BlackBerry maker RIM acquires DataViz in a deal worth $50m in cash

Crackberry is reporting that BlackBerry maker RIM has acquired DataViz in a deal worth $50m in cash.

Rim’s statement reads, “RIM has acquired some of the assets of DataViz and hired the majority of its employees to focus on supporting the BlackBerry platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the transaction was not material to RIM in the context of RIM’s financial results.” Most news sources are reporting that the deal is thought to be worth $50 million dollars in cash.

DataViz is best known for its mobile Office suite, Documents To Go. Other products include wireless Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync client and RoadSync.

Canada, Ontario & USA, Milford, CT

Metropolis acquires Packaging News and AV magazine, along with Motoringjobs.com from Haymarket

Haymarket Media has completed the sale of two specialist business-to-business titles and a jobs website to the Metropolis International Group. The titles are Packaging News, AV (which covers the professional market for audio-visual products), and the website Motoringjobs.com

All editorial and sales staff who work on the titles will be moving to Metropolis’ Croydon office.

Kevin Costello, chief executive of Haymarket Media, said: “The sale of these titles is part of our move to concentrate on our core markets. I’m delighted they are moving to an up-and-coming publisher like Metropolis, where I know they will find a good home and they will continue to flourish.”

Jonathan Mills, chief executive of Metropolis, said: “We are very pleased to have acquired Packaging News, AV and Motoringjobs.com from Haymarket. This is our third acquisition in 2010 and these excellent, long standing businesses will form an important part of our growing Business Media Division.”

UK, London

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Emap has acquired The Energy Event

Emap has acquired The Energy Event and its related magazines from Eamonn Brennan and Neil Western of Western Business Media.

From 2011, The Energy Event will run alongside the Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition (RWM) in halls 17-20 at the NEC.

Whilst the two shows will be marketed separately and each will retain their own identities and focus, the move of the Energy Event to the NEC next door to RWM will allow the event to benefit from the improved layout and facilities of purpose built exhibition halls as well as the relevant cross over audience from RWM.

“RWM and the Energy Event are a natural fit for co location. There is a growing appetite for waste-to-energy conversion as way of dealing with two major issues at once – waste management and sustainable energy. By bringing the waste and sustainable energy sectors together in this way we can help satisfy that appetite,” said Gerry Sherwood, RWM’s Event Director.

Eamonn Brennan will remain involved as a consultant and Steve Swaine and Tim McManan Smith will take up key roles on the project team.

“It is great news for the market that Emap has acquired the Energy Event. They are the natural purchaser and have a reputation for delivering events that are the focal point of the markets they serve. Their focus and resource will enable the event to move to the next stage in its development at the NEC. I will be working closely with the MD’s Alison Jackson and Paul Dunne and ED Gerry Sherwood to ensure a smooth transition” said Eamonn Brennan

MD Alison Jackson commented “We are delighted to welcome Eamonn, Steve and Tim to Emap. We have admired this event from afar after visiting several times. It is a quality, industry led event with great content and an essential diary date for anyone in the sector. Emap’s marketing and operational resource will ensure the event becomes even more important for decision makers in the energy sector as it develops in conjunction with market needs going forward”

UK, London

Digital Sky Technologies is acquiring the final 20% of Russian social network Odnoklassniki.ru

According to Quintura blog, Digital Sky Technologies, which owns 80 percent interest in Russian social network Odnoklassniki.ru, is acquiring the remaining 20 percent stake from Odnoklassniki.ru founder, Albert Popkov. The deal could be valued at between $14 million and $28 million.

Russia, Moscow

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Idle Media completes the acquisitions of Prison Block, Chixrus and Tweetvibe

Idle Media, (OTCBB: IDLM) has closed on the previously announced acquisitions of the assets of three online properties: www.prisonblock.com, www.chixr.us, and www.tweetvibe.com.

The acquisitions were transacted in cash, and are therefore non-dilutive to the company’s shareholders. More information will be available in an upcoming 8K filing which will be able to be viewed here: http://www.sec.gov

According to Mr. Marcus Frasier, Idle Media Inc.’s President and CEO, “These three acquisitions will allow us to expand our offerings and address new demographic groups.”

He continued, “With Prison Block we have acquired an online gaming property that already has almost 50,000 users. We plan to increase the games membership base and capitalize on the growing popularity of virtual currency transactions, whereby a player can transact within the game using a ‘virtual’ currency that they purchase with real dollars.”

