Kaboodle to merge With StyleSpot

October 3, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Social shopping business Kaboodle has merged with StyleSpot, a fashion publisher and shopping engine. Kaboodle is a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation and StyleSpot is a Los Angeles-based start-up backed by Idealab. Together, both companies will offer content, community and commerce to be distributed everywhere women shop online. Hearst will become the largest shareholder of the combined company as a result of the merger.

Rafi Gordon and Alex Amin, co-founders of StyleSpot, will continue as co-CEOs and oversee the combined company, with Gordon overseeing strategy, operations, business development and sales, and Amin overseeing content, product development, PR and marketing. Steven Chien, chief operating officer of Kaboodle, will report to Gordon. Both StyleSpot.com and Kaboodle.com will continue to operate as individual websites.

Commenting on the merger, Gordon said: “StyleSpot’s distribution platform spans mobile, Web, social and email, and enables the company to deliver personalized product recommendations and compelling, monetizable shopping content very efficiently. Combining Kaboodle’s community with StyleSpot’s content and commerce platform will allow us to reach more women and serve their shopping needs even better than before.”

StyleSpot was founded in 2009 by Gordon and Amin. Both executives have more than 13 years of experience as online entrepreneurs and operators focusing on data aggregation, distribution and monetization. Prior to founding StyleSpot, Gordon and Amin founded Baseline Research, a film and television database company in 1999, which was sold to The New York Times Company in 2006.

USA, San Mateo, CA

Related articles:

 

Posted in Content Media, e-Commerce, Internet Media, Publishers, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Vantage Media and BrokersWeb merge

October 3, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet
Vantage Media and BrokersWeb have completed a merger to create one of the world’s largest online performance marketing companies.  The combined entity will focus on delivering new customers, via clicks and leads, to clients in the Education, Insurance and Moving verticals.

“The combined company will deliver unmatched value for clients and media partners,” said Patrick Quigley, Vantage Media CEO who will lead the combined company. “The transaction allows both companies to build upon and leverage the strengths of each other. Our technology platforms and media capabilities are highly complementary and the combination will create immediate revenue opportunities and additional value for our clients and media partners.”

“We are more confident than ever with the prospects of the BrokersWeb business, and welcome the resources Vantage Media will bring,” said Matias de Tezanos, CEO and founder of BrokersWeb, who will continue in that role and lead the combined company’s international expansion. “This transaction enhances BrokersWeb’s leadership position in technology, advertising clients, audience and publishers, while enabling us to create additional meaningful revenue opportunities for our partners.”

The BrokersWeb business will retain the “BrokersWeb” name and all of its management, while gaining additional technical, financial and human resources to grow the business.

USA, El Segundo, CA & Miami, FL

 

 

 

 

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Bloomberg completes acquisition of BNA

October 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Bloomberg has completed its acquisition of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc (BNA) which is now a stand-alone wholly-owned subsidiary of Bloomberg. Originally reported by Fusion DigiNet in August, Bloomberg has acquired all of the outstanding shares of BNA for $39.50 per share in a cash tender offer followed by a merger for a total purchase price of approximately $990 million.

The acquisition was overwhelmingly accepted by the BNA owner/employees, who tendered approximately 95% of their stock within the 20 business day offering period. Additionally, Bloomberg received an early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

“Together, Bloomberg and BNA will offer a unique combination of premium content, deep subject matter expertise, proprietary data and world-class technological capabilities,” said Dan Doctoroff, CEO and President of Bloomberg. “BNA’s trusted and respected research and analysis will significantly enhance our professional offerings including Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Government and the Bloomberg Professional service.”

The combination propels Bloomberg Law’s expansion into the legal information market and increases Bloomberg’s presence in the Washington, D.C. area where BNA is based. In addition, the combination expands Bloomberg’s coverage and analysis of tax and accounting, labor and employment, healthcare, intellectual property, and telecommunications issues. BNA will be led by its current management team and it will be part of the Bloomberg Industry Verticals Group.

