PERFORM acquires Goal.com

February 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

PERFORM has acquired Goal.com, the world’s largest football portal, from a consortium of investors including Bessemer Venture Partners.

The deal is a major development for PERFORM, rapidly increasing its scale and reach in the global digital sports market to over 95 million users a month.

Over the last three years, Goal.com has used its strong brand and broad news coverage in fifteen languages to build up a leading position in the online football portal market. In January 2011, Goal.com was visited by 19.4 million unique users (Comscore).

PERFORM will integrate its live sports data (GSM), video news (OMNISPORT), video highlights (ePlayer) and live streaming (LIVESPORT.TV) from its catalogue of over 40 different football leagues and competitions.

Goal’s CEO, Ron Elwell, commented. “Over the last 5 years, Goal.com has grown from nothing to the largest football site in the world, reaching tens of millions of passionate fans thanks to the vision of our founder, Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni. The acquisition by PERFORM provides a great platform for the continued growth of the site with the addition of world class video content and I’m sure it will continue to be a fantastic business.” Michael Simpson, one of Goal.com’s original founders assumes the role of Senior Vice President for Product and Content, Jonathan Gamble becomes Senior Vice President for Commercial and Sales and Scott Rothrock will continue as Chief Technology Officer of Goal.com. All three members will report to Simon Denyer, joint-CEO, PERFORM.

UK, Middlesex & USA, Waltham, MA

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Eurogamer is expanding to North America and has acquired games content publisher Hammersuit.

February 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Eurogamer, the Brighton UK based company founded by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman, has acquired games content publisher Hammersuit. Founded in 2004 and based in New York, Hammersuit is the publisher of the US games industry website IndustryGamers.com, as well as mobile gaming website Modojo.com. The company also provides content to businesses such as The Ayzenberg Group and Prima Games.

Eurogamer Network has created a division called IndustryGamers Inc, which will be responsible for publishing IndustryGamers.com as well as the newly formed IndustryGamers Content Services business. This division will also become responsible for representing existing Eurogamer Network properties such as Eurogamer.net, GamesIndustry.biz, VG247.com, RockPaperShotgun.com and Megaton in the US.
Rupert Loman, managing director of Eurogamer Network, commented on the acquisition: “We have been looking for the right opportunity to expand our business across the Atlantic and we are delighted to complete the acquisition of Hammersuit. They are a great fit for us and the potential as we expand our business to North America is huge.” He added, “We already have a significant US readership that values our distinctive editorial voice so adding a local team will greatly strengthen our offering for readers and advertisers in both Europe and North America.”

John Benyamine, co-founder of Hammersuit added: “The whole team at Hammersuit is looking forward to being part of the Eurogamer Network. Their reputation precedes them in the US, and we have no doubt this marriage will lead to even more success in the near future.”
Founder John Benyamine and the entire Hammersuit team will stay with the business following the acquisition.

UK, Brighton & USA, San Francisco, CA

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Access Intelligence acquires Red7 Media

February 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Access Intelligence, a portfolio company of Veronis Suhler Stevenson, has acquired Red7 Media, establishing a division serving professionals in the media and event management industries. Red7 Media is a producer of content and community for the event industry via Event Marketer, EXPO, Best Events and Event Design magazines; as well as the Event Marketing Institute, several industry conferences, and numerous websites. It also publishes FOLIO and Audience Development magazines, hosts the Folio Show and recently launched a research and consulting practice to provide business intelligence to its customers.

Access Intelligence’s new Media and Event Marketing Group will be led by Kerry Smith. Kerry founded Red7 Media in 2002 and grew the Norwalk, CT-based company into a market leader attracting more than 7,000 executives and 500 sponsors to its events and more than 800,000 unique visitors to its web sites. Kerry will continue in his role as President of the expanded Red7 Media Group and become a Senior Vice President of Access Intelligence.
USA, Rockville, MD & Norwalk, CT

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Evolve Media Corp. acquires PlayStationLifeStyle

February 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Evolve Media Corp., has acquired PlayStationLifeStyle, the largest PlayStation enthusiast site in the US. PlayStationLifeStyle will become a part of GameRevolution. GameRevolution.com is part of AtomicOnline, Evolve Media Corp.’s publishing division.

PlayStationLifeStyle is one of the leading PlayStation-specific news and review sites with over 169,000 Unique Visitors a month (comScore, December 2010). The website publishes up-to-the-minute industry news, in-depth game reviews, and a comprehensive trophy guide that outlines various videogame achievements users can obtain. PlayStationLifeStyle is also heavily focused on the gaming community and provides a forum for users to discuss games, tips, rumors and developments.

“PlayStationLifeStyle not only provides great coverage of PlayStation-focused news, but also has a very enthusiastic community of gamers,” said Paul Hanges, Managing Director of GameRevolution. “We recognized PlayStationLifeStyle’s potential and wanted to bring it to a larger platform by coupling it with GameRevolution’s extensive reach, therefore creating the ultimate gaming destination.”

GameRevolution will migrate PSLS to Evolve’s publishing platform, manage all editorial content and will merge the PlayStationLifeStyle’s editorial team with its own writing staff, enabling it to improve site features and functionality as well as further provide in-depth coverage of PlayStation news. Also, PlayStationLifeStyle’s founder, Anthony Severino, will now stand as GameRevolution’s Managing Editor.

“I am confident that GameRevolution will take PlayStationLifeStyle to new heights previously thought to be unreachable. Not only is this exciting for myself and the PlayStationLifeStyle staff, but also for the site’s growing audience,” said Anthony Severino, Managing Editor of GameRevolution. “We are excited to be able to leverage the enormous resources of Evolve to improve the site, adding mobile, social and original video functionality and programming to the site.”

USA, Los Angeles, CA

 

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United Media Holding (UMH) to acquire Sports.ru

February 22, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to Quintura blog and newspaper RBC Daily, the Ukrainian publisher of sports daily Komanda and football bi-weekly Futbol, Ukrainian Media Holding, is to acquire a majority stake in Russian online sports website Sports.ru.

The deal is valued at between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, according to the RBC Daily.

Russia & Ukraine

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Yandex plans $1 billion IPO on NASDAQ in June/July 2011

February 21, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

We reported in November last year that Russia’s largest internet firm Yandex was considering a £1bn listing in London. According to Quintura blog and newspaper Vedomosti the IPO will go on NASDAQ in June – July 2011. The company has hired investment banks Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley to manage the IPO. The shares to be sold will come mostly from existing shareholders of Yandex. The private equity funds managed by Baring Vostok Capital Partners (BVCP), Tiger Global, Runet II, Almaz Capital and UFG own about 60% shares in Yandex.

Ru-Net Holdings, consortium of investors led by BVCP and UFG, invested $5.3 million for 35.7% shares in Yandex in April 2000.

Sources

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Nordstrom to acquire HauteLook

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Fashion retailer Nordstrom is to acquire HauteLook. HauteLook offers limited time sale events on the world’s top fashion and lifestyle brands.. The Company said the acquisition will enable Nordstrom to participate in the fast-growing private sale marketplace and provide a platform to increase innovation and speed in the way it serves customers in all channels.

Nordstrom will acquire HauteLook for $180 million in Nordstrom stock with a portion subject to ongoing vesting requirements. In addition, the transaction includes a three-year earn-out of up to $90 million in Nordstrom stock subject to company performance and vesting requirements for the existing management team. The overall transaction structure provides significant incentive and retention mechanisms for HauteLook senior management. HauteLook will operate as an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary, be managed by its current leadership and the HauteLook brand and website will remain separate from Nordstrom.

The transaction is expected to be dilutive to Nordstrom in 2011 due to non-cash expenses related to the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC is acting as financial advisor to Nordstrom and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Lane Powell PC are acting as its counsel. JP Morgan Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to HauteLook and Gunderson Dettmer is acting as its counsel.

