Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax Partners are splitting a £100M special dividend from Trader Media Group after a debt refinancing deal.
GMG will use its share of the payout to top up its investment fund, which was set up two years ago as a hedge against declines in the newspaper industry.
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Hearst Corporation has completed the UK portion of its international transaction with Lagardère SCA.
The deal unites National Magazine Company, Hearst Corporation’s principal UK business, and Hachette Filipacchi UK Ltd. The new organisation has been rebranded as Hearst Magazines UK.
With the acquisition of Hachette Filipacchi, Hearst Magazines UK has the UK publishing rights to global media superbrands ELLE and ELLE Decoration, along with Psychologies; and the ownership of Red, All About Soap, Inside Soap, Digital Spy and Sugarscape.
The combined business, comprising 26 magazines, 22 digital assets and other branded properties, will make Hearst Magazines UK one of the biggest media players in the country, reaching more than 16 million adults in print and 20 million monthly unique users online.
This UK deal forms part of Hearst Corporation’s acquisition of Lagardère’s international press and magazine business, which includes nearly 100 titles, 50 websites and numerous mobile and tablet applications in 14 markets including the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, U.K., Japan, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Mexico, Taiwan, Canada, Germany and China (which will close later this year).
Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive, Hearst Magazines UK, and Executive Vice President, Hearst Magazines International said: “This move consolidates our status as a leading UK media owner. NatMag and Hachette Filipacchi have built a stable of world-class brands,and this combined portfolio gives us a unique opportunity to develop and expand our commercial potential. We very much look forward to working with our new colleagues on this exciting venture.”
UK, London
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LivingSocial has signed a definitive agreement to acquire TicketMonster Inc., a social commerce website in South Korea. Founded in 2010, TicketMonster offers daily and instant deals, travel packages, and events to more than 2 million members in Korea and Malaysia.
“TicketMonster is one of Korea’s most recognized and trusted brands in the nascent daily deal industry, and we are excited to bring them into the LivingSocial family,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. “TicketMonster and LivingSocial share the same culture of innovation, customer focus and fun, and we believe that the benefits we bring to consumers can be extended to other markets in Asia and around the world.”
Following regulatory review and approval, the acquisition of TicketMonster will bring the total number of countries LivingSocial operates in to 23. Other countries in Asia with LivingSocial operations include the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, through the Ensogo and DealKeren acquisitions announced earlier this summer.
“Like LivingSocial, TicketMonster has always focused on providing great values to our members while helping our merchant partners reach new, loyal customers,” said Daniel Shin, CEO of TicketMonster. “Joining LivingSocial will give TicketMonster the resources, scale and reach to bring our business to the next level across the region while providing even better services for our customers. We believe that this deal will advance the interests of our merchants, our members, and all Korean consumers.”
Terms of the deal were not released. After closing, TicketMonster’s 600 employees will become part of the LivingSocial team.
USA, Washington & South Korea
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Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce our latest deal: the sale of Carson Systems Ltd a UK-based producer of industry-leading events for Web developers, designers, and entrepreneurs, to US-based Wellesley Information Services (WIS). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Carson Systems produces events for web professionals and entrepreneurs. The company’s Future of Web Applications (FOWA), Future of Web Design (FOWD), and Future of Mobileity (FOM) series of events are annual gatherings of thought leaders, technologists, and investors. They have featured renowned speakers including Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, O’Reilly Media founder Tim O’Reilly, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Digg founder Kevin Rose.
Carson Systems has been particularly effective using social networks and other information delivery mechanisms to build a community of developers, designers, and futurists who are passionate about technology and leveraging it to make a significant impact on business and society.
“Both WIS and Carson Systems have unique competencies within their respective core market spaces. We are confident that, through this acquisition, each organization can learn from the other’s expertise — and together we will be much better positioned to offer unmatched value and exciting new products for our customers,” said Benny DiCecca, CEO of WIS.
WIS is a portfolio company of UCG and a provider of SAP and IBM training and education. WIS serves more than 250,000 customers in over 100 countries, and offers a diverse set of resources including print journals, magazines, electronic knowledge bases, online communities, conferences, seminars, and books. This is WIS’s first acquisition in the UK and will position WIS to serve a brand new market space.
“Web and mobile application development represents technology’s future. Carson Systems has consistently been at the epicenter of this technological revolution, offering education and training to an exciting breed of entrepreneurial web developers and designers. The opportunities in this market are immense, and we are excited to bring WIS’s deep knowledge of the conference, publication, online education, and custom training business to help capitalize on them,” said DiCecca.
