Elsevier acquires QUOSA

January 12, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Elsevier, the  provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, has acquired QUOSA a content management and workflow productivity solutions provider for researchers and information managers.

QUOSA’s current solutions and platform, including its Information Manager and Virtual Library, will continue to be supported. QUOSA’s technological capabilities will be developed into Elsevier-branded solutions, raising the efficiency of the search and discovery process. They will also allow researchers and information professionals to manage information more efficiently at the various stages of the research workflow including organizing, archiving and sharing.

“Elsevier is focused on delivering productivity enhancing tools to researchers and information managers to help accelerate and promote scientific discovery. Our acquisition of QUOSA ensures that we continue to deliver more value to our customers by improving the search, retrieval, management, analysis and sharing of the increasingly disparate types of information required to improve research outcomes,” said Alexander van Boetzelaer, Managing Director of Elsevier Corporate Markets. “QUOSA brings to Elsevier an innovative offering and technological expertise that align well with Elsevier today.”

Elsevier and QUOSA have collaborated successfully since 2007 when the latter’s PDF Download Manager was incorporated in SciVerse Scopus.  Later the feature was embedded in SciVerse ScienceDirect. Elsevier’s acquisition of QUOSA marks a continuation of this collaboration which has boosted research productivity for the users of both solutions.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Boston, QUOSA began by targeting the academic and government segments and now also serves a range of corporate customers, including more than half of the Top 25 pharma-biotech companies. Financial details of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

The Netherlands, Amsterdam & USA, Boston, MA

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The New York Times Co. to sell its16 regional newspapers to Halifax Media Holdings for $143M

January 11, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

The New York Times Co. is to sell its group of 16 small,regional newspapers to Halifax Media Holdings LLC for $143 million.

The newspapers being sold include The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif.; the News Chief in Winter Haven, Fla.; and The Tuscaloosa News in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Halifax Media is based in Daytona Beach, Fla., and owns the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

“The sale of our Regional Media Group will enable The New York Times Company to continue our transformation to a digitally focused, multiplatform media company,” said New York Times Co.Chairman Arthur Sulzberger. Last year, the group accounted for 11 percent of The Times Co.’s $2.4 billion in annual revenue, according to the company’s annual report.

The Times Co., like many newspaper publishers, has struggled in recent years as advertisers shift from newspapers to cheaper alternatives on the Internet. It is trying to supplement its digital advertising push by charging readers for unrestricted access to its content on the Web, Apple Inc.’s iPad and mobile phones.

The company had said on Dec. 19 that it was in advanced talks to sell the regional newspapers to Halifax Media. That announcement came four days after the company said CEO Janet Robinson will step down at the end of the year.

The sale is expected to close in a few weeks, and The Times Co. will record an after-tax gain on the sale in the first quarter of 2012. It estimates that the net after-tax proceeds from the sale will be about $150 million, which it plans to use for general corporate purposes.

Other newspapers included in the deal are: Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Fla.; The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla.; Star-News in Wilmington, N.C.; Herald-Journal in Spartanburg, S.C.; Star-Banner in Ocala, Fla.; The Gainesville Sun in Gainesville, Fla.; The Gadsden Times in Gadsden, Ala.; The Courier in Houma, La.; Times-News in Hendersonville, N.C.; Daily Comet in Thibodaux, La.; The Dispatch in Lexington, N.C.; Petaluma Argus-Courier in Petaluma, Calif.; and North Bay Business Journal in Santa Rosa, Calif.

“The strong local news coverage these papers provide represents not only an important community service, but, in our eyes, a good investment,” Michael Redding, Halifax Media’s CEO, said in Tuesday’s announcement.

Privately held Halifax Media lists among its investors Stephens Capital Partners LLC and Redding Investments.

The New York Times Co. publishes its namesake newspaper as well as The Boston Globe and other newspapers. It also owns About.com.

Its shares added a penny to $7.77 in extended trading following the announcement. They had ended the regular trading session down 3 cents at $7.76.

USA, New York

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Berkery Noyes releases 2011 Year End Media Trends Report

January 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

2011 Key Highlights

  • The largest announced transaction for 2011 was West Australian Newspapers’ acquisition of Seven Media Group, a portfolio company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., for $4.15 billion.
  • The segments with the largest disclosed median enterprise value multiples for 2011 were Broadcasting with 3.8x revenue and Internet Media at 17.5x EBITDA.
  • There were 174 fi nancially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $11.05 billion, representing 12 percent of the total volume and 20 percent of the total value, respectively.

