CompareNetworks acquires Russell Publishing

December 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

CompareNetworks a provider of online B2B marketplaces for the scientific and healthcare industries, has acquired Russell Publishing. Russell Publishing’s titles include American Pharmaceutical Review, Pharmaceutical Outsourcing and International Drug Discovery.

“By merging world-class content from the Russell Publishing publications with CompareNetworks’ online product marketplaces, we will create the ultimate online resource for technology and product information in the life science industry,” said Brian Cowley, CEO of CompareNetworks.

The addition of the content from Russell Publishing will expand the pharmaceutical industry information offered on CompareNetworks’ sites. The assets of International Drug Discovery will complement Biocompare.com, the CompareNetworks vertical serving the life sciences. Assets from American Pharmaceutical Review and Pharmaceutical Outsourcing will enhance Drugdevcompare.com, which targets the drug development industry.

USA, San Francisco

 

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Glam Media completes Ning acquisition

December 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Glam Media has completed of the acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Ning, the online platform for building social web sites. Additionally, Ning co-founder and chairman, Marc Andreessen, has joined Glam Media’s board of directors.

USA, Brisbane, CA

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Hearst Corporation completes the acquisition of the majority of Hachette China operations

December 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Hearst Corporation has completed the acquisition of the majority of the Hachette China operations. The remaining operations, which include a joint venture with Marie Claire, are expected to conclude in the near future. This will mark the final portion of Hearst’s overall transaction with Lagardère SCA to acquire the company’s nearly 100 titles in 14 countries outside of France, including the U.S.

The acquisition includes most of Hachette’s magazine-related activities in China and oversight of seven titles, including global media superbrand ELLE, as well as Car and Driver, Woman’s Day andPsychologies.

In a joint statement, Hearst Corporation CEO Frank A. Bennack, Jr., and Duncan Edwards, president and CEO, Hearst Magazines International, said, “We’re very pleased to have finalized our acquisition in China and look forward to working with our Chinese publishing partners to produce great magazines and expand our existing portfolio of brands in this very important market.”

As a result of the transaction, Hachette China will change its name to Hearst Magazines China effective immediately.

USA, New York and China, Beijing

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TheDirectory.com Acquires BusinessList.com

November 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

TheDirectory.com has acquired the website www.BusinessList.com in a cash and debt transaction, no common or preferred shares were issued.

TheDirectory.com Founder and CEO Scott Gallagher commented, “We’re very excited to have acquired the website and business ofwww.BusinessList.com. The acquisition is strategic in nature, and immediately helps us on several fronts relating to the launch of version 2.0 ofwww.TheDirectory.com. Additionally the acquisition is immediately accretive to earnings and opens several new revenue channels for us.” Gallagher continued, “Managing Local business listings across the Internet is a major challenge for small business owners. Our recent partnerships coupled with this acquisition will make our network the leading destination for small businesses to control and manage their Local business listing information on over 100 of the most trafficked websites on the Internet, including all 3 major search engines. This is a multi-million dollar opportunity that we have not previously been involved in.”

USA, Tampa, CA

 

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MyHeritage acquires FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com to Enter US Market

November 22, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

MyHeritage has acquired FamilyLink.com, maker of the family history content sites FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com. This is MyHeritage’s seventh and largest acquisition since 2007. The purchase marks a significant move into the US market commercially and operationally, and will boost MyHeritage’s offering to families with the addition of a vast database of several billion historical records. With offices and staff in Europe, Australia and Israel, MyHeritage will now be adding its first US-based office in Utah.

“We are delighted to join forces with the talented FamilyLink team in Provo to deliver meaningful value to families across the world,” says MyHeritage CEO and Founder Gilad Japhet. “Combining close to one billion family tree profiles on MyHeritage with FamilyLink’s massive library of historical data delivers a perfect one-stop-shop for families looking to discover and share their family history”.

Founded in 2006, both FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com are subscription services which provide access to a database of historical content, covering several billion individuals within census, birth, marriage and death records, as well as the web’s largest archive of historical newspapers.

This is the latest in a series of purchases by MyHeritage since 2007 which have included Pearl Street Software, makers of GenCircles.com and the Family Tree Legends software; free family tree backup service BackupMyTree.com; European family social network market leader OSN (Verwandt) GmbH; Dutch family network ZOOOF; British family network Kindo.com and Polish family network Bliscy.pl.

The majority of the FamilyLink.com employees will join MyHeritage, based out of the company’s new US office in Provo, Utah. The CEO of FamilyLink.com, Paul Brockbank will support the transition over the coming months and will later join the MyHeritage advisory board. FamilyLink.com founder Paul Allen will not be part of the merger with MyHeritage.

In the short-term, MyHeritage will continue to operate the two sites FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com, with the intention of achieving full integration within MyHeritage in 2012.

USA, Provo, UT & UK, London & Israel, Tel Aviv

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Renren sells online travel booking business eLong to Expedia

November 21, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Chinese social networking internet platform Renren has sold its investment in online travel booking business eLong to Expedia for approximately $72.4 million, or $23 per ADS.

“We’re pleased to have an opportunity to increase our investment in eLong as we see China as a key market in our efforts to expand internationally,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Expedia. “We have been very happy with the strategic and operational progress made by eLong and look forward to many more years of success.”

“Our early investment in eLong helped us build mutually beneficial commercial ties as well as generate strong returns for our shareholders. Renren and eLong will continue to work on a number of joint initiatives, including Nuomi hotel group-buy, one of the largest hotel group-buy sites in China. We will continue this strong relationship with eLong and deliver more popular products together moving forward,” commented Joseph Chen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renren.

“Renren will continue to be a valued business partner to us, and we look forward to future cooperation with Renren,” said Guangfu Cui, eLong’s Chief Executive Officer.

China, Beijing

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The world’s richest man buys 3.2 pct stake in Spain’s Prisa

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, has bought a 3.2 percent stake in Promotora de Informaciones SA (Prisa), Spain’s largest media company whose shares have slumped by about 50 percent this year.

The purchase of 14.7 million shares of Prisa was made through Slim’s investment arm Inmobiliaria Carso SA, according to an exchange filing made in Spain on Friday. The statement did not specify how much Slim paid.

Based on the price of Prisa shares at Thursday’s close, the stake would have been worth 11 million euros. The shares jumped 12 percent on Friday to 0.84 euros, helped by the news of Slim’s investment.

Prisa’s business spans radio and TV assets in Spain and Latin America, as well as Spain’s best-selling newspaper El Pais. The company is trying to shed assets and cut its debt after borrowings topped 4 billion euros in 2010.

Slim is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and América Móvil and has extensive holdings in other Mexican companies. As of early October, Slim held 8.1 percent of Class A shares of New York Times.

Mexico, Mexico City & Spain, Madrid

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Ebix acquires online health exchange HealthConnect Systems

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Ebix, a supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance industry, today announced that it has acquired Connecticut based HealthConnect Systems, an online Exchange for buyers and sellers of health insurance and employee benefits. Ebix also announced that HealthConnect would be immediately integrated into its EbixHealth Division.

Ebix expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to Ebix Earnings per Share (EPS). Ebix disclosed that it funded this transaction completely in cash using its bank debt line. No Ebix shares were issued and no investment bankers were involved in the transaction.

Ebix Chairman of the Board, President & CEO Robin Raina said, “Ebix has always been focused on providing end-to-end solutions in every industry segment. With the acquisition of HealthConnect, Ebix now is the only Company in the industry who can take a health insurance transaction across diverse entities like Employers, Brokers, General Agents, Third Party Administrators, Insurance Companies etc. while providing a wide variety of services like CRM, enrollment, online quoting, benefit portals, content management, claims handling, claims accounting, claims adjudication, COBRA, FSA administration to these entities.”

“The HealthConnect online quoting solution and network provides us the missing piece in our Health product portfolio. It brings in top rated insurance companies like Aetna and Horizon to Ebix, providing both sides an opportunity to cross-sell complementary services to each other’s client base.” Robin Raina added, “With 85% plus recurring revenue streams, good history of profitability, consistent margins, low customer attrition rates, proven management record, complimentary technologies and SaaS based architecture, HealthConnect met all the criteria of a good acquisition target for Ebix. This deal is a strategic step forward to establish Ebix as a Health Information Exchange and is likely to be followed by other strategic steps in coming months and years.”

USA, Atlanta, GA

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The Walt Disney Company acquires online parenting platform Babble Media

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The Walt Disney Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Disney Online, has acquired Babble Media, an online parenting platform featuring more than 200 influential “mom bloggers”. The acquisition of Babble further strengthens the position of Disney Interactive Media Group’s Mothers and Family portfolio as a leading online resource for mothers and families. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Babble was founded in 2006. Its stable of bloggers contribute daily to parenting topics including pregnancy, child care, health, food, family activities as well as lifestyle topics such as home, fashion and family products. Babble attracts a broad and engaged audience with its nearly constant stream of posts, written for and by mothers.

“Parents’ relationships with Disney are founded in stories, and Disney’s best stories are about families. We believe that Babble and Disney can harness the power of storytelling to inform, entertain and empower parents everywhere,” said Brooke Chaffin, SVP of Moms and Family, Disney Interactive Media Group. “With more than 3.9 million mom blogs in the US alone, Disney Interactive recognises and values the important and powerful role moms have taken on in new media.”

Babble will remain headquartered in New York. Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman will join the Disney Interactive Media Group.

USA, Burbank, CA

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RapidBuyr acquires BizDeals.com

November 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

RapidBuyr, the daily deal site catering exclusively to small and mid-sized businesses with discounts on B2B products and services, has acquired Los Angeles-based B2B weekly deal site BizDeals.com.

This acquisition adds hundreds of new national sellers to the RapidBuyr network, enhances the company’s business services category and expands the RapidBuyr customer base, community, social assets and distribution footprint.

“We are thrilled to welcome BizDeals and its member network into the growing RapidBuyr community,” said RapidBuyr co-founder and chief marketing officer Darr Aley.

USA, Concord, MA & Los Angeles, CA

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