 

“We’re delighted to formally welcome BNA to the Bloomberg family, and we look forward to working with BNA’s leaders and employees as we shape our future together,” said Peter Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg. “We will work diligently over the coming months to determine how we will provide the best products for our customers, and will share more information as we progress.”

USA, New York, NY & Arlington, VA

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

PennWell Corporation acquires the assets of eMarket Software

October 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

PennWell Corporation, a media and information company, has acquired the assets of eMarket Software, a Fort Worth, Texas company offering mapping products and services to energy industry.  Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

eMarket Software has created a sophisticated mapping and database platform that will become the web-based mapping platform for PennWell’s MAPSearch business which provides GIS data for the petroleum, natural gas, electric power, and renewable energy industries.  MAPSearch provides comprehensive date in geospatial form on over 1,000,000 miles of pipelines and 750,000 miles of transmissions lines in North America.

Shawn McCarthy, founder of eMarket Software and its president since 2007, will join PennWell’s MAPSearch group as director of product development.  McCarthy will report to Edward Metz, vice president and general manager of PennWell MAPSearch based in Houston.

PennWell President & Chief Executive Office Robert F. Biolchini said, “The eMarket products will offer MAPSearch an innovative online and mobile mapping platform that will extend our best-in-class geospatial data for oil and gas, electric power, and renewable energy to new markets and customer groups.  Shawn McCarthy has an extensive background in software and product development and we are pleased he will join PennWell to help build innovative products for leveraging and delivering our vast data and content assets.”

Tulsa, OK

Related articles:

Posted in B2B Services, Content Media, Energy & Environmental Services, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

DMGT trading update September 2011

September 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet


DMGT trading update to September 2011

Year end is October 2, 2011

The trading update covers the eleven month period to the end of August 2011

Summary

Revenue up 1% on last year, up 2% on an underlying basis

B2B businesses revenues up 9%

Consumer businesses revenues down 3% on an underlying basis

Forecast for the year at the lower end of the range of market expectations~

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

Revenues from the group’s B2B operations for the period were 8% higher than for the corresponding period last year, with an underlying increase of 9%.

At a divisional level, Risk Management Solutions’ revenues grew by 4%, an underlying increase of 11%, reflecting continued growth from RMS’s core modelling business.

At dmg information, reported revenues grew by 1%. The underlying revenue increase was 5% with good growth from our companies in the property, education and energy information markets.

At dmg events, reported revenues grew by 20% including the impact of this year’s additional biennial show. The underlying revenue increase was 14%. This includes dmg event’s largest recent event, the summer New York International Gift Fair in August, part of GLM, the sale of which is expected to complete in late September.

B2B revenues include those of Euromoney Institutional Investor, which released its trading update on 23rd September, reporting that total revenues for the full year are expected to show a headline increase of approximately 10%. Recent trading has shown a slowing in the rate of growth of advertising and event sponsorship sales. In contrast, delegate bookings for events and training courses have held up well, and subscriptions revenues have continued to grow at similar rates to the third quarter.

Euromoney has reported that it may achieve the profit target under its capital appreciation plan (CAP 2010) a year earlier than expected. This would give rise to an additional accelerated long-term incentive expense of £6.6 million under IFRS2 which is not reflected in the current estimates for the full year result.

CONSUMER MEDIA

Underlying revenues from A&N Media were 3% lower than for the corresponding period last year and 4% lower on a reported basis. A&N Media has continued to focus on operational efficiency. However, weaker advertising revenues, combined with the high cost of newsprint, will lead to significantly lower profits for the full year compared to last year.

Planning consent has recently been granted for the construction of Harmsworth Printing’s new printing plant in Thurrock. The group plans to acquire the freehold of the site and for the first press to begin production in autumn 2012 and for all six presses, relocated from the existing Surrey Quays site, to be fully operational by the autumn of 2013.

