PA Group acquires content marketing business Sticky Content

October 9, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

PA Group, the parent company of the Press Association, has acquired an 80 per cent stake in Sticky Content, a digital copywriting and content strategy agency, significantly increasing PA’s presence in the content marketing sector. PA’s content for marketing businesses will now operate under the Sticky Content name..

PA Group Acquires Content Marketing Business Sticky Content Continuing its Long-term Strategy for ReinvestmentCatherine Toole, Sticky Content’s former Chief Executive and new Chairman, said: “The Press Association is the perfect partner for Sticky Content, as the demand for effective, high-quality content soars. Now we can deliver pretty much any kind of content there is.

Emily Shelley, PA’s former Head of Content For Marketing and new Managing Director of Sticky Content, said:PA Group Acquires Content Marketing Business Sticky Content Continuing its Long-term Strategy for Reinvestment “Sticky Content sets the standard for best practice in digital copywriting – across usability, optimisation and conversion. They also lead the field in the execution of content strategy; a discipline which is becoming essential for all companies with a digital presence. By combining this digital expertise with PA’s live delivery of topical, engaging multi-platform content, we can capitalise on the demand for effective content marketing services. I’m excited about what we can achieve together for our clients and our business.”

Clive Marshall, PA Group’s Chief Executive, said: “This is the second significant investment we have made since we sold our stake in Canada Newswire at the end of 2012. Last month we acquired mminternational (Europe) – a leading European weather company – to exploit the significant opportunities for growth in our MeteoGroup weather business and further strengthen its position as one of the world’s leading commercial weather organisations. The acquisition of Sticky Content is part of our drive to broaden the market for the Press Association’s news and information services and expand the range of products and services that complement our traditional news feed business.”

UK, London

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PA Acquires Globelynx “TVready” Network November 19, 2011

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Fresh round of dealmaking in the face-to-face events sector

October 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

The FT are reporting that, in the wake of UBM’s chief executive David Levin and Informa’s chief Peter Rigby resigning earlier this year, analysts and industry executives are speculating that a fresh round of dealmaking could happen in the face-to-face events sector.

Read the article here

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Artemis Energy acquires of LinkMyFan.com

October 2, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

linkmyfanArtemis Energy Holdings, the owner of press release distribution site TransWorldNews, business social networking platform LinkMyStock.com, and recent acquirer of WooEB.com,  has acquired LinkMyFan.com. LinkMyFan.com is a Social Networking Content Management Platform.  According to a Artemis Energy Holdings statement, LinkMyFan.com is a website that is already generating revenues while it is still being developed.The terms of the deal were not  disclosed.

Company Director, Todd Davis stated, “The value of integrating Link My Fan’s current features and technology, with Link My Stock and WooEB, clearly provides lower development costs while expanding revenue streams and improving the user’s experience.”

USA, Atlanta, GA

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Euromoney Institutional Investor completes acquisition of HSBC’s Quantitative Techniques operation

October 2, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney logoEuromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the international online information and events group, has completed the acquisition of HSBC’s Quantitative Techniques operation with effect from September 30.  QT is the benchmark and calculation agent business of HSBC Bank plc which creates and maintains more than 100 equity and bond indices for HSBC’s Global Markets division and for over 60 external clients.

The business has been rebranded Euromoney Indices.  As part of the completion terms, HSBC has agreed to purchase index calculation services from Euromoney Indices for a minimum period of three years.

Previous reporting – Euromoney Institutional Investor to acquire HSBC’s Quantitative Techniques operation Posted on April 4, 2013

UK London

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Nielsen completes the acquisition of Arbitron

October 1, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

nielsenNielsen Holdings N.V., a provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, has completed its acquisition of Arbitron Inc., an international media and marketing research firm.

“This is a great day for Nielsen and a natural step in our evolution,” said Nielsen Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun. “Arbitron will allow us to analyze and understand an additional two hours of the U.S. consumer’s day while bringing us another opportunity to provide advertisers with metrics on the effectiveness of the mediums that they advertise on.”

Arbitron is being rebranded Nielsen Audio and will be integrated into Nielsen’s U.S. Watch business segment, which provides information and insights primarily to the media and advertising industries across television, online, mobile and radio. With Arbitron, Nielsen now measures eight hours a day per person of dynamic media consumption.

“Our combined capabilities offer opportunities to measure unmeasured areas that are important to the industries and clients we serve, like streaming audio, out-of-home measurements for television consumption and deeper measurement of multicultural audiences in the U.S.,” said Calhoun. “Globally, this is an opportunity to expand our measurement of consumer behavior and introduce audio measurement capabilities in new markets.”

As previously reported on Fusion DigiNet, Nielsen entered into an agreement on December 17, 2012 to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Arbitron for $48 per share or a total of $1.3 billion purchase price, funded by cash on hand and recent debt financing. Nielsen expects $0.26 of accretion to adjusted net income per share during the first full year of operations, and $0.32 of accretion to adjusted net income per share during the second year, reflecting an incremental $0.06 in year two.

USA, New York. NY

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Informa completes the disposal of its five Corporate Training businesses.

October 1, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

informa2Informa plc has completed  the disposal of its five Corporate Training businesses to Providence Equity Partners.

The initial consideration of $165m, consists of $100m in cash (net of indebtedness and working capital adjustments on completion) and a $65m vendor loan. The vendor loan is for a maximum term of 6.5 years and attracts a PIK interest rate of 1% in the first two years, rising to 10% in the third year with a further 1% per annum increase thereafter.

providenceequityMore more information see Fusion DigiNet’s July 2013 article here.

