DMGT in “informal” talks to buy Express Newspapers

April 4, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

 

Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman is reporting in his blog that The Daily Mail and General Trust have held “informal” talks with Express Newspapers owner Richard Desmond about buying his newspapers.

The future of Express Newspapers has come up in several reports in recent weeks. The Sunday Times reported yesterday that Goldman Sachs is looking at options for Desmond’s newspaper titles. Fusion DigiNet reported last week that Barclays Capital has been appointed to sell the magazine business, including OK magazine.

The possible change of direction follows Desmond’s move into mainstream television with the acquisition of Channel Five last September in a £100m deal.

In his blog, Kleinman says: “Any deal resulting in the merger of the Express and Mail titles would mark an extraordinary rapprochement between the two proprietors, who for several years fought an almost-daily feud through the pages of their newspapers.

“The two men are now said to get on reasonably well, and I understand both believe that a deal could be in their interests.”

He added: “It’s not clear who initiated the discussion between Desmond and Rothermere (sources in each camp tell me that the other was responsible for doing so).

“To be clear, Desmond may yet choose not to sell his newspapers.”

Read Mark Kleinman’s blog

UK, London

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DST Global launches new fund and invests in Spotify and 360buy

April 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to Quintura Blog, Yuri Milner‘s  DST Global, which has made investments in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon, has launched a new fund, DST Global – 2 that will have international investors as limited partners. DST Global – 2will invest in later stage, high growth companies, reported newspaper Vedomosti. Its first investment was one in Groupon in January 2011.

DST Global – 2 is investing $50 million for a 5 percent stake in online music service Spotify, and investing in 360buy the largest Chinese online retailer, by joining its funding round,

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ALL3MEDIA considers a sale

April 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

A notification on All3Media’s website reads, “All3Media Has Appointed UBS To Conduct A Strategic Review Of Its Business. Possible Buyers Have Not Been Approached Nor Has ALL3MEDIA Received Any Offers.”

The FT is reporting that two analysts said a multiple of 12 times ebitda was possible, citing the amount paid by News Corp for Shine Productions in February. At a valuation of 12 times its 2009-10 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £50.7m, it would be worth about £600m.

ALL3MEDIA is Britain’s largest independent television production company. It was formed following the acquisition of Chrysalis Group’s TV division in September 2003, led by Steve Morrison, David Liddiment, Jules Burns and John Pfeil. In September 2006, Permira became All3Media’s majority shareholder.

UK, London

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Bauer closes in on BBC Magazines as Future and Burda drop out

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Brand Republic is reporting that BBC Worldwide has entered into protracted negotiations with German publisher Bauer Media Group as the 12-month hunt to find a publishing partner for its BBC Magazines portfolio nears completion.

Among those who previously took an interest were specialist consumer publisher Future and German giant Burda, both of which are no longer in talks with BBC Magazines.

Included in any deal will be the licensing rights for BBC Magazines and international best-seller Top Gear.

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Read the full story at Brand Republic

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Collective acquires UK video network Web TV Enterprise

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Collective, a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising, has acquired premium online video advertising network, Web TV Enterprise. The deal, follows Collective’s February acquisition of video advertising platform OggiFinogi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Web TV Enterprise is the UK’s largest premium online video ad network, representing many of the UK’s leading web publishers and content owners. A pioneer of the VOD (video on-demand) advertising space since 2006, Web TV presents advertisers with the widest range of premium video channels on the web, reaching more than 25 million UK viewers a month.

“Slow adoption of online video advertising has resulted in the format’s potential being left largely untapped with video companies remaining a small subset of overall television advertising spend,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective. “Unlike most video networks, Web TV’s revenues come largely from broadcast media budgets versus smaller digital plans. This is a trend that we see accelerating in the UK, US and globally.”

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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RALLY Marketing Group acquiring PassionFruit Games

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

RALLY Marketing Group, an integrated marketing and promotions agency, is acquiring PassionFruit Games, a developer of casual video games designed for the female market. PassionFruit Games recently released Tiger Eye Part 1: Curse of the Riddle Box, which has become one of the top-selling, novel-based casual games released to date. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Given the importance of the female shopper to our clients, we’ve built an incredible knowledge base and put great effort into understanding how their behavior is changing,” said RALLY CEO Lisa Clarke. “The acquisition of PassionFruit Games is an example of how RALLY, as an integrated agency, can help our clients capitalize on the evolution of marketing regardless of the platform or media.”

For Melissa Heidrich, Co-founder and Studio Director at PassionFruit Games, finding the right organizational fit was key. “There are many reasons on paper why this union makes sense,” she added. “However my decision is validated daily when we come in, sit in the same offices as one company, and work together to move this exciting new partnership forward.”