Earlier this summer Idle Media acquired the source code for Backyard Buddies, a Facebook game. Facebook boasts well over 400,000,000 users worldwide. Recently, Google announced a $200 million investment in Zynga, billed as the world’s largest social gaming developer.

“Social media gaming is absolutely blowing up,” continued Mr. Frasier. “I spoke previously about games like NightClub City, which launched on Facebook in April of this year and already has 4.5 million users. These types of applications have massive revenue potential if exploited correctly, and we are working quickly to position ourselves solidly within this genre. We think it is inevitable that the social media platforms will take over online gaming at some point, it’s just a natural synergy.”

Mr. Frasier added, “And with our new applications for mobile devices, like our award-winning DatPiff Mobile, we are also positioning to capture a piece of the forecasted (VisionGain) $60 billion in revenue from mobile social networking.”

Inside Network estimates the US virtual goods market will reach US $1.6 billion in 2010 and the social gaming market will contribute $835 million of that total. And, according to research and asset management company Think Equity, the U.S. market for social network games will reach over US $2 billion by 2012. There are over 45 million social gamers in the U.S., with 25% saying their social network is their primary gaming destination.

USA, Leesport, PA

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comScore acquires Nedstat, global analytics and online optimization provider

comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR) has acquired Nedstat, a leading provider of web analytics and innovative video measurement solutions for approximately $36.7 million. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nedstat offers technology that helps organizations optimize customer experiences and maximize the return on digital media investments. With the Nedstat technology installed on thousands of sites, the acquisition helps comScore accelerate its global expansion strategy, particularly in European markets, and strengthens comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement™ (UDM) platform, which combines panel-based audience measurement with census-level data collection to provide a holistic view of digital consumer behavior.

“The acquisition of Nedstat is another important step towards fulfilling our vision of making the Unified Digital Measurement platform the global standard for digital measurement,” said Dr. Magid Abraham, comScore President & CEO. “In addition, our clients are asking for a new class of business applications to maximize the monetization of their audiences using the UDM data we already collect. The Nedstat platform helps us deliver substantial additional value to clients, expand existing customer relationships, and broaden the scope of our addressable market by adding new and unique digital business analytics to comScore’s offerings. Nedstat clients have benefited over the years from the platform’s detailed and flexible analytical tools and elegant user-experience. We are committed to using Nedstat’s technology to develop new applications, greater scalability, a more expansive data set, and a unified and consistent view of audience statistics, all of which we think will help generate actionable insights that can lead to improved business results for customers.”

“We are excited to join forces with comScore, a recognized global leader in digital measurement,” said Michael Kinsbergen, CEO of Nedstat. “comScore’s ‘Unified Digital Measurement’ platform presents a compelling vision of the future of digital measurement, and we are eager to play a vital role in helping to make that vision a reality. We believe that Nedstat web analytics can add substantial value for clients when combined with the existing comScore measurement platform.”

Upon the acquisition, Nedstat became a wholly owned subsidiary of comScore. Mr. Kinsbergen will be helping in the transition and will continue to be involved by joining comScore’s advisory board. In addition, Fred Appelman, Nedstat’s Chief Technology Officer, and Michiel Berger, Nedstat’s co-founder and Chief Innovations Officer, will join comScore in senior strategy and technology roles.

comScore believes that the Nedstat acquisition will contribute approximately $4 million of additional revenue for the remainder of 2010. comScore anticipates that due to transaction-related expenses and transaction-related accounting adjustments the transaction will be dilutive to 2010 GAAP and non-GAAP net income, but accretive to quarterly GAAP and non-GAAP net income within the first half of 2011.

USA, Reston, VA

Thomson Reuters acquires Healthcare Data Management

Thomson Reuters has acquired Healthcare Data Management. Effective immediately, the company will become part of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Healthcare Data Management brings unmatched expertise in health benefits auditing and expense management reporting solutions,” said Jon Newpol, executive vice president at the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. “Together, we’re poised to meet the increased demand for auditing and compliance due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the healthcare reform law, and an overall focus on eliminating waste from the healthcare system.

“Healthcare Data Management’s primary solutions, BenefitsAudit and BenefitsWatch, will play a key role in expanding our current solutions for employer and government markets,” Newpol said. “As a result, our new Audit & Compliance offering will support both retrospective and ongoing assessments of claims data.”