UK, London

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Experian acquires The 41st Parameter, Inc

October 1, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

experianExperian, a global information services company, is to acquire The 41st Parameter, Inc, a  provider of fraud detection services, based in the US. The aggregate purchase price for all outstanding stock, stock options and warrants of 41st Parameter is US$324m, of which US$14m is subject to limited, two-year earn-out provisions, and will be funded from Experian’s existing cash resources.  The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

41stFor the year ending 31 December 2013, Experian expects 41st Parameter to deliver approximately US$26m of revenue, of which over 95% is booked and contracted. Revenues are licence-based and are recognised over the life of the contract, which is typically 2-3 years in duration. Client renewal rates exceed 95%.

Since incorporation, 41st Parameter has experienced strong growth, with compound annual growth in revenue over the past two years of over 40%. The contracted nature of the business model provides good forward visibility, and Experian expects to sustain growth in line with historic rates over the next twelve months. The acquisition is expected to be broadly EPS neutral in the year ending 31 March 2014.

Incorporated in 2004, 41st Parameter products use device identification to prevent fraud. Clients use 41st Parameter’s products to enable consumers to complete transactions on the web quickly and securely, reducing fraud losses while simultaneously authenticating consumers with minimal intrusion. Clients also use 41st Parameter products to enhance internal operational efficiency by reducing the number of false detections of potential fraud.  Its clients include financial institutions, travel web sites, eCommerce merchants and customers in the digital media segment.

Ireland, Dublin & USA, San Jose, CA

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ACTIVE Network to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

October 1, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

activenetworkEvent management software maker ACTIVE Network is being acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.

Vista will commence a tender offer to acquire all of Active Network’s common stock for $14.50 a share. That represents a 27.2% premium to Active Network’s Friday closing, the most recent trading day. Active’s board endorsed the offer, recommending that all stockholders tender their shares. This values the deal at $904 million. Any shares not tendered will be acquired in a second-step merger at the same cash price as the original offer.

vistaep“ACTIVE Network’s leadership position in cloud-based Activity and Participant Management™ (APM) solutions make it a highly attractive investment for us,” said Robert F. Smith, CEO and founder of Vista Equity Partners.  “We are looking forward to working with the ACTIVE team and continuing to drive the next phase of ACTIVE’s growth.”

  • Citi is serving as financial advisor to ACTIVE. 
  • BofA Merrill Lynch is serving as financial advisor to Vista.  
  • DLA Piper LLP (US) is acting as ACTIVE’s legal advisor. 
  • Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as Vista’s legal advisor. 
  • BofA Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, and BMO Capital Markets Corp. have agreed to provide debt financing in connection with the transaction.

ACTIVE Network plans to release its third quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday, October 30, 2013.

USA, San Francisco, CA & San Diego, CA 

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ITE Pre-close trading update for the year ending 30 September 2013

October 1, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ITEITE Group plc, the international exhibitions group specialising in emerging and developing markets, has issued the following update for the year ending 30 September 2013, prior to entering its close period and ahead of its preliminary results announcement on 3 December 2013.

Revenues for the fourth quarter reflect positive trading conditions in most of our overseas markets. Revenue for the full year is expected to be circa £191m (2012: £172m) in line with market expectations.

Fourth Quarter Trading

The Group ran 28 events in the fourth quarter producing revenue of circa £26m (2012: £27m). On a like-for-like basis revenues are 4% higher than last year.

The principal trading highlights in the fourth quarter were:

  • MODA, the Group’s market leading UK fashion event based at the NEC in Birmingham was 17,100sqm, which was a 9% reduction on the same event last year and reflected the ongoing difficult trading conditions in the European fashion market.
  • World Food Moscow, the Group’s leading food exhibition recorded its largest ever event with a 2% increase in space sales to 24,900sqm.

Business Development

On 26 August 2013, the Group entered into an agreement with RAMO JSC to become the anchor tenant at a new 28,000 sqm venue in Krasnodar (south-west Russia), which is due to be completed by January 2016. The Group’s business in Krasnodar is currently restricted by the size of the venue, and it is anticipated that this new facility will allow ITE’s largest events to grow and the business to expand into new industry sectors.

Financial position

The Group continues to generate strong cash flow and had net cash of circa £23.0m as at 25 September 2013 (2012: £12.0m).

Outlook

Bookings for the financial year ending 30 September 2014 are progressing in line with management expectations and reflect continued good trading conditions in most of our markets. As at 26 September 2013, the Group had booked £75m of revenue for the 2014 financial year, representing circa 39% of current market expectations for the year.

The Group continues to generate good organic growth from its portfolio of events, and retains a strong balance sheet which supports its plans to invest in and further develop its business.

UK, London

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UBM plc sells Property Week to Metropolis and UBM Channel to The Channel Company

September 27, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM

UBM has agreed to sell its Property Week print magazine and related products to Metropolis International. Property Week’s 35 staff will transfer to Metropolis International following completion. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

metropolisUBM has also sold its North American IT channel business to a management-led investment group. The new company, called The Channel Company, will own and operate all of the businesses and products formerly owned by UBM Tech (Channel) in North America. The Comdex brand and UBM India’s CRN business are excluded from this transaction. UBM has retained a 30% minority equity interest in the business.

These disposals constitute the bulk of the operations treated as discontinued in UBM’s H1 2013 results and classified as held for sale at 30 June 2013. The combined cash proceeds from these disposals are approximately £8.5m, subject to working capital adjustments on completion.

UK, London & USA, San Francisco, CA

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