Fusion Corporate Partners

News Corp. has acquired Skiff, Hearst Corporation’s e-reading platform designed to deliver premium journalism to tablets, smartphones, e- readers and netbooks. The Company also announced an investment in Journalism Online, the venture dedicated to enabling newspapers, magazines and online-only publishers of quality content to collect revenue from their online readers. The financial terms of both agreements were not disclosed.

“Journalism co-founder Gordon Crovitz added, “We’re especially pleased with this investment because News Corp. is the industry leader in making the case that there is value in journalism online for which readers will be willing to pay.”

“Today’s developments underscore News Corporation’s ongoing commitment to create strong business models that support journalism at a time of great change in our industry,” said Jon Miller, Chief Digital Officer, News Corporation. “Both Skiff and Journalism Online serve as key building blocks in our strategy to transform the publishing industry and ensure consumers will have continued access to the highest quality journalism.”

“We’re delighted by this investment and this vote of confidence,” said Journalism Online co-founder Steven Brill. “Journalism co-founder Gordon Crovitz added, “We’re especially pleased with this investment because News Corp. is the industry leader in making the case that there is value in journalism online for which readers will be willing to pay.”

Location: USA, New York

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Related Fusion DigiNet articles:

• News Corp. invests in Beyond Oblivion Posted on April 26, 2010
• News Corp. acquires games developer Irata Labs Posted on April 23, 2010
• News Corporation is considering the sale of Berlin based Jamba Posted on March 11, 2010
• News Corporation acquires a stake in Rotana Group Posted on February 23, 2010
• CME buys 90% stake of the Dow Jones Indexes business for $607.5 million Posted on February 12, 2010
• Lachlan Murdoch sells $28m News Corp stake Posted on November 30, 2009
• MySpace Buys ad supported music streamer Imeem Posted on November 19, 2009

Forbes Media has announced that it is to sell its financial education web site Investopedia. The Jordan, Edmiston Group has been retained as the adviser for the sale.

Edmonton‐based Investopedia was acquired by Forbes Media in 2007. The web site offers unique and valuable financial and investor education through its extensive financial dictionary with over 9,000 terms used in personal finance, banking, and accounting and through its content generated by financial experts and editorial staff. Forbes say that the move is part of a larger strategy shift for Forbes Digital.

Location: Canada, Edmonton, AB 

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Sugar Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire FreshGuide Inc., which operates FreshGuide.com and BookFresh. FreshGuide.com is an online women-focused city guide that provides access to exclusive daily offers from a selection of local businesses in beauty, health and fitness, dining, travel getaways and other relevant categories. BookFresh provides an online booking service for local businesses, such as spas and salons.

Sugar Inc. is a diversified women’s media company that includes PopSugar Network and PopSugar TV, producing original content and social community for women, and ShopStyle, a social shopping service that brings together the most fashionable stores and the best brands. Sugar has had rapid organic audience growth since inception four years ago and today reaches over 16M monthly unique visitors globally. The company is privately held and backed by investor Sequoia Capital.

“We are constantly striving to add innovative offerings that entertain and delight our audience,” said Brian Sugar, founder and CEO of Sugar Inc. “We felt there were tremendous synergies between Sugar and FreshGuide that could be achieved by combining our large audience with their local service. We are very excited to be able to bring to our readers exclusive daily offers at the best places to eat, exercise, shop and relax in their local areas.”

FreshGuide was founded in 2008 by Ryan Donahue, a veteran of Pay Pal, and launched its first service, BookFresh, later that year. In January 2010, the company launched Freshguide.com to provide local offers by city. Currently, FreshGuide operates in four markets: San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Seattle. FreshGuide will continue to operate under Sugar Inc. as a separate brand.

“FreshGuide is focused on providing exclusive, local offers for women. By integrating our service with the PopSugar Network’s addictive editorial content, we are creating a city-based editorial and offers of unmatched quality in the market,” said Donahue. “This acquisition will also allow us to dramatically expand our reach and accelerate our growth. We plan to launch FreshGuide in 30 additional cities over the next 18 months in the U.S. and internationally in the UK, France, Germany and Australia where Sugar Inc. has operations.”

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA

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