Healthcare Data Management was a pioneer in the establishment of modeling employee health benefit plans and using data-driven metrics to monitor plan performance. The company is currently one of the leading independent resources for maximizing the value and accountability of self-insured health benefit plans that are managed by plan administrators and pharmacy benefit managers.

USA, Ann Arbor, MI

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UBM Studios acquires virtual recruitment fairs business Astound

UBM Studios it has acquired Astound LLC, the creator of Milicruit and Unicruit virtual career fairs targeted at placing veterans/military personnel and graduating college students in the workforce.  By adding Astound to its portfolio of virtual business solutions, UBM Studios adds Fortune 500 clients including GE, Raytheon, CSX, Walgreens, Stryker, Verizon, Booz Allen, Amazon, Target, 3M, Accenture and FedEx to its roster.
“The Astound business nicely complements our existing virtual business offerings.  By combining the strength of our two businesses, we now deliver a best in class solution for virtual career fairs.  This is the first step in our strategic initiative to significantly enhance our portfolio,” said Kate Spellman, SVP, Managing Director, UBM Studios.  “We are pleased to harness our technology expertise to offer virtual career solutions that will streamline the recruitment process for recruiters and individuals seeking employment.” 

“We are very excited to become a part of UBM today.  UBM is a forerunner in the virtual event marketplace and is poised for growth in the virtual events sector.  We are pleased to expand the UBM Studios virtual recruitment fairs portfolio with new offerings, industries and customers,” said Kevin O’Brien, Managing Partner of Astound.  “We have seen tremendous success with our niche events and we are very proud to help veterans as well as college graduates find employment.  The media coverage we have received surrounding our Milicruit events reinforces the critical importance of our virtual career fairs.”

USA, Chicago, IL

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Google acquires SocialDeck

Google has acquired SocialDeck.

SocialDeck is a company that develops social-based mobile games. The company was founded in 2008 and has launched several titles for the iPhone, Facebook, and BlackBerry using its social gaming platform technology, which enables simultaneous game play across multiple mobile devices and social networks. SocialDeck raised its first financing round from the BlackBerry Partners Fund in March 2009. The company’s core team splits its time between Toronto and San Francisco.

The announcement on the SocualDeck website reads:

SocialDeck is joining Google!

Big news! We’re super excited to announce that someone found our social games as fun as you have — in this case, that “someone” is Google. SocialDeck has been acquired and we’ve joined the Google team.

We started this company with the goal of connecting friends through social games on all kinds of exciting mobile devices. We’ve been amazed and humbled by all the stories and experiences our customers (you!) have shared with us.

Thank you for all your support and for being part of SocialDeck’s success so far.

Happy Shaking!

– The SocialDeck Team

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA & Mountain View, CA

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Blanca Games acquires poker network Cereus Network

Blanca Games, led by e-gaming entrepreneur Stuart Gordon, has acquired the Cereus Poker Network, one of the largest poker networks in the world.  The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Blanca’s acquisition of Cereus includes the Network operations, software, the absolutepoker.com brand, and the ub.com brand.

Stuart Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of Blanca Games, said, “The acquisition of Cereus is a significant opportunity for us.  Cereus is a major platform of well-managed assets.  Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like ub.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market:  players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.  From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service.  We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.”

Mr. Gordon further commented, “We are confident that the Cereus Network has found an excellent home in Blanca Games.  Over the past several years, Cereus has developed into an outstanding platform, which is poised for significant growth.  This transaction will benefit Cereus players and employees alike.  We expect no changes in the playing experience on the Cereus sites, except for the improvements that will likely be the long-term result of this transaction.”

Commenting on Blanca’s priorities for Cereus going forward, Mr. Gordon added:  “We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the Cereus Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service.  Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.  We’re also pleased with the efficiency and the player-friendly approach of Cereus’s customer service operation, but we will always be seeking to improve in this area.”

About Blanca Games, Inc.  Stuart Gordon established Blanca Games, Inc. for the purposes, among others, of making acquisitions in the online gaming industry, including the purchase of the Cereus Poker Network.  Mr. Gordon is the CEO of Blanca and is a pioneer in the online gaming industry.  He is also the founder and operator of bingomania.com and Helix Gaming International, Ltd, which are licensed and regulated both in the jurisdictions of Kahnawake and Antigua.

St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda