DMGTacquires Jobrapido

April 16, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

A&N Media, the consumer media business of DMGT, has acquired Jobrapido, one of the world’s largest job search engines. Jobrapido will be combined with A&N Media’s existing digital recruitment group, which is now renamed as Evenbase in order to reflect the wider scope and international reach of the enlarged group.

This acquisition gives Evenbase – which includes Jobsite, OilCareers and Broadbean – access to one of the world’s largest databases of job seekers and a global footprint with strong positions in a number of key international markets.

The completion consideration is €30 million.  The Jobrapido management team is incentivised to enhance this valuation over the next few years through an earn-out arrangement based on achieving agreed financial and business performance objectives.  Jobrapido achieved revenues of c. €24 million and profits of c. €6 million during calendar year 2011.

Jobrapido was established in Italy in 2006 by its Chief Executive, Vito Lomele. It is the second largest international job search engine in the world, delivering last year 660 million visits from job seekers (most recently 32 million unique visitors in March 2012) in more than 50 countries.

Keith Potts, Evenbase Chief Executive, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to secure such a valuable asset for the group. Candidates are, and will always be, the raw material for recruitment. Jobrapido gives us access to job seeking candidates on a global scale and supercharges the transformation of our business model.”

Martin Morgan, CEO of DMGT said: “Bringing the Jobrapido team into the DMGT group is a great example of DMGT’s core strategy in action.  We seek out and acquire market leading businesses with strong positions in rapidly growing international markets. We have a strong culture of entrepreneurial management and like to retain and empower the people who built those businesses.”

UK, London & Italy, Milan

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UBM plc acquires Negocios nos Trilhos, South America’s leading railway industry exhibition

April 16, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM plc has acquired Negocios nos Trilhos, South America’s leading railway industry exhibition, from Grupo Revista Ferroviária on behalf of UBM Live. In 2011 Negocios nos Trilhos generated revenues of approximately £1.6 million.  As at 29 March 2012, the business’ gross assets were £0.7 million.  The acquisition is expected to exceed UBM’s cost of capital criterion in its first full year of ownership.

Now in its fifteenth edition, Negocios nos Trilhos – literally, ‘Business on Rails” – is a cargo and public rail transport tradeshow which is held annually in Sao Paulo.  Last year’s show attracted 180 rail equipment and technology exhibitors from 14 countries and 7,000 railway professionals drawn from both the public and the private sectors. The 2012 event will take place 6-8 November.
The passenger and cargo railway industry in Brazil and other South American countries is expanding rapidly as the region’s economic development advances.  Brazil has also seen accelerated investment in mass transport systems driven by the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.

Negocios nos Trilhos is a complementary fit with UBM Live’s Intermodal transport exhibition in Brazil. The business also overlaps with UBM Global Trade’s US rail industry products.

Simon Foster, Chief Executive Officer of UBM Live said, “We are delighted to have acquired such a well-established and market-leading exhibition in this fast-growing industry. Negocios nos Trilhos will strengthen our position in the transport sector in Brazil and complement UBM’s US-based rail industry product set.”

Uk, London and Brazil, Sao Paulo

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Facebook is acquiring Instagram for around $1 billion

April 9, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Facebook is acquiring Instagram, a fun, popular photo-sharing app for mobile devices.

The total consideration for San Francisco-based Instagram is approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close later this quarter.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, posted about the transaction on his Timeline:

I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.

USA, Menlo Park, CA

 

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Hearst Corporation acquires 20% stake in Stylus Media Group

March 28, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Hearst Corporation has acquired a 20 percent stake in Stylus Media Group, which provides business intelligence to consumer companies. The announcement was made jointly by Frank A. Bennack, Jr., CEO of Hearst Corporation, and Marc Worth, CEO and founder of Stylus. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Stylus tracks consumer behavior and cultural shifts across consumer industries, including automotive, technology, media, retail, fashion and hospitality. Stylus is used by design, marketing, branding and business development departments inside companies to stimulate new ideas about consumer products and services.

As part of the agreement, Kenneth A. Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media, will join the Board of Directors of Stylus. The Interactive Media group will manage Hearst’s stake in Stylus as it does with its numerous portfolio businesses.