2011 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2011 increased by 15 percent over 2010, from 1225 in 2010 to 1409 this year.
  • Total transaction value in 2011 increased by 41 percent over 2010, from $38.31 billion in 2010 to $54.12 billion this year.
  • The median revenue multiple rose from 1.5x in 2010 to 1.9x in 2011. The median EBITDA multiple moved slightly from 10.4x to 10.6x.
  • The segment with the largest increase in volume in 2011 over 2010 was Marketing with a 29 percent increase from 332 transactions in 2010 to 428 transactions in 2011.

M&A Market Overview

  • Berkery Noyes tracked 3572 transactions between 2009 and 2011, of which 1013 disclosed fi nancial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $119.95 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project the value of the 2550 undisclosed transactions to be $25.33 billion, totaling $145.27 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.
  • The largest transaction tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2009 and 2011 was Comcast Corporation’s acquisition of NBC Universal, a subsidiary of General Electric Company for $22.85 billion, which was announced in 2009 and closed in 2011.
  • The most active acquirer by volume in the Media and Marketing industry between 2009 and 2011 was Publicis Groupe SA with 39 transactions, 24 of which were announced or closed in 2011.

Visit the Berkery Noyes website to download the full report

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Trinity Mirror acquires email marketing business Communicator Corp for £8 million

January 9, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Trinity Mirror has acquired email marketing business Communicator Corp for £8 million. The company was acquired from a number of shareholders including the Managing Director, Chris Wilds who will be retained in the business. The company reported revenues of £3.5 million and operating profit of £1.0 million in its latest reported accounts to the year ended 31 March 2011 and had gross assets of £1 million. Communicator Corp is based in Sunderland.

This acquisition furthers Trinity Mirror’s aim to build a network of digital marketing services businesses. In 2008 Trinity Mirror acquired Rippleffect, a digital marketing services specialist offering website design and development, e-commerce, social media and on-line advertising. Communicator Corp complements the Rippleffect business by adding email and mobile communications to the services currently offered.

Sly Bailey, CEO Trinity Mirror PLC said: “Increasingly we’re seeing that, in addition to print and website advertising, clients want help in areas such as website design, search engine optimisation, e-mail marketing, social media and web analytics. The addition of Communicator Corp to our stable of digital assets will enhance our offering and complement the digital marketing services currently offered by Rippleffect.

UK, London and Sunderland

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NetMediaEurope acquires German arm of CBS Interactive

January 9, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

CBS Interactive has sold its German IT websutes ZDNet.de, silicon.de and CNET.de to NetMediaEurope, publisher of ITespresso.de,Gizmodo.de and Channelbiz.de. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined entity will see close to 20 million page impressions per month, and five million unique users. The two companies will merge their Munich operations, with all six websites coming under the NetMediaEurope brand.

Dominique Busso, CEO of NetMediaEurope, commented: “We have established a strong brand across Europe, and aim to provide a one-stop shop for advertisers and sponsors looking for innovative opportunities to reach out to target audiences.” He continued: “This acquisition makes NetMediaEurope one of the key tech players in Germany, and will provide our international client base with powerful advertising reach.”

NetMediaEurope publishes in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and was founded in July 2007 as a result of an MBO by senior VNU managers.

Germany, Munich

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Glam Media to go public in Q2 2012

January 9, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

According to Ad Age Digital, sources close to Glam Media said that its North American business became profitable in fourth-quarter 2010 and that it will file to go public in the second quarter of 2012. The company is considering Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley to lead the offering and Bank of America to underwrite it.

Glam Media is led by its founder and CEO Samir Arora. Fernando Ruarte, CTO, and VP Engineering and Raj Narayan are Co-Founders with Arora.

Glam is a vertical media company with 2000 plus lifestyle websites and blogs. It is best known for Glam.com, a website targeted at women. The company also operates the male counterpart Brash.com.

Funding

  • 2004 – Seed stage, £1.1M series A led by Information Capital LLC
  • 2005 – Series B, £10M led by Accel, with DFJ and Walden VC
  • 2006 – Series C, £18.5M led by Accel, with DFJ and Walden VC, Information Capital LLC and DG Ventures
  • 2008 – Glam Media raises $85 million in private strategic funding
  • 2010 – Glam raises $50 million in private equity mezzanine funding

Read the fill story here.