Associated Newspapers’ underlying revenues for the period were 1% lower than for the corresponding period last year, and 2% lower on a reported basis. Underlying circulation revenues were 3% lower. Both the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday have continued to improve their market share in recent months.

Total underlying advertising revenues for the period were down 1%, with those from Associated’s newspaper operations down by 2% with print down 4% and digital up 54%. The two largest advertising categories, retail and travel, were weak in the period, both down 5%. The revenues of Associated’s digital-only businesses grew by 5%.

For the eleven weeks to 18 September 2011, total underlying advertising revenues were 1% below last year, with newspaper operations down 2% and digital-only businesses up 2%. This was a significant improvement on the previous quarter to June, which was down 7%, driven mainly by Metro’s particularly strong performance and improving trends from the Daily Mail. Underlying circulation revenues were 4% lower, due to the recent temporary price discounting at The Mail on Sunday, partly offset by the impact of the increase in the cover price of the Daily Mail weekday editions on 18th July 2011.

Northcliffe Media’s total revenues for the period were 10% lower with advertising revenues down 10% (recruitment down 30%, other categories 6% lower) and circulation revenues down 7% compared to last year. For the eleven weeks to 18 September, advertising revenues are down 11%, broadly in line with the previous quarter (down 10%).

Costs continue to be well below prior year levels, driven by reduced staff and distribution expenditure in particular. Headcount was reduced by 17% over the period from 3,130 to 2,600.

FINANCING

On 1 August, Euromoney announced the completion of its acquisition of an 85% interest in Ned Davis Research group for approximately US$108 million (£66 million). The group also expects to complete the sale of GLM before the year end, for a total consideration of £110 million, including £93 million in cash. It has sold its equity investment in CoStar group, Inc, acquired in exchange for Property & Portfolio Research in July 2009, for US$35 million (£22 million). Combined with the generation of strong cash flows, we expect net debt at the year end to be below £750 million.

In May, the group reported a deficit on its defined benefit pension schemes of £198 million at the half year (calculated in accordance with IAS 19). Should the recent declines in bond yields and falls in the equity market be sustained, the group’s year end accounting pension deficit is likely to rise by in excess of 50%.

Martin Morgan, Chief Executive, said:

“DMGT has delivered a solid revenue performance over the year to date, driven by continued strength in our B2B operations offset by difficult market conditions for our consumer businesses. Despite our continued focus on operational efficiency, the weak consumer advertising environment means that full year group operating profit will be lower than last year. We expect some growth in earnings per share compared to last year, given lower finance and tax costs, but at the lower end of market expectations. Going forward our focus will remain on driving organic growth, operational and financial efficiency and pursuing an active portfolio management approach.”

UK, London

Related articles:

Posted in Company Results, Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, Internet Media, News, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Reed Elsevier to acquire Accuity

September 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Reed Elsevier is to acquire the entire issued share capital of Accuity Holdings Inc. from Investcorp, a global investment firm, for a consideration of £343m payable in cash.

Accuity is a US provider of online subscription-based data solutions for the financial services industry which enable customers to maximise the accuracy of their banking and payment transactions, and to minimise the risk of non-compliance with government regulations in these transactions. Accuity is a highly complementary business with both Reed Elsevier’s Bankers’ Almanac and the financial services business of LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Reed Business Information CEO Mark Kelsey said: “Bankers’ Almanac and Accuity are both strong brands with highly complementary products and strengths and excellent geographic fit. The combination of the two companies will enable us to offer customers much more comprehensive products and services to meet their developing needs.”

Accuity operates in three principal segments:

  • Payment Efficiency: provision of bank routing data files, filters, directories and look-up tools which enable financial institutions and corporates to execute transactions globally, increasing straight-through-processing rates, and reducing errors and costs;
  • Risk Reduction: provision of data and software solutions that enable financial institutions and corporates to screen against sanctioned and high risk entities and people through customer filtering, account screening and transaction monitoring; and
  • National Regulatory Services: provision of workflow, information and consultancy services which help investment institutions remain compliant with regulations.

