According to Quintura blog and newspaper RBC Daily, the Ukrainian publisher of sports daily Komanda and football bi-weekly Futbol, Ukrainian Media Holding, is to acquire a majority stake in Russian online sports website Sports.ru.
The deal is valued at between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, according to the RBC Daily.
Russia & Ukraine
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We reported in November last year that Russia’s largest internet firm Yandex was considering a £1bn listing in London. According to Quintura blog and newspaper Vedomosti the IPO will go on NASDAQ in June – July 2011. The company has hired investment banks Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley to manage the IPO. The shares to be sold will come mostly from existing shareholders of Yandex. The private equity funds managed by Baring Vostok Capital Partners (BVCP), Tiger Global, Runet II, Almaz Capital and UFG own about 60% shares in Yandex.
Ru-Net Holdings, consortium of investors led by BVCP and UFG, invested $5.3 million for 35.7% shares in Yandex in April 2000.
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News Corporation is to acquire 100 percent of Shine Group, the international television production group, for an enterprise value of £415 million. Shine Group will report to Chase Carey, News Corporation Deputy Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer.
“This is a unique and exciting opportunity for us. Shine is a leader in the global television production business with a proven track record of developing hit shows and new formats worldwide,” said Carey. “We have every confidence that Shine will be an important part of the expansion strategy for our worldwide TV operations.”
Elisabeth Murdoch, Chairman and CEO Shine Group said: “In a rapidly consolidating global TV industry, this alliance uniquely provides the conditions in which Shine Group can continue to lead and prosper. News Corporation is the partner that enables us to maintain our aspiration to be best in class across all our sectors, and prepares and equips us for future growth. Shine shares News Corporation’s long-standing belief in creative excellence and ambitious expansion. I could not be happier or more proud that from such modest beginnings Shine will join such an extraordinary group of companies.”
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation commented: “Shine has an outstanding creative team that has built a significant independent production company in major markets in very few years, and I look forward to them becoming an important part of our varied and large content creation activities. I expect Liz Murdoch to join the board of News Corporation on completion of this transaction.”
USA, New York, NY & UK, London
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According to a report by Reuters, West Australian Newspaper Holdings (WAN) is to takeover Seven Media Group from Kerry Stokes and private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). The A$4.1 billion deal involves issuing shares, repaying a loan and taking on debt.
WAN will raise A$1.154 billion to fund the acquisition and will combine its newspaper interests with Seven Media’s television network and magazines businesses.
KKR will hold a 12.6 percent stake in the new combined group, down from 45 percent in Seven Media while Stokes’ Seven Group Holdings will hold 29.6 percent in the combined entity versus 45 percent in Seven Media.
Stokes’ Seven Group will received A$1.081 billion in WAN shares at $5.99 per share and A$250 million in convertible preference shares for a total value of about A$1.3 billion under the deal.
WAN would also repay an existing A$650 million loan owed by Seven Media to Seven Group.
KKR bought a 50 percent stake in Seven for A$3.2 billion in 2006 at the peak of the buyout boom and has since trimmed its stake to 45 percent following a period of losses that forced Stokes to write down his shareholding in Seven Media to zero.
Fashion retailer Nordstrom is to acquire HauteLook. HauteLook offers limited time sale events on the world’s top fashion and lifestyle brands.. The Company said the acquisition will enable Nordstrom to participate in the fast-growing private sale marketplace and provide a platform to increase innovation and speed in the way it serves customers in all channels.
Nordstrom will acquire HauteLook for $180 million in Nordstrom stock with a portion subject to ongoing vesting requirements. In addition, the transaction includes a three-year earn-out of up to $90 million in Nordstrom stock subject to company performance and vesting requirements for the existing management team. The overall transaction structure provides significant incentive and retention mechanisms for HauteLook senior management. HauteLook will operate as an independent, wholly-owned subsidiary, be managed by its current leadership and the HauteLook brand and website will remain separate from Nordstrom.
The transaction is expected to be dilutive to Nordstrom in 2011 due to non-cash expenses related to the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.
Guggenheim Securities, LLC is acting as financial advisor to Nordstrom and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Lane Powell PC are acting as its counsel. JP Morgan Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to HauteLook and Gunderson Dettmer is acting as its counsel.
USA, Seattle, WA
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is acquiring Kiddicare, the multi channel online retailer, together with the rights to its technology platform, for a total consideration of £70 million. The acquisition is the first step in developing Morrisons online business. The company will continue to trade separately as kiddicare.com, led by Scott and Elaine Weavers-Wright.
Kiddicare, founded in 1974 by Neville and Marilyn Wright, is a UK specialist online retailer of baby products. Turnover in the last full financial year (2010) was £37.5 million and has grown by 75% in the past three years using leading web technology and picking software. Over 80% of sales are now through the online channel.
The company owns a new state of the art freehold distribution facility and operates the largest baby nursery equipment retail store in Europe based in Peterborough, comprising 160,000 square feet of warehouse, retail and office space.
Morrisons intends to build its online non-food business, developing the kiddicare.com platform and management team, launching its first products in 2012.
Dalton Philips, Chief Executive of Morrisons, said, “This acquisition brings not only a respected, successful and fast growing specialist retailer into the Morrisons group but also a robust, scalable and highly advanced technology platform around which we can begin to build our e-commerce offer. We are delighted to welcome Scott and Elaine Weavers-Wright to Morrisons, along with their team. They are two of the most talented and respected operators of online retail today and their experience and track record with Kiddicare.com has been outstanding. Their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as Morrisons builds its online business.”
Scott Weavers-Wright, Chief Executive of kiddicare.com, said, “Elaine and I are extremely excited about partnering with Morrisons to accelerate the pace of future growth at kiddicare.com and look forward to working with the Morrisons team to develop their on-line offer. There are fantastic synergies between the two businesses and our platform will allow both brands to enjoy future success and to continue to deliver an unrivalled customer experience.”
The acquisition is subject to certain conditions which, if not satisfied by 23 March 2011, would allow Morrisons to terminate the agreement.
UK, Bradford, West Yorkshire
Local.com Corporation is to acquire the assets of Rovion, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DigitalPost Interactive.
Rovion is a rich media advertising company which sells, creates, delivers and tracks rich media advertising including animated and video-based ads for local and national advertisers, including CBS Radio, Cisco and LendingTree.
Under the terms of the agreement, Local.com will acquire the assets of Rovion for $1.5 million in cash with an earnout of up to $7 million in cash and/or stock if certain performance criteria are met in the three-year period following the closing. The transaction is expected to close within approximately 90 days.
USA, Irvine, CA
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Resource Nation has acquired the brand and associated assets of Business.com the online destination for business buyers looking for business-to-business solutions. JMI Equity, a growth equity firm that specialises in investments in internet companies, provided funding in support of the transaction and the Company’s ongoing growth. Resource Nation Chief Executive Officer Ryan Peddycord will continue to lead the Company with a combination of Business.com and Resource Nation management teams. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
“We are excited about this transaction and believe the combination of Resource Nation and Business.com will allow us to offer opportunities for our customers to reach a larger number of B2B purchasers at multiple stages in the purchasing process,” said Mr. Peddycord. “We are committed to providing the most comprehensive service and product offering available in our space. With the acquisition of Business.com, Resource Nation’s audience will have the ability to utilize the site as a one-stop destination for all the information and resources they need when making a purchase.”
As part of the transaction, JMI Equity General Partner Peter Arrowsmith and Vice President David Greenberg have joined Resource Nation’s Board of Directors. “JMI Equity is a sophisticated investor with strong expertise in our industry and helping companies similar to ours grow,” continued Mr. Peddycord. “We are deeply impressed with their understanding of our business and its growth drivers. With JMI Equity as our partner, I am confident we have the strategic and financial support to execute our strategy for the benefit of our employees, customers and service partners.”
Resource Nation will retain a number of current and former Business.com sales and account managers as well as other key employees. The company will remain headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Santa Monica and Boston.
USA, San Diego, CA
Outdoor Channel Holdings has acquired MyOutdoorTV.com, an online provider of hunting, fishing and shooting content. The site, which has a dedicated library of more than 300 television shows and 8,400 online videos on the outdoor lifestyle, will join Outdoor Channel’s digital network of web sites, including OutdoorChannel.com, Downrange.tv, Cascity.com, Lake-link.com and OutdoorChannelOutfitters.com, to create one of the top online networks for outdoor enthusiasts. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Launched in 2006, MyOutdoorTV.com offers a variety of long form programming in the hunting, shooting, fishing and conservation categories produced by legendary outdoor personalities, such as Bill Dance. It also features short form content, including more than 400 “how to” and gear reviews along with educational and wildlife refuge videos through its partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and over 35 state agencies. MyOutdoorTV has included Ford, Sprint, Cabela’s, Evinrude, U.S. Army, and Arctic Cat among its advertisers. In 2009, its top performing year, MyOutdoorTV garnered a total of 1.4 million unique visits and 7.7 million page views.
“MyOutdoorTV is a well-recognized player in the digital outdoor space, and as a leading multiplatform provider of content for outdoor enthusiasts, adding MyOutdoorTV to Outdoor Channel’s portfolio aggressively expands our digital footprint while also strengthening our online content library,” said Tom Hornish, Chief Operating Officer, Outdoor Channel. “This acquisition combines two powerful outdoor content sites and continues our strategy of maximizing the ongoing appeal of the Outdoor Channel brand, celebrity power and our high quality cross platform programming for our viewers, producers and advertisers.”
OutdoorChannel.com serves as the anchor property in Outdoor Channel’s digital network – a digital network that, according to comScore, attracted a total of 13 million unique visits, 73 million page views and 21 million visitors in 2010. In December 2010, Outdoor Channel’s digital network ranked among the top 8 percent of all properties and web sites in comScore’s sports category.
Chris Moise, former Founder and CEO and Dave Barton, Director of Programming at MyOutdoorTV have been working with the Outdoor Channel’s digital team to aid with content acquisition and online partnerships. They will now be heavily focused on continuing the growth of MyOutdoorTV.
USA, Temecula, CA
All Web Leads, an online sales lead generation company supplying the US insurance industry, has acquired InsuranceLeads.com, a provider of online leads to insurance agents, brokers and carriers. To finance the acquisition All Web Leads has teamed with Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm with over $2.5 billion under management, who have made a majority investment in the combined entity. All Web Leads’ current executive team will lead the combined company, which will continue to be based in Austin, Texas. Morgan Keegan served as an advisor to All Web Leads, Inc for the transaction. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are very excited to welcome the InsuranceLeads.com team to the All Web Leads family,” said Bill Daniel, CEO of All Web Leads, Inc. “This acquisition will create tremendous additional value for the insurance agents, brokers and carriers that purchase Internet leads by more closely matching their business needs and those of online consumers.”
“All Web Leads has built an impressive, data-driven online marketing business focused on the insurance sector,” said Michael Kumin of Great Hill Partners. “We are pleased to partner with Bill and the team at
USA, Austin, TX
Fusion Corporate Partners 
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