Cox Enterprises sells 25% of AutoTrader.com to Providence Equity Partners

May 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Providence Equity Partners is taking a 25-percent equity interest in Cox Enterprises owned AutoTrader.com. Cox made the announcement today. They will maintain majority ownership and operating control of AutoTrader.com, and Providence’s ownership will have no impact on day-to-day operations.  Providence will assume two seats on AutoTrader.com’s Board of Directors.

“All of us at AutoTrader.com are excited to see Providence Equity invest in our company,” said Chip Perry, CEO and president, AutoTrader.com. “Their support will enable us to pursue the many organic growth opportunities, as well as strategic acquisitions, that will help improve the products and services we offer our customers.”

The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised Cox in this transaction. 

Locations: USA, Atlanta, GA
Sectors: Internet : eRetail
Ref: F231109-417

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Interactive Data is to be acquired by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a transaction valued at $3.4 Billion

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by investment funds managed by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a transaction with a total value of $3.4 billion.

Under the agreement, Interactive Data’s stockholders will receive $33.86 in cash for each share of Interactive Data common stock they own. This represents a premium of approximately 32.9 percent over the closing share price on Thursday, January 14, 2010, the last trading day before the Company announced that its Board of Directors was conducting a review of strategic alternatives. Completion of the transaction is expected to occur by the end of the third quarter of 2010, following regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Following the completion of the transaction, Interactive Data will remain headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts and maintain its offices around the world. The Company will continue to be led by its senior management team and expects to continue expanding its workforce over time.

The transaction has fully committed financing, consisting of a combination of equity to be invested by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus and debt financing to be provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and UBS Investment Bank. Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus are equal equity partners in this transaction.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Company, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to the Company.

Foros acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee of the Board, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP acted as legal advisor to the Special Committee.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as lead financial advisor, Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus.

Location: USA, Bedford, MA
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-413

Previously reported

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Morningstar acquires Realpoint

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research, has acquired Realpoint, a Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organization (NRSRO) that specializes in structured finance. The purchase price consists of approximately $42 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments, and approximately 199,000 shares of restricted stock valued at approximately $10 million at the time the acquisition was announced March 19, 2010. Realpoint had revenue of approximately $12 million in 2009.

Realpoint currently offers securities ratings, research, surveillance services, and data to help institutional investors identify credit risk in commercial mortgage-backed securities. More than 225 institutional investment firms subscribe to Realpoint’s trusted ratings and analytics, including the majority of investment managers who invest in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Realpoint has about 40 employees in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Realpoint will become a business unit within Morningstar’s Equity and Credit Research business. Over time, the company will be rebranded under Morningstar.

Location: USA, Horsham, PA
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-414

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Is Playboy about to start making acquisitions?

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Playboy Enterprises is hiring Paul H. Lee as the new managing director of new digital ventures.  The company says that Lee will be responsible for launching, acquiring, partnering with, and investing in new digital business opportunities.

There has been plenty of speculation about Playboy Enterprises being sold over the last year. Is this a sign that Playboy may now be thinking about acquiring?

Lee joins PEI from the Peacock Equity Fund, a joint venture between NBC Universal and GE Capital, where he currently serves as senior vice president. He will assume his new duties on May 17, 2010.

Location: USA, Chicago, IL
Sectors: Publishing
Ref: F231109-415

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Intel Capital capital invests in Caring.com and SmartZip Analysis

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization, has announced three U.S.-based investments totaling approximately $15 million. Two of the investments are relevant to readers of Fusion DigiNet. They are eldercare website Caring.com and real estate investment ratings provider SmartZip Analytics. The third investment is infrastructure services provider Virtustream.

Locations: Caring.com – USA, San Mateo, CA: SmartZip Analysis – USA, Pleasanton, CA

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LivingSocial raises $14 million. It’s third round this year

April 30, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

In January we reported that LivingSocial, the social commerce business behind LivingSocial Deals and Facebook applications Visual Bookshelf and Pick Your Five, raised $5 million. In March we reported that LivingSocial raised $25 million. Just six weeks later LivingSocial has raised another £14 million.

The round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, also included U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution.

LivingSocial is to use the funds to expand its deals service into additional markets, starting with Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia.