Since its launch in September 2010, Stylus has grown to cover 20 sectors across 50 countries with a worldwide staff of 100. More than 200 major corporations have subscribed to Stylus data, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Starwood Hotels, Mulberry, Sony, Ford, Colombia Sportswear, The Container Store, Marks & Spencer and Interbrand. Its mission is to become a global leader in primary research, tapping into opportunities in emerging markets and meeting demand from business and design professionals for research and information.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bennack said, “For all businesses to be competitive, spotting the next trend can mean success or failure. We believe that Stylus offers information that no company should be without. The growth potential is very promising, as is the benefit to our own brands and businesses.”

“This strategic partnership signals a wealth of new opportunities for Stylus,” Worth said. “Hearst’s global presence will help drive Stylus’ business forward in Asia and Latin America as well as its core markets of U.S. and Europe. Hearst’s investment in both technology and new media businesses makes it an ideal partner and will allow us to meet demand for cross-sector, cross-country design intelligence.”

“We have been quite impressed with the tremendous amount of progress that Stylus has made since its launch in terms of content development and brand-name client acquisition,” Bronfin said. “We look forward to working with Stylus as it expands its reputation as an authoritative business intelligence resource for design and creative professionals.”

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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Access Intelligence acquires LeadsCon trade show along with Daily Deal Summit

March 28, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Access Intelligence, a B2B media and information company and a portfolio company of Veronis Suhler Stevenson, has acquired LeadsCon. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

LeadsCon is an educational and networking conference dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of those operating in the online lead generation industry. LeadsCon is held twice a year. It has just completed its February event in Las Vegas, and will hold its East coast event in New York this July. Other products in the LeadsCon portfolio include the membership-based LeadsCouncil, the Daily Deal Summit conference series taking place this April 17-18 in New York, an e-newsletter, and other soon-to-be announced marketing conferences and product offerings.

Jay Weintraub, president and founder of New York-based LeadsCon, will continue in his role as President of LeadsCon, Daily Deal and the other products serving the customer-acquisition sector. Michelle Troop, LeadsCon co-founder and executive vice president of operations, and Weintraub will be part of the newly created Access Intelligence Customer Acquisition Board which will also include Don Pazour, AI’s President & CEO; Diane Schwartz, senior vice president of the Media/Communications Group; and Jenn Heinold, vice president of healthcare and aerospace events.

“I am particularly pleased to be working with a visionary like Jay Weintraub, who will lead our efforts in serving the customer acquisition professional community,” said Don Pazour, president and CEO of Access Intelligence. “The ability to round out our position in the marketing and technology sectors with highly engaged brands like LeadsCon and Daily Deal Summit is an exciting prospect for Access Intelligence, our employees and customers.”

In 2011, Access Intelligence completed acquisitions in the media/marketing and healthcare sectors, including that of Red7 Media (which includes Event Marketer and Folio); OR Manager, which presents one of the largest trade shows serving operating room executives; and Cynopsis Media, with advertising-driven e-letters serving the TV and digital communities.

USA, Rockville, MD

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Independent News & Media report operating profits of £75M

March 23, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Independent News & Media PLC has announced the Group’s full year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011. They are  in line with prior market guidance.

A detailed presentation on these results is available on the Group’s website inmplc.com.

Highlights

  • Operating Profit, pre-exceptionals, of €75.5 million (-8.6% on 2010)
  • Underlying Revenue down 5.6% (Reported Revenue down 10.9% on 2010)
  • Operating Costs were reduced by 11.3% to €482.5 million, despite a significant newsprint price increase in Island of Ireland and investment in digital
  • EBITDA of €102.2 million (including dividends received of €15.8 million)
  • Operating Margin of 13.5%, up 30bps on 2010
  • Continued progress in digital, with underlying revenue growth of 9.6%
  • Expansion of Irish Education business through acquisition of International House Dublin
  • Earnings Per Share (pre-exceptionals) of 9.8 cent
  • Continued significant reduction in Net Debt, down by €46.8 million (9.9%) to €426.8 million
 
*Underlying – in constant currency, excluding The Independentand Independent on Sunday titles in the UK (disposed of in April 2010) and compares 52 weeks in both 2011 and 2010

UK, London & Ireland, Dublin

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Zynga acquires social game developer OMGPOP

March 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Zynga has acquired New York-based social game developer OMGPOP, makers of the popular cultural hit mobile game, Draw Something, and over 35 additional social games. As a part of the Zynga group, OMGPOP will focus on building new mobile IP and strengthening its existing portfolio of fun and creative social games. It is being reported that Zynga paid $200 million plus for OMGPOP.

“The OMGPOP team has created a game that’s fun, expressive and engenders real social interaction,” said Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga. “Draw Something has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world. We love the way they’ve worked playful and relevant culture into their games from Devo to Daft Punk, from Lin to Beckham. We’re honored to have the opportunity to partner with and support such an innovative team of creative inventors.”

“At Zynga we’re committed to building brands that we’re proud of and that our players absolutely love,” said David Ko, Chief Mobile Officer of Zynga. “We want people to play our games and feel a fun and valuable social connection to their friends and family. We think Draw Something is one of the most social, most expressive mobile games ever built with its unique social competition and unmatched player generated content. We’re excited about the brands OMGPOP has developed to date and we look forward to supporting the team’s creativity and helping scale their incredible games to an even bigger global audience.”

OMGPOP began as iminlikewithyou, a social network for people to meet and play games. The company soon after launched its social gaming website, OMGPOP.com in 2009. OMGPOP is best known for Draw Something, one of the fastest growing word games of all time.

OMGPOP will remain headquartered in New York and report to David Ko, Chief Mobile Officer of Zynga.

USA, San Francisco, CA & New York, NY

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Scripps Networks Interactive is acquiring Travel Channel International for £65M

March 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Scripps Networks Interactive  is acquiring Travel Channel International Limited (TCI), an independent company headquartered in the United Kingdom that distributes the Travel Channel brand in 20 languages across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

The company produces and commissions original travel programming for distribution in 91 countries.

Scripps Networks Interactive will pay £65 million to acquire TCI. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012 pending regulatory approval.

“We are looking forward to integrating Travel Channel International into Scripps Networks Interactive’s portfolio of popular lifestyle networks,” said Kenneth W. Lowe, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Scripps Networks Interactive. “TCI brings unique value to us as we establish our brands in the global media marketplace. We’re enthusiastic about sharing our lifestyle programming expertise internationally, engaging a new set of passionate media consumers overseas, and increasing our footprint in Europe and Asia, building on the solid foundation we’ve established for the continued international growth of our brands.”

Formed in 2004, TCI has affiliate agreements with approximately 850 distributors. The company’s 46 full-time employees in London will join Scripps Networks Interactive at the completion of the transaction.

USA, Cincinnati, OH & UK, London

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IHS Acquires IMS Research for $46M

March 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

IHS Inc. has acquired IMS Research, an independent provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry, for approximately $46 million.

“The acquisition of IMS Research will help us expand our products and services in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) value chain, and better position IHS to deliver a more robust product offering to our customers in the global technology marketplace,” said IHS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerre Stead. “The annual delivery nature of the IMS Research business is also an excellent fit for our subscription-based model.”

IMS Research provides research with proprietary data and market insight to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), component manufacturers and systems suppliers in the global electronics industry. The company’s products and services include syndicated market studies, custom research, consultancy services and events that deliver comprehensive, value-add data and in-depth actionable market intelligence, across the technology spectrum. It serves diverse industries across the technology spectrum, from semiconductors and wireless to industrial systems and alternative energy, helping clients in more than 50 countries better understand markets and shape strategies.

IMS Research was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Wellingborough, U.K. The company employs more than 140 people in the U.K., U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

USA, Englewood, CO & UK, Wellingborough

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Beats to acquire MOG

March 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

According to AllThingsD, headphone maker Beats Electronics is buying online music subscription service MOG. They quote “multiple sources familiar with the deal”.

HTC invested $300 million in Beats last year for a 51-percent stake.

Read the full story AllThingsD

USA, Newburyport, MA

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