USA, Seattle, WA

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Econsultancy – profits up and membership hits 100,000

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Econsultancy, the community website for digital marketing and e-commerce professionals has reached the major milestone of 100,000 members globally. Earlier this month Meera Shah, Director at Red Apple Delivery became the 100,000th person to sign up.

The membership milestone has been achieved eight years after Econsultancy first launched its paid-for subscription model, and follows on from a period of international expansion to the US, Middle East and Far East.

Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein says: “We’re all thrilled to have surpassed the 100,000-member mark. We’ve always believed in our professional community-focused business model and, in an era where many publishers are scrabbling to find a monetization model that works, it’s exciting to be growing so fast, particularly in the US, Middle East and Far East. We believe the internet is opening up huge opportunities internationally for UK businesses like ours: the growth in elearning and web-delivered professional qualifications alone is immense.”

The business is also growing financially. PaidContent reported today that Econsultancy’s profits for the current year are expected to be up by 50% to £1.5 million and revenues up by around £1 million to close to £6 million.

Read the full story on Econsultancy’s website – here

UK, London

 

 

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Lagardere and Hearst sign the share purchase agreement for the sale of Lagardere’s international magazine business

March 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Update

Previous article Hearst Corporation to buy the international magazine business of Lagardère posted onJanuary 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet | Edit

Lagardère SCA has today signed the share purchase agreement for the sale of its international magazine business to Hearst Corporation.

The closing of the transaction remains subject to approval by local partners in certain countries as well as to certain customary governmental approvals and antitrust clearances in certain jurisdictions.

The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the coming months.

France, Paris

 

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TechTarget to acquire Computer Weekly from Reed Business Information

March 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Technology media company TechTarget is to acquire the websites, product offerings, and events associated with Computer Weekly and its sister channel-targeted brand MicroScope from Reed Business Information. The transaction is expected to close by the end of April. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The print versions of both Computer Weekly and MicroScope will be discontinued when the deal concludes.

Founded in 1966, Computer Weekly is read by UK Managers, Directors and CIOs monitoring the technology landscape. ComputerWeekly.com receives an average of 425,000 visits and 1 million page views each month. It has an associated email database of more than 165,000 subscribers, 42% of which are senior level IT managers. MicroScope has a long history of helping advertisers to reach the value-added resellers (VARs) that influence the technology purchase decision-making process. This site receives more than 100,000 page views each month and maintains more than 15,000 email subscribers.

TechTarget owns more than 90 technology-specific websites with 9 million registered members. Computer Weekly and MicroScope will complement TechTarget’s established offerings in the region, including SearchDataManagement.co.uk, SearchNetworking.co.uk, SearchSecurity.co.uk, SearchStorage.co.uk, and SearchVirtualDataCentre.co.uk.

“ComputerWeekly.com and MicroScope.co.uk strengthens TechTarget’s already high quality audience and substantial reach into senior IT decision makers in the UK,” said Bill Crowley, senior vice president of international, TechTarget. “TechTarget brings significant new opportunities to these properties with our history of developing audiences, lead generation expertise and our operational ability to execute multi-country guaranteed programs,” continued Crowley.

Computer Weekly and MicroScope are brands that UK IT decision makers already trust, and they bring technology news and IT management focused content with deep understanding of UK market nuances. TechTarget brings detailed technical content that all IT pros and managers need to make informed purchase decisions. Advertisers on these sites will gain a broader range of lead generation tools and branding products, along with greater functionality for interacting with IT buyers as they actively research technology solutions.

With the addition of Computer Weekly, TechTarget will also pursue new events in the IT space in addition to its existing Storage and Virtual Desktop events, and will expand on custom events already run by Computer Weekly.

USA, Newton, MA & UK, Sutton, Surrey

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RR Donnelley acquires Journalism Online

March 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

R. R. Donnelley has acquired Journalism Online and its Press+ offering which enables publishers to seamlessly integrate a paid content engine with their websites. Journalism Online is managed by two of the company’s co-founders, veteran digital-media leaders Steven Brill, founder of The American Lawyer magazine and Court TV, and L. Gordon Crovitz, a former Wall Street Journal publisher. They will sty with the business.

“Our publishing customers continue to develop multi-channel advertising and editorial strategies and Press+ provides a valuable tool for monetizing content,” said Thomas J. Quinlan III, RR Donnelley’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We provide solutions across the entire breadth of the publishing supply chain, from content creation and digital asset management through subscription solicitations, processing and renewals. Press+ enhances our offering and opens new avenues for publishers to generate incremental subscription and advertising revenue.”

Steven Brill said, “We are delighted to bring Press+’s innovative capabilities to RR Donnelley and look forward to engaging with the broad array of consumer and b-to-b publishers with whom RR Donnelley has relationships. For nearly 150 years, RR Donnelley has been enabling publishers to reach their customers with a viable, cost effective business model. We are excited to be working with them as they continue that tradition and that mission in the digital age.”

USA, Chicago, IL & USA, New York, NY

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