Ipreo acquires BuysideIQ

May 18, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Ipreo, a provider of market intelligence and productivity solutions to corporations and investment banks, has acquired BuysideIQ, a provider of online investor targeting solutions. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

Bill Sherman, EVP and Managing Director of Global Data Strategy and Analytics at Ipreo said, “This acquisition is consistent with the Ipreo approach of offering corporate issuers a choice of products that best fit their development stage and investor relations goals. We’re very pleased to be able to complement our hands-on targeting services with an online offering of BuysideIQ’s quality & reputation.”

Brendan Fitzpatrick, Founder and President of BuysideIQ, joins the Ipreo team as Head of Online Targeting.

Location: USA, New York, NY

Ref: F231109-439

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Morningstar France Holding is to acquire Seeds Group

May 17, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Morningstar France Holding, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a provider of independent investment research, is to acquire Seeds Group, a provider of investment consulting services and fund research in France. The companies expect to complete the transaction within the next few months. Terms were not disclosed.

Seeds Group was founded in 2002 and, through its subsidiary Seeds Finance, provides investment consulting services to pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, banks, and brokerage firms. With more than 30 clients, the company and its affiliates specialize in asset liability management (ALM), manager selection, plan construction, risk, and portfolio management in alternative investments and active strategies.

“Our acquisition of Seeds Group will expand our investment consulting services in France, which has the largest asset management market in Europe,” said Joe Mansueto, chairman and chief executive officer of Morningstar. “Seeds Group has a well-known and well-regarded brand in the French institutional market along with a talented management team, whose expertise in alternative investments will enhance our fund-of-funds investment management capabilities.”

Seeds Group and its affiliates have 12 employees based in Paris. After the acquisition is completed, Jean-Francois Bay and Vianney Dubois, co-founder and managing director, will continue to lead the business and the company will become a subsidiary of Morningstar France.

Location: France, Paris

Ref: F231109-434

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UBM Global Trade acquires selected Centradex assets

May 6, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM Global Trade today announced the acquisition of selected Centradex assets to complement its PIERS global trade information services.

PIERS, the business intelligence service for import and export waterborne and intermodal trade data will leverage the Centradex technologies to further develop product offerings for its clients.  Centradex’s three main products, Prospects, Trade Stats and Dashboard will be integrated.

“Centradex is a logical fit to our PIERS business due to their technology expertise, industry knowledge and advanced data analytics,” says John Day, Chief Executive Officer of UBM Global Trade.  “Centradex also represents the investment that UBM continues to make in the organization to propel the company to new levels of unprecedented growth.”

PIERS has recently introduced a number of technology upgrades including PIERS TI 3.0, a new version of iPIERS, the company’s flagship product and the PIERS Enterprise System.  According to Gavin Carter, Executive Vice President of PIERS and CIO of UBM Global Trade, “the acquisition of Centradex directly strengthens our Software as a Service (SaaS) strategy which we continue to develop and refine.  Clients are demanding greater capabilities to do more with their trade data and Centradex provides an immediate platform for our clients to begin extracting more value out of their current and future services.”

Locations: USA, Newark, NJ
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-419

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Interactive Data is to be acquired by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a transaction valued at $3.4 Billion

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by investment funds managed by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a transaction with a total value of $3.4 billion.

Under the agreement, Interactive Data’s stockholders will receive $33.86 in cash for each share of Interactive Data common stock they own. This represents a premium of approximately 32.9 percent over the closing share price on Thursday, January 14, 2010, the last trading day before the Company announced that its Board of Directors was conducting a review of strategic alternatives. Completion of the transaction is expected to occur by the end of the third quarter of 2010, following regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Following the completion of the transaction, Interactive Data will remain headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts and maintain its offices around the world. The Company will continue to be led by its senior management team and expects to continue expanding its workforce over time.

The transaction has fully committed financing, consisting of a combination of equity to be invested by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus and debt financing to be provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and UBS Investment Bank. Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus are equal equity partners in this transaction.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Company, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to the Company.

Foros acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee of the Board, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP acted as legal advisor to the Special Committee.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as lead financial advisor, Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus.

Location: USA, Bedford, MA
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-413

Previously reported

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Morningstar acquires Realpoint

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research, has acquired Realpoint, a Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organization (NRSRO) that specializes in structured finance. The purchase price consists of approximately $42 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments, and approximately 199,000 shares of restricted stock valued at approximately $10 million at the time the acquisition was announced March 19, 2010. Realpoint had revenue of approximately $12 million in 2009.

Realpoint currently offers securities ratings, research, surveillance services, and data to help institutional investors identify credit risk in commercial mortgage-backed securities. More than 225 institutional investment firms subscribe to Realpoint’s trusted ratings and analytics, including the majority of investment managers who invest in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Realpoint has about 40 employees in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Realpoint will become a business unit within Morningstar’s Equity and Credit Research business. Over time, the company will be rebranded under Morningstar.

