EBSCO Publishing and The H.W. Wilson Company have merged

June 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

EBSCO Publishing and The H.W. Wilson Company have merged. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to Tim Collins, President of EBSCO Publishing, this acquisition leads directly to heightening the value and quality of EBSCO and Wilson resources. “Upholding the integrity of the Wilson indexing is essential, and extending these attributes to EBSCOhost resources is a critical part of this venture. When it comes to thesauri (subjects and names), and how these are leveraged, Wilson has long been an industry leader.  We look forward to bringing this value and approach to all applicable EBSCOhost databases and are excited about the benefits this will bring to EBSCOhost users. We are also pleased to be able to add the Wilson databases into the EBSCO Discovery Service search experience”

Harry Regan, President & CEO for Wilson, commented, “EBSCO and H.W. Wilson have been engaged as business partners for a number of years and are now officially operating as one. The result will be a broader and deeper range of products and services for the library reference community with significantly added value. Both companies have had separate, distinctive histories, but have always shared a common commitment for the highest order of customer satisfaction.”

Wilson’s Vice President of Indexing & Editorial Services, Mark Gauthier, is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. “As a company, Wilson has focused heavily on the quality of our indexing and how it impacts the search experience. With EBSCOhost full-text and abstract/index databases, along with EBSCO Discovery Service, EBSCO is really focusing on detailed editorial value to truly take its services to new levels. We’re excited about the possibilities and what we can do together to benefit the research experience for libraries.”

All Wilson indexing, abstracts and full text will be fully searchable via EBSCO Discovery Service for subscribers of Wilson databases. The addition of Wilson’s robust abstract/index records and unique full text will strengthen EBSCO Discovery Service.

Wilson databases will be loaded onto EBSCOhost over the coming months.  EBSCO will continue to maintain Wilson Web until such time that all Wilson databases are available on EBSCOhost and customers have been transitioned to EBSCOhost.

USA, Ipswich, MA & New York, NY

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Groupon files for a $750 million IPO

June 3, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

There have been numerous reports (including on Fusion DigiNet) over the past few months forecasting it, so it was no surprise to read Groupon’s SEC filing announcing their $750 million initial public offering. It was also only in January this year that Groupon completed a huge $950 million round of financing valuing the company at $4.75 billion.

Groupon grew out of a website called The Point, a website launched in November 2007 . The business has grown rapidly; revenue has risen from $3.3 million in the second quarter of 2009 to $644.7 million in the first quarter of 2011.  However, it is still running at a loss. In the first three months of the year Groupon generated revenues of $644.7 million, made a net loss in the period of $146.48. The reason, the company is spending fast to expand fast. In the period from the second quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2011 Groupon’s subscriber base rose from 152,203 to 83.1 million and they are now active in 43 countries.

Groupon’s investors include Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Battery Ventures, Greylock Partners, Mail.ru Group (formerly Digital Sky Technologies), Maverick Capital, Silver Lake, and Technology Crossover.

Read the SEC filing here.

USA, Chicago, IL

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Thomson Reuters is to acquire Manatron, a property tax automation and land registry software business

June 3, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Thomson Reuters is to acquire Manatron, a provider of property tax automation and land registry software for governments and municipalities around the world, from Thoma Bravo LLC, a private equity firm. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Manatron will strengthen the expanding Tax & Accounting business with an additional 1,400 clients in over 20 countries and more than 40 U.S. states. 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 segment 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. “Manatron has a great track record helping governments improve their collection and compliance processes, which improves accuracy, customer service and reduces costs associated with the collection process for all involved.”

In addition to its market-leading property tax offerings, Manatron is also considered a leader in the provision of land administration systems — helping governments and the private sector map, audit, register and publicize the value of assets and land. As one of the only providers of end-to-end government property tax management and land administration systems, Manatron processes more than $100 billion in annual tax revenue.

“Becoming part of Thomson Reuters extends Manatron’s global reach, but our mission remains the same — to deliver a solution that allows our clients to efficiently process and manage their land, property tax and assessment information,” said Bill McKinzie, president and chief executive officer at Manatron.

USA, New York, NY & Portage, MI

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AdGrok has been acquired by Twitter

June 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Y Combinator-backed internet advertising startup AdGrok has been acquired by Twitter. AdGrok helps businesses manage their Google AdWords accounts. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Though TechCrunch has reported rumours of less than $10 million.

Founder Matthew McEachen wrote in the AdGrok blog, “Twitter has acquired the AdGrok team. Starting today, we will be working full-time on Twitter’s revenue engineering team.”

He went on to say, “When Twitter approached us and asked if we’d be interested in working on their monetization platform, we realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we just couldn’t pass up. The fact that the Twitter team is both smart and user-focused only made our decision easier.”

USA, San Francisco

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Air Business acquires subscription and publishing services bureaux Quadrant Subscription Services from RBI

June 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Air Business has acquired subscription and publishing services bureaux Quadrant Subscription Services (QSS) from Reed Business Information (RBI). RBI will remain as a client for the long-term.

Air Business is a well-established and successful provider of global distribution and logistics services including international and UK mail delivery, fulfilment, data management, circulation audits, international and UK courier services as well as exhibition handling.

Air Business Group MD Adam Sherman said that, “For a long time now we have been successfully positioning ourselves as a complete provider of services for clients and this is just another logical step towards that goal, allowing publishers to concentrate on their core business of writing and selling. We firmly believe that QSS is an excellent match for our organisation, each of us possessing high quality services that complement the other perfectly without crossover affording greater choice of complimentary services to our customer base.”

Over the last six years, Air Business has operated under a new management team. Turnover has grown from £8 million annual turnover to a projected £40 million in 2011 and beyond.

UK, St Albans & Haywards Heath

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Hearst completes U.S. portion and majority of its overall acquisition of Lagardere’s international magazine business

June 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Hearst Corporation has completed the U.S. portion and the majority of its overall transaction with Lagardère SCA to acquire the company’s nearly 100 titles in 14 countries outside of France, including the U.S., as well as extensive digital operations — some 50 websites and numerous mobile and tablet applications. The transaction includes the magazines operated by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. and Lagardère’s magazine brands in Italy, Spain, Japan, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Mexico, Taiwan, Canada and Germany. The transaction is expected to be completed shortly in Russia, Ukraine and the U.K., followed by China later in the year, after all necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained. The total purchase price is approximately EUR 640 million.

In the U.S., the acquisition includes publishing rights in perpetuity to global media superbrands ELLE and ELLE DÉCOR, and ownership of Woman’s Day and its special interest publications, as well as Car and Driver and Road & Track. Hearst will immediately begin integrating these titles into its Magazines Group. Internationally, Hearst will gain publishing rights to 13 editions of ELLE and eight editions of ELLE DÉCOR, as well as ownership of myriad other popular magazine brands around the world. Hearst’s new portfolio of magazines will contain more than 300 titles, bolstering its presence as a leading U.S. and global magazine publisher. The Company’s ability to grow further will be enhanced by augmenting strong and profitable positions in complementary publishing segments including women’s (the most dynamic and structurally growing magazine segment), men’s, shelter, and categories that are new to Hearst including celebrity, TV guides and automotive.

“Today’s news represents a rare opportunity to advance Hearst Corporation’s position as a leading U.S. media company and significantly expand our presence domestically, internationally and in major emerging markets,” said Frank A. Bennack, Jr., CEO of Hearst Corporation. “Above all, the deal underscores our commitment and belief in magazines and the brands and content they represent. Magazines continue to connect with their audiences and remain the natural partner for advertisers who want to reach engaged and receptive consumers. Lagardère and Hachette have done a superb job building these titles into real powerhouses that touch readers’ lives in print and on all platforms. We see a great future of success for them here and on behalf of all of us at Hearst, I wish to welcome our new colleagues.”

David Carey, president, Hearst Magazines, said, “This acquisition makes tremendous sense for Hearst because it allows us to further solidify our position in the fashion and beauty, shelter, and men’s categories in the U.S. and dramatically grow our international footprint. Much like digital marketing service company iCrossing was a transformational acquisition, this is as well — allowing us to offer our advertising partners a more complete service, not only in print but also through the many digital initiatives that both Hearst and Hachette have been developing in recent years. I look forward to meeting our new employees in the coming days and weeks.”

Duncan Edwards, president and CEO, Hearst Magazines International, said, “We’ve always been interested in expanding our international publishing holdings and this portfolio of world-class brands provides an exceptional opportunity for us to add substantially to our existing global network of top magazines. We have long admired the editorial and publishing expertise of Lagardère around the world and we are looking forward to working with our new colleagues to build on this excellent foundation.”

France, Paris & USA, New York, NY

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Glacier Media acquires 15 titles from Rogers Publishing

June 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Glacier Media has acquired 15 trade publications and digital brands, together with their associated readership database, events and web presence from Rogers Publishing Limited.  Properties acquired include Food in Canada, Le Bulletin des agriculteurs, Canadian Packaging, HPAC and Meetings & Incentive Travel (including Incentiveworks, Canada’s largest trade show for the meetings, incentive travel and promotions industry).

The assets will integrate into Glacier’s Business Information Group, a leading operator of Canadian trade publications and industry-focused web sites, and Glacier’s Farm Business Communications.

Canada, Toronto

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Youthology acquires TeenSpot.com

May 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Youthology, the youth-targeted digital marketing arm within Gorilla Nation, an Evolve Media Corp. company, has acquired TeenSpot.com. TeenSpot is a highly moderated social network and content site for teens.

TeenSpot.com is a community website only for teenagers allowing them to create personal profiles and engage in online discussions with other teens that share the same interests. The site offers a wide variety of interactive and daily updated features including online chats, profile creation, engaging message boards, as well as original content on music, movies, entertainment, fashion and celebrities. In order to create content that resonates with the teen audience, the editorial team takes many topics directly from the community discussions.

The Spotlight blog has become a place where issues are introduced and then members express themselves through comments and boards, taking the topic to a whole new interactive level of discussion. TeenSpot currently has over 4 million registered users.

“TeenSpot.com is a keystone site for Youthology with an active community of teens that visit the site for specific topics they want to know more about and then engage in discussions with other teens,” says Kyle Fletcher vice president of sales for Youthology. “This combination of premium content paired with a loyal community of teens allows us to offer marketers a unique way to interact with this sought out demographic.”

Youthology will lead all sales efforts for TeenSpot by creating custom integrated marketing programs for marketers that incorporate mobile, video, social media and rich display products.

USA, Los Angeles, CA

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Oakley Capital acquires a controlling interest in Time Out New York

May 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Reuters are reporting that six months after buying half of Time Out’s London business, Investment firm Oakley Capital is acquiring 67.5% of the magazine and travel publisher’s New York business for 14.2 million pounds.

In November, DigiNet reported that Oakley Capital bought a 50 percent stake in Time Out London for 11.3 million pounds.

Shares of AIM-listed Bermudan based Oakley have gained 17 percent since the company bought a 50 percent stake in Time Out London.

Read the full story here

UK, London & USA, New York

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Reply.com to acquire US local business owners network MerchantCircle

May 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Reply.com, the auction marketplace for the acquisition of locally-targeted and category specific customer prospects, is to acquire MerchantCircle, a largest online network of US local business owners, for $60 million in cash and stock. The transaction is expected to be completed in Q3 2011. Reply! founder and CEO, Payam Zamani, will be CEO of the combined companies, which will be called Reply! Inc. Individually, each company is profitable, and the combined company projects revenues of over $100 million in 2012.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Reply! will be comprised of two components: Reply! Marketplace and Reply! Media. Founder and CEO of MerchantCircle, Ben T. Smith IV, will be President of the Reply! Media Division, reporting to Zamani.

“There is a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity in providing a practical and scalable online marketing solution for powering locally-targeted commercial transactions,” said Reply! founder & CEO, Payam Zamani. “Reply!’s Marketplace, combined with MerchantCircle’s network of local merchants and millions of local consumers, position the company to revolutionize locally-targeted online marketing and solve a major problem for locally-targeted businesses, who are frustrated by the complexity and lack of effectiveness of search engine marketing and display advertising.”

USA, San Ramon, CA

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