Accuity is, like Bankers’ Almanac, an online data business with subscription-based revenues, 95%+ customer retention rates and double digit revenue growth. It has offices across the US and in the UK, and provides solutions to the banking financial services, corporate and government communities with over 14,000 clients, including most of the world’s leading financial institutions and all of the top 25 US banks. Accuity has over 300 staff and is based in Skokie, Illinois, United States.

Accuity will be integrated with Bankers’ Almanac and will share the combined data assets with LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The CEO of Accuity is joining Reed Elsevier to run the enlarged business within the data businesses of Reed Business Information.

The acquisition will be accretive to Reed Elsevier’s adjusted earnings from the outset, with post tax returns expected to cover its weighted average cost of capital by the third year. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

James M. Peck, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions said: “Accuity is a business with prestigious content, in an attractive space with strong fundamental growth characteristics. The combination will provide our customers with expanded resources to contribute further to managing their AML and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.”

The Netherlands, Amsterdam & USA, Skokie, IL

Related articles

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Hearst Magazines UK announces its senior team

September 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Hearst Magazines UK has announced its senior publishing team and key business leaders.

Hearst Magazines UK, which publishes 24 magazines and 22 digital assets, was launched earlier this month following the completion by Hearst Corporation of the UK portion of its international transaction with Lagardère SCA. The deal brought together National Magazine Company and Hachette Filipacchi UK Ltd, and the combined business rebranded as Hearst Magazines UK.

The senior appointments across the publishing groups are:

  • Anna Jones has been appointed Acting COO of Hearst Magazines UK, reporting to Arnaud de Puyfontaine. Anna, who was Digital Strategy Director at Hachette Filipacchi UK, will work with Arnaud to implement the new agreed business strategy with overall responsibility for the publishing operation for the business.
  • Meribeth Parker will lead the Luxury group comprising ELLE, ELLE Decoration, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and Red. Meribeth was previously Group Publishing Director for NatMag’s Young Women’s Group. She will be supported by Publisher Nadia Dawson.
  • Judith Secombe will lead the Lifestyle group comprising Coast, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Prima, Prima Baby, Psychologies and You & Your Wedding. Judith was previously Director of Sales at Hachette Filipacchi UK. She will be supported by Publishing Director Steven Seaton.
  • Ella Dolphin joined Hearst Magazines UK this week to lead the Young Women’s Group comprising Cosmopolitan, Company and Zest. Ella was previously at Bauer Consumer Media where she was Publisher of Grazia.
  • Alun Williams continues as Group Publishing Director of Hearst Magazines UK joint venture, NatMag-Rodale.
  • Hearst Magazines UK will appoint a new Group Publishing Director for the Weeklies Group – All About Soap, Best, Inside Soap, Real People and Reveal – in due course. In addition to her Acting COO role, Anna Jones will continue to lead the Weeklies group on an interim basis. Grace Stewart has been appointed Publisher for the weeklies.
  • Rebecca Miskin has been appointed Digital Strategy Director. She will continue to lead the integration. In addition, to her role, Rebecca will assume responsibility for the digital operation at Hearst Magazines UK and create the company’s digital blueprint for 2012.
The following will continue in their present roles.
  • Matt Salmon will continue in his role as Group Commercial Director for Hearst Magazines UK.
  • Sharon Douglas will continue as Consumer Sales & Marketing Director. Sharon will be supported by Brand Marketing Director Reid Holland.
  • Andy Humphries will continue in his role as Finance Director.
  • Nanette Gibb continues in her role as HR Director.
  • Kevin Hand (formerly Chairman of Hachette Filipacchi UK) will remain with Hearst Magazines UK as an adviser to the Chief Executive and the business.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive, Hearst Magazines UK, and Executive Vice President, Hearst Magazines International said.  “This is a pivotal time for Hearst Magazines UK and I’m delighted to unveil such a talented senior publishing and business team to lead our expanded company. This team, along with our Editors, will redefine the way we do things and help Hearst Magazines UK become a more agile, innovative and successful media company.”
UK, London
Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Time Warner and Vivendi bid for a share of TVN

September 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The FT is reporting that Time Warner and Vivendi aim to bid for 56 per cent of TVN, the largest Polish private broadcaster by revenue and audience share.