Location: USA, Horsham, PA
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-414

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Intel Capital capital invests in Caring.com and SmartZip Analysis

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization, has announced three U.S.-based investments totaling approximately $15 million. Two of the investments are relevant to readers of Fusion DigiNet. They are eldercare website Caring.com and real estate investment ratings provider SmartZip Analytics. The third investment is infrastructure services provider Virtustream.

Locations: Caring.com – USA, San Mateo, CA: SmartZip Analysis – USA, Pleasanton, CA

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FUND RAISING ROUND-UP

April 26, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

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1.       Chinese online classifieds site 58.com has raised $15 million

Chinese online classifieds site 58.com has raised $15 million in its second-round funding according to news service Sina. The funds come mainly from Doll Capital Management (DCM) and SAIF Partners. CEO Yao Jinbo said that 58.com has retained control over the company, and that the funds raised will be mainly used towards expansion in second- and third-tier cities nationwide.

2.       Daily Grommet raises $3.4 million

Daily Grommet the curated online marketplace and video review site, has closed its Series A financing at $3.4 million. Investors participating in the round include Jean Hammond (investor and member of Hub Angels and Launchpad Venture Group), John Landry (angel investor at Lead Dog Ventures), Nancy Peretsman, and Jill Preotle (co-founder of the Boston Golden Seeds forum and private equity investor). The round also includes existing investors Launch Capital and Gerry Laybourne, founder of Nickelodeon and Oxygen Media.

  • Contact: Jules Pieri, CEO and founder of DailyGrommet.com
  • Location: USA, Lexington, MA

3.       News Corp. invests in Beyond Oblivion

News Corp. has made an investment in music start-up Beyond Oblivion as part of a $10 million series B funding round. The story was first reported on cnet. Allen & Co., a boutique bank that focuses onmedia, new media, communications & technology also took part. They are listed on the Beyond Oblivion website as their financial advisers.

  • Location: USA, New York, NY

Other News Corp. articles

4.       Networked Insights raises $5 million

Networked Insights, the social media analytics company, has closed $5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Kegonsa Capital Partners. The company will use the funds to continue to expand the powerful capabilities of its SocialSense social media listening platform, launch new product offerings based on the SocialSense architecture and accelerate the growth of its sales and marketing programs.

  • Contact: Dan Neely, founder and CEO of Networked Insights
  • Location: USA, Madison, WI

5.       OpenSky raises $6M Series B Financing

OpenSky has closed a $6 million Series B financing led by Highland Capital Partners and Canaan Partners. This investment brings the total raised to $11 million by the year old New York startup that is re-imaging retail in today’s distributed media environment. The new investment will allow OpenSky to continue to move aggressively to scale its proprietary relationship commerce platform. OpenSky enables consumers to conveniently purchase goods directly from the people they follow and trust. OpenSky further supports these relationships by providing the consumer with a 365-day return guarantee and the ability to provide ongoing feedback to all parties.

  • Contact: John Caplan, Founder and CEO of OpenSky
  • Location: USA, New York, NY

6.       TheWrap Secures $2 Million in Series B Funding

TheWrap.com, the news organization covering the business of entertainment and media, has raised a $2 million B round capital investment from parties including Maveron, a venture capital firm co-founded by Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, and a majority of the Company’s A round investors.. The B round investment will be used to accelerate the continued expansion of TheWrap.com and to provide flexibility to take advantage of new market opportunities. This latest investment follows TheWrap.com’s Series A funding in January 2009 from Maveron and a group of private investors.

  • Contacts: Sharon Waxman, TheWrap.com,Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Ben Choi, Maveron Principal and TheWrap.com board member
  • Location: USA, Los Angeles, CA

7.       Tumblr raises another $5 million

Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures have invested $5 million into micro blogging site Tumblr. Spark and Union Square were also the only investors in Tumblr’s B round in 2008. Tumblr has now raised $10.2 million. The story was first reported on Media Memo.

  • Contacts: Founder David Karp
  • Location:  USA, New York, NY

8.       UK investment website Stockopedia raises $700K

UK investment website Stockopedia has secured over $700,000 in Seed Funding from a consortium of private City individuals. The site reaches close to 50,000 investors monthly and around 8,000 followers across all its Twitter feeds.

  • Contacts:  Dave Brickell and Edward Croft – Stockopedia Founders

Contact us at pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit the Fusion Corporate Partners website

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The First American Corporation acquires Experian’s interest in FARES

April 23, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

The First American Corporation has exercised its option to purchase Experian Information Solutions, Inc.’s 20 percent ownership in the First American Real Estate Solutions, LLC (FARES) joint venture.

“Experian has been a valued partner in the FARES joint venture and we look forward to furthering our working relationship with them in the coming years,” said Parker S. Kennedy, chairman and chief executive officer of The First American Corporation.  “Our exercising of the purchase option, combined with our previously announced transactions for the noncontrolling interests in First Advantage Corporation and First American CoreLogic, provide us with control over substantially all of our assets as well as provide the Information Solutions Group with increased financial and operational flexibility as it prepares to be a stand-alone public company.”

Deal Terms: Under the terms of the option, the exercise price for Experian’s ownership interest is $313.8 million and the transaction will close on Dec. 31, 2010. With the exercise of the purchase option, First American substantially eliminates Experian’s veto rights under the joint venture agreement and significantly enhances the company’s operational and organizational flexibility.
 
Acquirer:  The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF)
ACQ Web:  http://www.firstam.com
Location:  USA, Santa Ana, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  A FORTUNE 500® company that traces its history to 1889. With total revenues of approximately $6.0 billion in 2009, it is America’s largest provider of business information. The  company operates within five primary business segments, Title Insurance and Services, Specialty Insurance, Information and Outsourcing Solutions, Data and Analytic Solutions, and Risk Mitigation and Business Solutions.
Category:  Property. Market Data
Contact 1:  Parker S. Kennedy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer bio
Contact 2:  Anthony “Buddy” Piszel, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer bio
 
Vendor:  Experian (LON:EXPN)
Vendor Web:  http://www.experianplc.com
Location:  UK, Nottingham
Region:  Europe
Description:  Global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 65 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Category: Finance, Market data
Contact 1:  John Peace, Chairman bio
Contact 2:  Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer bio
Contact 3:  Paul Brooks, Chief Financial Officer bio
Contact 4:  ChrisCallero, President and Chief Operating Officer bio

Related Fusion DigiNet article: The First American Corporation acquires the noncontrolling ownership of First American CoreLogic Posted on March 31, 2010

FDN Reference:  F231109-394

Contact us at pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit the Fusion Corporate Partners website

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Media monitoring business Durrants acquires Gorkana for £25 million

April 15, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Durrants, the  provider of media monitoring and analysis services has signed an agreement to acquire Gorkana, the provider of media intelligence and industry news to the PR industry and journalist community.

Alex Northcott, Gorkana Chief Executive, said: “This is an exciting leap forward for Gorkana and will provide scope to accelerate our growth internationally and in terms of the products we can offer. The synergies created by this deal will dramatically increase the level of journalist intelligence and insight we can provide to our core markets.”

Gorkana‘s founders Alex Northcott and Michael Webster will remain with the business and retain a small stake in the company.

August Equity sold Durrants, to rival firm Exponent Private Equity for the £82m sale of. August Equity backed Durrants‘ in a £14m management buy-in at the company in 2000.

In October 2009, Durrants acquired global media analysis and evaluation company Metrica. This latest acquisition will create a combined business with a turnover of more than £40M.”

Aprox. Value:  Just under £25,000,000
 
Acquirer:  Durrants
ACQ Web:  http://www.durrants.co.uk 
Location:  UK, London
Region:  Europe
Description:  William Durrant and Henry Romeike founded The Press Cuttings Agency, the forerunner of Durrants, in 1880.Today Durrants offers monitoring and evaluation services to organisations which need to follow the coverage of their organisation in the media. The company monitors over 6,000 print, broadcast and online sources to provide relevant briefs to over 2,300 clients on a daily basis.
Category:  Media Monitoring
Contact 1:  John Moore, Chairman
Contact 2:  Jeremy Thompson, Managing Director
Contact 3:  Kerry Jenkins, Finance Director 
 
Vendor:  Gorkana
Vendor Web:  http://www.gorkana.com
Location:  UK, London
Region:  Europe
Description:  Gorkana is a provider of media intelligence and industry news to the PR/communications industry and journalist community. It was set up by two ex-PRs, Alex Northcott and Michael Webster, “who were frustrated by the lack of a quality service in the market to support them in targeting and building up positive and mutually beneficial working relationships with the media.” The company was named after Sergeant Gorkana, the man who saved the life of founder Alex Northcott when he became entangled in a swamp with a 120lb rucksack and a rifle on his back while in the Royal Gurkha Rifles.
Category: Media Monitoring, PR
Contact 1:  Alexander Northcott, CEO / Founder
Contact 2:  Michael Webster,  Director / Founder  

Links: 

FDN Database Reference:  F231109-387

Contact us at pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit the Fusion Corporate Partners website

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Greycroft Partners closes its second fund to invest in digital media businesses

April 14, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

NEWS

Greycroft Partners LLC, an early stage venture capital fund based in New York and Los Angeles announced today the completion of $130.7 million in fundraising for its second fund, Greycroft II. Greycroft II will continue to focus on businesses in the digital media space, broadly defined as products or services delivered through a wireless device or via the Internet.

Greycroft II investors encompass a leading group of municipal and corporate pension funds and endowments led by JP Morgan Investment Advisors, in addition to individuals from across the corporate world. The General Partners of the new fund are the same as Greycroft I, Alan Patricof, Dana Settle and Drew Lipsher with the addition of Ian Sigalow, promoted from Principal.

Previously, Greycroft I raised $75 million, completely from high net worth individuals. During its four years in operation, Greycroft I made over 30 investments in the digital media space including: Collective, Huffington Post; Paid Content, which was sold to Guardian Media; Digisynd, which was sold to Disney; and Pump Audio, which was sold to Getty.

Posted in Content Media, e-Commerce, Games, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers. Leave a Comment »
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