USA, Brisbane, CA

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Property Drum acquires The Negotiator

January 6, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Property Drum has acquired The Negotiator.  The deal includes The Negotiator magazine, the website (www.the-negotiator.co.uk) and The Negotiator Awards

“This is great news for the industry,” said Property Drum Managing Director Grant Leonard. “Across the two titles we can now reach more offices, giving us a near-total market coverage.

“Both titles are very popular with agents, most of whom still prefer to receive printed publications and each has its own focus and editorial style. We intend to develop both magazines to meet the interests of all agencies, large or small, corporate or independent.”

Editor of The Negotiator, Clare Bettelley will remain in her current position and the partnership also includes the popular Negotiator Awards along with the website and e-newsletter.

Sheila Manchester, Editorial Director of Property Drum said: “We are really looking forward to working with Clare, who we consider to be one of the most talented journalists in property.”

The Negotiator will resume publication next month.

UK, East Sussex

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Wolters Kluwer completes sale of its pharma-related marketing & publishing services business to Springer Science+Business Media

December 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Wolters Kluwer has completed the sale of its pharma-related Marketing & Publishing Services business to Springer Science+Business Media. The sale is part of Wolters Kluwer’s strategy to focus on core health markets through its Wolters Kluwer Health & Pharma Solutions division.

“The sale of our pharma-related business will allow us to focus future investments in our core healthcare business in key growth areas such as point of care,” said Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer. “We are committed to continued investments in innovative solutions that help clinicians around the globe access critical information to improve healthcare.”

The agreement encompasses the Marketing & Publishing Services business unit, part of the Wolters Kluwer Health & Pharma Solutions division. Marketing & Publishing Services is a leading global provider of strategic marketing, publishing, and business intelligence products and services to the pharmaceutical industry as well as to medical libraries and academic and research institutions. The sale represents approximately 35% of the company’s pharma-related assets in terms of revenue, with Adis and inScience Communications as the leading brands, and encompasses approximately 450 employees globally.

The intention to divest the Pharma Solutions business was announced in July 2011. The proceeds from this divestment are expected to be used for general corporate purposes including the reduction of debt levels in line with the company’s stated objectives and investments in the business. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Netherlands, Alphen Aan Den Rijn

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Prince Alwaleed makes a $300 million investment in Twitter 


December 20, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia and his investment company Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) have invested $300 Million in Twitter. Bloomberg are reporting Ahmed Halawani, a Kingdom Holding director, saying in an interview that the investment values Twitter at over $10 billion.

Prince Alwaleed commented: “Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact.” 


Prince Alwaleed, was ranked the richest Arab businessman for the eighth year by Arabian Business magazine http://richlist.arabianbusiness.com. He is the largest individual investor in Citigroup and a significant investor in News Corporation’s and holds a 29.9% stake in Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which includes the publications Asharq Al Awsat, Al Eqtisadiah, Arab News, Hia magazine, Al Majalla magazine, Arrajol magazine and Sayidati magazine. In addition, Prince Alwaleed recently announced his plans to launch his privately owned Alarab news channel, the news channel.

Saudi Arabia & USA, San Francisco, CA

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Wolters Kluwer Financial Services acquires PRINGLE Compliance Polices & Procedures content

December 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a worldwide provider of compliance, risk management and audit solutions for the financial services industry, has acquired the regulatory compliance content of PRINGLE Policy and Procedure Solutions from PRINGLE Publications Corporation. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“What sets Wolters Kluwer Financial Services apart from our competitors is our ability to deliver actionable and intelligent regulatory compliance and risk management content to our customers,” said Brian Longe, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Financial & Compliance Services. “This acquisition allows us to provide our customers with even more value by expanding access to the industry-leading PRINGLE compliance policies and procedures content to a larger number of financial institutions.”

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services will integrate PRINGLE’s compliance and safety and soundness policies and procedures, worksheets, forms, and regulatory checklists and tests into the Policies and Procedures module of the company’s ARC Logics for Financial Services enterprise risk management solution. The company will offer its ARC Logics customers with direct access to PRINGLE content through the module, which will provide a common, dynamic platform to proactively manage, edit, and update their policies and procedures.

USA, Minneapolis, MN

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