Mark Eisenstadt Partner at Fusion said, “Ryan Carson is passionate about bringing the latest and best practice to the web community. We were delighted to have the opportunity to work with Ryan and his team. Carson Systems is a high quality business and tailor-made for WIS. I am sure that WIS’s expertise as a leading provider of technology education combined with Carson’s ability to attract leading edge players in the technology market will ensure the business accelerates it’s growth to cater for this expanding marketplace’’
Fusion acted exclusively for the shareholders of Carson Systems Ltd. Mark Eisenstadt (meisenstadt@fusioncorp.co.uk) led the Fusion team and was supported by Paul Kelly (pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk). Mogers Solicitors, headed by Tom Webb, provided legal advice to the vendors.
UK, Bath & USA, Dedham, MA
Other Fusion Deals:
Media and Information
Training and education provider Kaplan, has acquired Madrid-based Structuralia, the e-learning provider for the engineering and infrastructure sector in Spain. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Structuralia provides training to more than 85,000 staff employed at more than 1,350 companies. Major clients include ACS, Ferrovial (operator of Indiana Toll Road and BAA-Heathrow Airport), Sacyr (builder of the new extension of the Panama Canal), OHL (designer, builder, financer and operator of University of Montreal Hospital; builder of New York Subway), and energy companies such as ENDESA, IBERDROLA and REE.
In partnership with five Spanish universities, Structuralia also offers 16 Master’s degree programs and 11 Executive Programs including an MBA for engineering professionals, and will be launching two further programs in the autumn. University partners are: the University of Comillas (ICAI and ICADE Business School), the Polytechnical University of Madrid, and the Polytechnical University of Catalonia.
In Europe, Kaplan provides training towards professional qualifications and business programs, higher education programs and English language courses.
“Significant changes in the infrastructure industry through advances in technology and the new models of financing created by Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are generating a growing demand for further education for engineers and skilled tradesmen,” said Jose Wehnes, CEO of Kaplan Europe. “We look forward to meeting that demand in Spain and beyond by developing Structuralia’s impressive learning solutions.
“Their focus on personal, portable and flexible training is closely aligned with Kaplan’s work on innovation in delivering high quality education and training to students whenever and wherever it best suits them.”
Juan José Gálligo, CEO of Structuralia since the founding of Structuralia ten years ago, who will continue in the company as CEO, said: “In 2001, a group of construction companies and engineers with a shared vision started Structuralia, and it has since enjoyed solid growth, strong margins and has built an enviable list of clients. It was important to find a strategic buyer that could take us to the next stage in our growth. With Kaplan’s 70 year history in providing education and training, and their global reach, we believe this is an excellent fit for developing our offering both in Spain and internationally.”
UK, London & Spain, Madrid
Electronic Arts (EA) is to acquire PopCap Games, a provider of games for mobile phones, tablets, PCs and social network sites. PopCapa’s titles include Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled, and Zuma.
“EA and PopCap are a compelling combination,” said EA CEO John Riccitiello. “PopCap’s great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA’s momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA’s global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels.”
“PopCap has a proven financial trajectory with sustained revenue growth and double-digit operating margins,” said EA CFO Eric Brown. “On a non-GAAP basis, this deal is expected to be at least ten-cents accretive in fiscal year 2013.”
PopCap has more than 150 million games installed and played worldwide on platforms such as Facebook®, RenRen, Google™, iPhone™, iPad™ and Android. In calendar year 2010, approximately 80% of PopCap’s revenue was on high growth digital platforms.
EA will pay approximately $650 million in cash and $100 million in stock. Plus an earn-out that could be worth (at the top end) up to $550M. EA will also provide up to $50 million in long-term equity retention awards to PopCap employees to be granted over the next four years.
USA, Redwood City, CA
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Berkery Noyes has released its Half Year Mergers and Acquisitions Trends Report for Private Equity in the Information Industry.
The report analyses merger and acquisition activity in the private equity market over the first half of 2011 and compares it with activity in the four previous sixth-month periods. Berkery Noyes includes in this report transactions made by financially sponsored acquirers within the Information Industry, including purchases made by subsidiaries or platforms of private equity firms.
Berkery Noyes data shows that transaction volume and aggregate value rose considerably over the second half of 2010. Transaction volume gained 11 percent in the first half of 2011, rising to 171, while value rose a considerable 21 percent in the first half, hitting $11 billion.
“The data shows that the private equity market continues to improve in the number of completed deals from the trough of 2009,” said John Shea, COO of Berkery Noyes. “The upward trend has been lumpy, however, and will probably continue that way for some time.”
The report also highlights the activity of Thomas H. Lee Partners within the information industry this half as the most active financial acquirer, with 10 acquisitions. Thomas H. Lee Partners also announced the highest valued transaction this half, the pending acquisition of Acosta, Inc., a subsidiary of AEA Investors LP, for $2 billion.