Location: USA, Washington DC
Sectors: eRetail, Internet
Ref: F231109-411

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Google acquires Labpixies

April 30, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Google has acquired LabPixies, a developer of personalized web gadgets “widgets” including iGoogle, Android and the iPhone. The team will be based in Google’s Tel Aviv office.

Over the years, Google has worked closely with LabPixies on a variety of projects, including the launch of a number of global OpenSocial based gadgets.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s believed to be between $15 to $25 million, according to TechCrunch.

Location: Israel, Tel Aviv
Sector: Internet
Ref: F231109-409

Other recent Google acquisitions

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Tremor Media raises $40 million in funding

April 30, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Video advertising network, Tremor Media, has raised $40 million in funding led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund with participation from DFJ and Triangle Peak Partners. Existing investors including Canaan Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, and SAP Ventures also participated significantly in this financing.

The capital will primarily be used to invest in R&D to bolster Acudeo®, its leading technology platform, with new solutions for both advertisers and publishers, and to drive expansion into other media channels where digital video advertising will grow significantly.

Tremor Media has more than doubled the size of its network from 2009 to 2010. The company became profitable in 2009, demonstrating revenue gains that exceeded more than twice the rate of growth of the overall online video market.

“Tremor Media is at the epicenter of video advertising. We have created the preferred technology and media platform for video advertisers, publishers and consumers and we are continuing to build long-term solutions that will meet the demand of the rapidly evolving digital video landscape,” said Jason Glickman, CEO, Tremor Media. “The next 12-18 months are critical for online video’s growth as massive advertising budgets shift to online video and consumption of online video rises. This infusion of capital will allow us to accelerate our lead in the marketplace and fuel our continued innovation. It is a validation of our company’s success and indicative of the enormous opportunity for the digital video space.”

Location: USA, New York, NY
Sector: Internet
Ref: F231109-408

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Attensity Group acquires social media monitoring firm Biz360

April 30, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Attensity Group, a business that provides user applications for businesses to analyse unstructured data, is acquiring social media monitoring firm Biz360.

“Our acquisition of Biz360 further underscores Attensity’s commitment to open the enterprise to the world’s unstructured data, bringing a wealth of internal and external information to key business processes,” said Ian Bonner, president and CEO of Attensity Group. “By adding the massively growing Internet data source securely to core enterprise applications, we can help enterprises enhance both customer intimacy and transparency. Biz360’s technology and strong team enables us to gather, analyze and deliver social and traditional media securely to the enterprise, supporting new capabilities in Voice of the Customer analytics, customer service, and research processes.”

Biz360 was founded in 2000 and has headquarters in Redwood City, Calif. Biz360 has a strong business with many respected brands including Allstate Insurance, Astra Zeneca, Burson-Marsteller, Dell, HP, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and many others. These relationships should provide a strong revenue base for Biz360 to add to Attensity’s global business. While Biz360 was primarily sold in North America, Attensity will immediately begin to market and sell the products globally.

Upon close of the acquisition, the Biz360 team will be integrated into the organization with Biz360’s president and CEO, Brad Brodigan, joining Attensity as its senior vice president and general manager.

Location: USA, Palo Alto, CA
Sector: Internet
Ref: F231109-407

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Klout has closed a round of series A funding, totaling $1.5 Million

April 29, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Klout has closed a round of series A funding, totaling $1.5 Million. Investors include ff Asset Management, Bobby Yazdani, Allen Morgan, Nova Spivack, Zelkova Ventures, Grape Arbor,Paige Craig, Tom McInerney, Michael Yavonditte, Shervin Pishevar, Ofer Ronen.

Klout measures influence across the social web. The Klout Blog (28th April) says, “Companies like CoTweet, Hootsuite and Tap 11 are using Klout to improve the effectiveness of companies trying to leverage social media.  Live Intent and TweetUp leverage Klout data to surface the most relevant people associated to any search term. Rapportive and Flowtown are utilizing Klout data to help understand the influence of customers and leads. These companies have found that influence is a critical input to any targeting, customer service, incentive or filtering decision.  These are just seven of the over 300 companies using Klout. ”

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Sector: Internet
Ref: F231109-406

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