Fusion Corporate Partners

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has agreed to acquire ChoiceVendor, a startup that provides real-world ratings and reviews of business-to-business service providers in more than 70 categories across the United States. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being released.

“Our acquisition of ChoiceVendor is right in line with our top priority to build a world-class team at LinkedIn, says Jeff Weiner, chief executive officer of LinkedIn. “We’ve admired the work that Yan-David, Rama, and the talented ChoiceVendor team have done for some time now and are excited to have them join us, especially given their highly relevant work experience.”

ChoiceVendor is based in San Francisco and was founded by chief executive officer Yan-David Erlich and vice president of engineering Rama Ranganath. Prior to founding ChoiceVendor, Yan-David was an entrepreneur in residence at Battery Ventures and the founder and CEO of Mogad/Social.IM which was acquired by iSkoot in 2008. Previously, he also held software engineering and product management roles at Microsoft and Google. Rama was at Google before founding ChoiceVendor where he was an early engineer on the AdSense team and eventually managed several teams including the Google Ad Manager team. Prior to that, Rama worked at Microsoft.

“Since Yan-David and I worked with members of the LinkedIn team in the past during our time at Google, we’ve kept a sharp eye on the company’s phenomenal growth,” said Rama Ranganath, one of ChoiceVendor’s co-founders. “We’re excited about the direction that LinkedIn is headed, particularly in terms of helping its members derive valuable business insights from the site, and are looking forward to joining the team.”

USA, Mountain Views, CA

Related article – LinkedIn acquires mSpoke Posted on August 13, 2010

Kendall Law Group is investigating Internet Brands for shareholders in connection with the proposed acquisition by an affiliate of Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VI, L.P. The national securities litigation firm is investigating whether a fair process was used prior to entering into the merger agreement and whether the Board of Directors breached their fiduciary duties by not seeking a deal that would provide better value of the Company. 

On September 20, 2010, the companies announced the definitive merger agreement under which Internet Brands would be acquired by an affiliate of Hellman & Friedman in a transaction valued at approximately $640 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Internet Brands stockholders will receive $13.35 in cash for each outstanding share of Internet Brands/INET common stock held. While this offer represents a 46.5% premium over the closing price on September 17, 2010, Internet Brands stock was trading for close to $11.00 per share earlier this month. The firm believes that transaction may be significantly undervaluing the company.

USA, Dallas, TX

Related articles:

• Internet Brands to be acquired by PE firm Hellman & Friedman for $640 million Posted on September 21, 2010
• Internet Brands acquires DoDTracker.com and PursePage.com Posted on April 28, 2010
• Internet Brands acquires online professional directory network ExpertHub Posted on April 28, 2010

Internet media company Internet Brands is to be acquired by an affiliate of Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VI, L.P. in a transaction valued at approximately $640 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Internet Brands stockholders will receive $13.35 in cash for each outstanding share of common stock they own. This price represents a premium of approximately 46.5% over the closing price on September 17, 2010.

The Board of Directors, on the unanimous recommendation of a Special Committee of independent directors, approved the merger agreement and recommends that Internet Brands’ stockholders adopt the merger agreement.

“We are very happy for our stockholders — this is a great outcome. And we’re excited about continuing to build our business with a great new partner,” said Bob Brisco, CEO of Internet Brands. “We are deeply grateful to those who have shared the journey with us this far. And we are looking forward to the next leg of building a powerful New Media company with our new owners.”

“Internet Brands is a uniquely positioned internet media company,” said Andy Ballard, Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman. “The company has built an impressive platform for branded vertical websites. We look forward to partnering with Bob and the entire Internet Brands team to support the company’s continued success.”

Debt financing commitments have been provided by Bank of America, N.A., BMO Capital Markets, GE Capital and RBC Capital Markets. Idealab, which beneficially owns approximately 19% of Internet Brands’ outstanding common stock and approximately 64% of the voting power of the company, has entered into a voting agreement with an affiliate of Hellman & Friedman relating to the merger agreement. The transaction is subject to stockholder approval, including approval by holders of a majority of the outstanding common stock not owned by Idealab and certain other excluded parties, and customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Jefferies & Company, Inc. is acting as exclusive financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is acting as legal advisor to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Internet Brands. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is serving as counsel to Internet Brands. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as counsel to Hellman & Friedman.

USA, El Segundo, CA

Related articles:

• Internet Brands acquires DoDTracker.com and PursePage.com Posted on April 28, 2010
• Internet Brands acquires online professional directory network ExpertHub Posted on April 28, 2010

Autobytel, a provider of online consumer purchase requests and marketing resources to the automotive industry, has acquired substantially all of the assets of privately-held Autotropolis and Cyber Ventures.  Prior to the acquisition, the Sellers operated under common ownership in Tampa, Florida and shared operating staff and other administrative and operational resources. Cyber Ventures through proprietary content, generates and sells in-market consumer automotive purchase requests.  Autotropolis, through its Autotropolis.com website, provides new car purchase requests and related digital products directly to automotive dealers.
 
The acquisition was effected through an Asset Purchase Agreement. The aggregate purchase price is $15,000,000, which includes post-closing cash payments of up to $1,000,000, contingent on the achievement of target operating goals of the acquired companies over a 12 quarter period commencing with the quarter ending December 31, 2010, and ending with the quarter ending September 30, 2013.  At closing, Autobytel paid a portion of the purchase price with a combination of $9,000,000 in cash on hand, $5,000,000 in convertible subordinated debt, and a warrant to purchase 2,000,000 shares of Autobytel’s common stock.

On a combined basis, Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis had 2009 annual revenues of approximately $10 million. Autobytel reported annual revenues of $53 million for 2009 and $23.9 million for the first half of 2010. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Autobytel’s earnings.

Cyber Ventures and Autotropolis co-founders Ian Bentley and William Ferriolo and certain members of their staff will join the Autobytel team.

USA, Tampa, FL & Irive, CA