TVN is controlled by ITI Group, holding around 62% ownership. In a report in the Warsaw Voice, ITI president Wojciech Kostrzewa says that only price matters in the deal and admits that a further downturn in the global economic conditions could undermine the deal.

Warsaw voice also reports that ITI’s price expectations are believed to be around PLN 22 to 24 per share, versus recent valuations near PLN 12.

Other companies named as having a potential interest when the process began last year included Discovery Communications, Viacom and News Corp, RT, and private equity companies including Advent, Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners.

Read more at:

USA, New York, NY & France, Paris & Poland, Warsaw

Posted in Broadcasting, Content Media, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Julpan acquired by Twitter

September 22, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Julpan has been acquired by Twitter. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Julpan analyses the way people share information on the social web. Studying the way stories develop and how people react to them provides a wealth of data to help determine what exactly people care about at any given moment. From this data, Julpan are able to understand and follow the most popular topics and track the highest quality content.

Here is the announcement from Julpan’s founder, Ori Allon.

I am very proud to announce that Julpan has been acquired by Twitter.

We founded Julpan more than a year ago. In that time we’ve created innovative, early-alpha-stage search technology that analyzes social activity across the Web to deliver fresh and relevant content to users.

Twitter houses an industry-leading engineering team that is tackling some of the Internet’s most interesting opportunities. With more than 230 million Tweets per day on every subject imaginable, Twitter gives us a chance to make an even greater contribution toward instantly bringing people closer to what is most meaningful to them. We look forward to joining forces with Twitter’s engineering team to explore how we can best integrate and optimize Julpan’s innovations.

I’d like to personally thank the talented engineers, architects and designers of Julpan. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people with whom to invent some of the world’s best social search technology.

Ori Allon, Director of Engineering, Twitter (former Founder & CEO of Julpan)

USA, San Francisco, CA & New York, NY

Related articles:

 

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Online global travel network TravelShark acquires eat.shop guides

September 22, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Online global travel network TravelShark has acquired eat.shop guides, a publisher of independent, hyper-local travel guides for the world’s top travel destinations. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition gives TravelShark eat.shop’s visually powerful, curated content related to thousands of unique and “unexpected” dining and shopping venues in 30 cities around the world. TravelShark will retain the book business, and it will extend the success of eat.shop guides by exposing the print content for the first time in the digital realm.

TravelShark plans to expand the reach of the business with the addition of 100 new cities in the next year. The company will integrate eat.shop’s original content into its major-market websites, a range of new travel products it is developing in the area of trip planning, and new mobile applications designed for travelers who enjoy discovering the local flavor of a destination on their smartphones and tablets.

“TravelShark is excited to be at the forefront of the trend favoring original content in travel, most recently reflected by Google’s acquisition of Zagat,” said Sue Heilbronner, TravelShark’s CEO. “Web users are craving curated, original content about unique places to see on their next trip, and eat.shop’s content – which has never appeared online – fills a void for travelers weary of seeing the same old repurposed online content when they are researching their next vacation.”

Launched in 2006 by founder and CEO Kaie Wellman, eat.shop guides has print distribution in bookstores and gift stores around the world. In addition, the company has grown a private-label publishing business, creating branded editions of its city guides for large companies and hotel chains. As part of the acquisition, Wellman joins TravelShark as Head Curator and will continue to develop this brand of hyper-local content for print and online under the eat.shop brand and TravelShark’s new “As a Local” sub-brand.

 

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Publishers, ~North America. Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »