revenue stream, Green Genie provides us with a powerful marketing platform that we can now leverage to aid our Company in achieving our underpinning mission: to reduce the collective carbon footprints of consumers, commercial businesses, government agencies and industrial enterprises on a worldwide basis,” stated Barry Tenzer, President and CEO of DiMi. “More specifically, Green Genie will allow us to take an innovative, fresh and responsible approach to building awareness of the DiMi brand and to ultimately promote our cloud-based M2M solution to prospective customers around the world.”

USA, New York, NY

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ApartmentRatings.com owner Internet Brands acquires SatisFacts Research

June 28, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Internet Brands has acquired SatisFacts Research, the resident feedback, performance monitoring, and retention enhancement service provider in the multifamily industry. SatisFacts will be combined with ApartmentRatings.com, an Internet Brands property that is the largest source of online renter reviews and a key source of information for prospective residents.

Founded in 2000 by property management industry veteran Doug Miller, SatisFacts provides resident feedback and performance enhancement programs, servicing hundreds of management companies that oversee more than 1 million units nationwide. SatisFacts’ programs provide year-round performance monitoring and client support programs that help enhance resident satisfaction, loyalty, retention and online reputations.

“SatisFacts has led the way in helping property managers understand their reputations and the drivers of satisfaction amongst their residents,” said Wade Hewitt, VP of Internet Brands and general manager of ApartmentRatings.com. “Combining this knowledge and service with the existing property manager-related services of ApartmentRatings enables us to provide property managers with an unparalleled end-to-end view of the customer.”

The Satisfacts team will remain in place post-acquisition.

USA, Los Angeles, CA

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Mecom completes the sale of its media business in Norway to A-pressen AS

June 28, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Mecom Group plc has completed the sale of Mecom Europe AS, which is the holding company for Edda Media AS, Mecom’s media business in Norway to A-pressen AS. This follows the earlier announcement that the Norwegian Competition Authority had cleared the sale. Edda operates 33 newspaper and websites.

Fusion DigiNet reported the sale agreement in December. the business was sold for an enterprise value of NOK1,725 million (€222 million).

The enterprise value of NOK1,725 million (€222 million) represents 7.9 times Edda Media’s FY 2010 EBITDA and 7.2 times Edda Media’s FY 2011 consensus EBITDA.

After adjusting for certain minority interest, net debt and working capital items, the effective proceeds to Mecom for the Mecom Europe shares are expected to be approximately NOK1,800 million (€231 million) of which approximately NOK300 million (€39 million) will be represented by cash in Edda Media.

In addition, Mecom’s sale and purchase agreement with A-pressen includes a conventional price adjustment mechanism such that, subject to the preparation and agreement of completion accounts, Mecom will receive an additional cash payment from A-Pressen for the free cash flow generated by Edda Media between 31st December 2011 and completion. Mecom anticipates that these incremental proceeds will be received within 3 months of completion.

Tom Toumazis, Chief Executive Officer of Mecom, commented, “We are delighted by the Norwegian Competition Authority’s announcement today which will allow us to complete the sale of Edda Media, resulting in a further significant improvement in the Group’s financial position. We are grateful to A-pressen for their co-operation throughout the past months and wish all our people at Edda Media well for the future.”

Norway, Oslo & UK, London

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Microsoft to Acquire Yammer

June 27, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Microsoft Corp. is to acquire Yammer, a provider of enterprise social networks, for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will join the Microsoft Office Division, led by division President Kurt DelBene, and the team will continue to report to current CEO David Sacks.

“The acquisition of Yammer underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft. “Yammer adds a best-in-class enterprise social networking service to Microsoft’s growing portfolio of complementary cloud services.”

Launched in 2008, Yammer now has more than 5 million corporate users, including employees at 85 percent of the Fortune 500. The service allows employees to join a secure, private social network for free and then makes it easy for companies to convert a grassroots movement into companywide strategic initiative.

Yammer will continue to develop its standalone service and maintain its commitment to simplicity, innovation and cross-platform experiences. Moving forward, Microsoft plans to accelerate Yammer’s adoption alongside complementary offerings from Microsoft SharePoint, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics and Skype.

“When we started Yammer four years ago, we set out to do something big,” Sacks said. “We had a vision for how social networking could change the way we work. Joining Microsoft will accelerate that vision and give us access to the technologies, expertise and resources we’ll need to scale and innovate.”

USA, Redmond, WA & San Francisco, CA

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Penton Media acquires Highline

June 27, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

B2B media company Penton Media has acquired Highline LP.  Formed in 1992, HighLine provides airport, ground handling, fuel and services information to the aviation industry. Since 1998, HighLine has collaborated with Penton’s AC-U-KWIK, the FBO directory serving the business aviation market as well as other new products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The Highline/AC-U-KWIK relationship goes back many years and we are pleased to be able to integrate the two businesses and develop even more robust digital products,” said David Kieselstein, CEO of Penton Media.  “We welcome Gillian and Alain George, the founders of Highline, and their team to Penton.”

Gillian and Alain George, will become directors of the group.

USA, New York, NY & UK, Ascot, Berkshire

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