A copy of the First Half 2011 Private Equity Industry M&A Report is available here.
USA, New York
Local.com Corporation has acquired Screamin’ Media Group, Inc. (“SMG”), which operates Screamin’ Daily Deals (“SDD”), http://www.screamindailydeals.com, a daily deals business based in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Local.com acquired SMG for $12.5 million in cash, stock and debt, with the opportunity for the SMG shareholders to earn up to an additional $20 million if certain financial performance criteria are met during the two-year period following the closing.
Founded in early 2010, SDD has approximately 60 employees serving subscribers with deals from local merchants in 14 markets throughout the U.S. including Los Angeles, Orange County, Salt Lake City and San Diego. SDD also recently launched travel deals at: http://getaways.screamindailydeals.com. SDD generated unaudited revenues of approximately $2.4 million in 2010 and $4.4 million during the first half of 2011.
SDD supports local communities with its School Rewards program, which allows consumers to donate 10 percent of SDD’s net proceeds from each deal to a school or non-profit organization chosen by the consumer. More than 700 local schools and non-profits benefit from this community program, which has donated over $400,000 to date.
SMG is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Local.com and will relocate to Local.com’s corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif. Local.com’s social buying business, Spreebird, will absorb SDD’s operations and SDD will assume the Spreebird brand. SDD’s three co-founders, formerly president, CEO and COO, will become Spreebird’s vice presidents of sales and marketing, product and operations, respectively. Spreebird will continue to be led by Malcolm Lewis, Local.com’s senior vice president and general manager, social buying.
“The acquisition of SMG serves our mission of connecting brick-and-mortar merchants with online consumers by extending our reach directly to thousands of local merchants in 14 markets. This transaction diversifies our revenues and provides us with a new way to engage consumers,” said Heath Clarke, Local.com chairman and CEO. “School Rewards is a terrific program that allows us to develop a more meaningful relationship with merchants and consumers by enabling them to contribute financially to their local schools. We look forward to working with the SDD team to accelerate their rapid growth while expanding the School Rewards program.”
USA, Irvine, CA
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eBay Inc. is to acquire Zong, a leading provider of payments through mobile carrier billing, for total consideration of approximately $240 million in cash. Zong leverages connections with more than 250 mobile network operators around the world, offering localized, secure and easy-to-use payments capabilities for digital goods and services in 21 languages and 45 countries. Combined with PayPal’s global payment platform serving 100 million active accounts worldwide, the company expects that Zong will add complementary technology and talent that help strengthen PayPal’s position in mobile payments and digital goods.
Zong allows consumers to easily pay for purchases from their mobile phones or computers through direct carrier billing. Consumers simply enter their mobile phone numbers. Then, in a matter of seconds, Zong verifies that number and clears the payment on the customer’s existing wireless service account.
“Commerce is changing. With mobile phones, we walk around with a mall in our pockets. PayPal helps to make money work better for customers in this new commerce reality – no matter how they want to pay or what device they’re using,” said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal. “We believe that Zong will strengthen this value by helping us reach the more than 4 billion people who have mobile phones, giving them more choice and security when they pay.”
PayPal is an industry leader in mobile payments and digital goods. PayPal expects to transact more than $3 billion in mobile payments in 2011. Currently, more than 8 million customers are making purchases on their mobile phones through PayPal, driving up to $10 million in mobile payments per day.
Earlier this year, PayPal launched PayPal for Digital Goods, a new product that lets buyers pay in two clicks without leaving their gaming experience or content site. In 2010, PayPal processed $3.4 billion in payments for digital goods.
eBay Inc. does not expect the acquisition of Zong to have a material impact on its financial guidance as issued in conjunction with its first quarter earnings release on April 27, 2011. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.
USA, San Jose, CA & Menlo Park, CA
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Thomson Reuters has completed its acquisition of Manatron following regulatory clearance in the U.S. and Ukraine.
Manatron is a provider of property tax automation and land registry software for governments and municipalities around the world, and was acquired from Thoma Bravo LLC, a private equity firm.
Manatron’s flagship solution, Government Revenue Management (GRM), is an integrated suite of web-based property recording, assessment and tax software that automates the operational, informational, and planning needs for assessors, auditors, treasurers, tax collectors and other government officials. Manatron’s software solutions are being used by governments to replace antiquated systems to help improve customer service, streamline processes and manage the growing velocity of legislative changes.
“The government tax automation space is a growing sector and a natural fit with our strategy to improve workflow efficiency for our clients through innovative technology,” said Brian Peccarelli, president of the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
The acquisition of Manatron will strengthen the expanding Tax & Accounting business as well as create a new government business group headed by Bill McKinzie, senior vice president and general manager of the government sector for the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
USA, New York, NY
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