USA, Seattle, WA

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Wm Morrison Supermarkets acquires multi channel online retailer Kiddicare

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is acquiring Kiddicare, the multi channel online retailer, together with the rights to its technology platform, for a total consideration of £70 million.   The acquisition is the first step in developing Morrisons online business. The company will continue to trade separately as kiddicare.com, led by Scott and Elaine Weavers-Wright.

Kiddicare, founded in 1974 by Neville and Marilyn Wright, is a UK specialist online retailer of baby products.  Turnover in the last full financial year (2010) was £37.5 million and has grown by 75% in the past three years using leading web technology and picking software.  Over 80% of sales are now through the online channel.

The company owns a new state of the art freehold distribution facility and operates the largest baby nursery equipment retail store in Europe based in Peterborough, comprising 160,000 square feet of warehouse, retail and office space.

Morrisons intends to build its online non-food business, developing the kiddicare.com platform and management team, launching its first products in 2012.

Dalton Philips, Chief Executive of Morrisons, said, “This acquisition brings not only a respected, successful and fast growing specialist retailer into the Morrisons group but also a robust, scalable and highly advanced technology platform around which we can begin to build our e-commerce offer. We are delighted to welcome Scott and Elaine Weavers-Wright to Morrisons, along with their team.  They are two of the most talented and respected operators of online retail today and their experience and track record with Kiddicare.com has been outstanding.   Their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as Morrisons builds its online business.”

Scott Weavers-Wright, Chief Executive of kiddicare.com, said, “Elaine and I are extremely excited about partnering with Morrisons to accelerate the pace of future growth at kiddicare.com and look forward to working with the Morrisons team to develop their on-line offer. There are fantastic synergies between the two businesses and our platform will allow both brands to enjoy future success and to continue to deliver an unrivalled customer experience.”

The acquisition is subject to certain conditions which, if not satisfied by 23 March 2011, would allow Morrisons to terminate the agreement.

UK, Bradford, West Yorkshire

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Local.com to acquire the assets of Rovion

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Local.com Corporation is to acquire the assets of Rovion, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DigitalPost Interactive.

Rovion is a rich media advertising company which sells, creates, delivers and tracks rich media advertising including animated and video-based ads for local and national advertisers, including CBS Radio, Cisco and LendingTree.

Under the terms of the agreement, Local.com will acquire the assets of Rovion for $1.5 million in cash with an earnout of up to $7 million in cash and/or stock if certain performance criteria are met in the three-year period following the closing. The transaction is expected to close within approximately 90 days.

USA, Irvine, CA

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Resource Nation acquires Business.com

February 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Resource Nation has acquired the brand and associated assets of Business.com the online destination for business buyers looking for business-to-business solutions.  JMI Equity, a growth equity firm that specialises in investments in internet companies, provided funding in support of the transaction and the Company’s ongoing growth.  Resource Nation Chief Executive Officer Ryan Peddycord will continue to lead the Company with a combination of Business.com and Resource Nation management teams.  Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

“We are excited about this transaction and believe the combination of Resource Nation and Business.com will allow us to offer opportunities for our customers to reach a larger number of B2B purchasers at multiple stages in the purchasing process,” said Mr. Peddycord.  “We are committed to providing the most comprehensive service and product offering available in our space.  With the acquisition of Business.com, Resource Nation’s audience will have the ability to utilize the site as a one-stop destination for all the information and resources they need when making a purchase.”

As part of the transaction, JMI Equity General Partner Peter Arrowsmith and Vice President David Greenberg have joined Resource Nation’s Board of Directors.  “JMI Equity is a sophisticated investor with strong expertise in our industry and helping companies similar to ours grow,” continued Mr. Peddycord.  “We are deeply impressed with their understanding of our business and its growth drivers.  With JMI Equity as our partner, I am confident we have the strategic and financial support to execute our strategy for the benefit of our employees, customers and service partners.”

Resource Nation will retain a number of current and former Business.com sales and account managers as well as other key employees.  The company will remain headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Santa Monica and Boston.

USA, San Diego, CA

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