Yandex acquires The Tweeted Times

September 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Russian search engine company Yandex has announced that it has acquired The Tweeted Times, a social news service that aggregates news in your Twitter stream to create a personalised newspaper.

The Tweeted Times is founded by Maxim Grinev and Maria Grineva in 2010. They will now join Yandex Labs in Palo Alto, California.

Russia, Moscow

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Ziff Davis has acquired Focus Research

September 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Ziff Davis has acquired Focus Research, a provider of online research to enterprise buyers and leads to IT vendors. Focus Research  was founded in 2005 with backing from Lightspeed Ventures, Trinity Ventures and GGV Capital, Focus Research (formerly known as Tippit).  Effective immediately, Focus Research will be renamed “Ziff Davis B2B Focus” and will operate as a stand-alone unit within Ziff Davis, Inc. The new business unit will continue to operate out of its current offices in San Francisco.

As part of this transaction, a small group of Focus Research employees, including CEO Scott Albro, will leave to work on building out Focus.com as a separate business not affiliated with Ziff Davis.

“Through this acquisition, Ziff Davis will strengthen its core mission of informing and influencing in-market buyers of technology,” said Vivek Shah, CEO of Ziff Davis. “We welcome the Focus Research team to Ziff Davis and look forward to working together to provide our marketing clients a full array of solutions from premium display to data-targeted advertising to lead-gen programs across consumer and business audiences.”

USA, New York, NY & San Francisco, CA

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Penton Media has acquired Nine Lives Media

September 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Penton Media has acquired Nine Lives Media and its online destinations: MSPmentor, Talkin’ Cloud and The VAR Guy. Nine Lives will become a business unit of Penton’s Technology Group, joining Windows IT Pro, SQL Server Magazine, SharePoint Pro, DevPro, Cloud IT Pro, Mobile DevPro, Connected Planet and System iNetwork. Terms were not disclosed.

“While Penton’s Technology Group is largely focused on providing content to IT professionals and developers, Nine Lives focuses on the IT channel, a strategic audience that’s shaping rapidly growing markets like IT services, managed services and cloud computing,” said Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Penton Media.

 

Nine Lives Media was founded in 2008 by CEO Amy Katz, and Executive VP/Editorial Director Joe Panettieri. Katz and Panettieri join Penton, effective immediately. The unit will report to Peg Miller, Penton’s Technology Group market leader.

“Nine Lives is the perfect complement to our leading IT and developer brands, enabling us to provide both business and technology acumen to the entire technology ecosystem of IT professionals and developers, channel providers, and independent software vendors and hardware vendors. We’ve already seen strong growth in the IT channel with adoption of our newly launched Penton Marketing Services — helping them to run their businesses more effectively,” said Miller.

USA, New York, NY

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Chegg, the social education platform, has acquired Student of Fortune

September 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Chegg, the social education platform, has acquired Student of Fortune, an online tutorial marketplace for those who need help or can help others with homework. The acquisition is the fourth in little more than a year for Chegg, which has evolved beyond its flagship business of online textbook rentals into a full-service social platform for students.

Student of Fortune, based in Los Angeles and founded in 2005 by two college students, enables students to pose questions or post tutorials on a wide variety of subjects. Students can post a question that is then sent to a network of Student of Fortune experts, who in turn writes a tutorial that helps answer the question for a fee.

Students can also serve as experts, earning money themselves for writing tutorials. The service is already used by more than 300,000 students.

In separate news, Chegg also announced Thursday that it is offering textbook rentals digitally with the most comprehensive textbook library for college

In June, Chegg purchased Notehall, a company that allows students to purchase or sell notes from and to other students. In December, it purchased Cramster, an online homework aid service. And in August 2010, Chegg purchased CourseRank, an online service that helps students select courses by sharing student and professors rankings of classes.

“We have developed a site that is now relevant to students 365 a days a year, rather than just two,” said Chegg Chairman, CEO and President Dan Rosensweig. “Renting textbooks online is still an important part of our business and of students’ lives. But with Student of Fortune, as well as our previous acquisitions of Cramster, CourseRank and Notehall, we can help students rent books digitally or in paper form, schedule the best courses, locate additional study materials and purchase class notes or tutorials. For the first time, students can even earn money for sharing class notes or tutorials, and connect with fellow students. It is essentially the entire educational lifestyle of a student on one site.”

USA, Santa Clara, CA

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Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services completes acquisition of NRAI

September 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services (CLS) has completed the acquisition of the stock of National Registered Agents, Inc. (“NRAI”). The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition of NRAI extends CLS’s portfolio of brands for the legal services market, including CT Corporation, a provider of Corporate Business Compliance solutions, and BizFilings, an online incorporation service provider for entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

“We are pleased to welcome NRAI’s employees and partners to Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services,” said Richard Flynn, president and CEO, Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services. “This acquisition expands the range of CLS’s offerings to small and mid-sized businesses, creating the most comprehensive spectrum of products and service to serve our corporate and law firm customers.”

USA, New York, NY

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ePals acquires Newstogram media personalisation platform

September 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

ePals Corporation, an education technology company and safe social learning network , has acquired the Newstogram platform and the DailyMe service business from Nexify, Inc.

The acquisition provides ePals with a robust technology platform for personalisation of quality media and learning applications, as well as enhancing its capability to match learners with each based on interests, across the ePals network of approximately 700,000 classrooms and millions of users in 200 countries. It will allow media publishers to create “educational” pages that highlight their content and add further breadth and depth to their offerings for family audiences.

The acquisition will also significantly extend ePals’ management capabilities in the rapidly expanding online educational media industry, adding Eduardo Hauser and Neil Budde as President and EVP, respectively, of ePals’ Media Division. Before founding Nexify, Hauser was EVP of Latin America for AOL and VP News and Information at Venevision. He is on the board of directors of NPR and the Knight Foundation’s Journalism Advisory Board. Neil Budde previously was the founding editor and publisher of The Wall Street Journal Online, and VP and Editor in Chief of Yahoo! News, Finance and Sports.

“In acquiring the assets of Nexify and bringing seasoned media veterans like Eduardo and Neil on board, ePals has gained the technology and expertise to better serve our users and partners as we continue to build out a powerful education platform that is unique to the space,” said Miles Gilburne, CEO of ePals. “We believe the dynamic personalization and matching capabilities that the Nexify platform has already delivered in general news publishing will have transformational qualities in educational publishing and adaptive learning, as users are matched with quality content and other learners to increase student, teacher and parent engagement and drive demonstrably better outcomes.”

USA, Herndon, VA

 

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Bloomberg to acquire BNA for $990M

August 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Bloomberg and BNA have entered into an agreement for Bloomberg to acquire all of the outstanding shares of BNA for $39.50 per share in a cash tender offer followed by a merger for a total purchase price of approximately $990 million. The transaction is expected to close in 2011.

BNA, which is wholly owned by current and former employees, provides legal, tax and regulatory research and analysis and would become a stand-alone subsidiary of Bloomberg.

This acquisition would strengthen Bloomberg’s offerings in the legal information market by complementing Bloomberg Law. In addition, the combination would enhance Bloomberg’s coverage and analysis of tax and accounting, labor and employment, healthcare, intellectual property, and telecommunications issues.

The acquisition would significantly grow Bloomberg’s presence in the Washington, DC area through its multiple operating units, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Government, Bloomberg Law and BNA — which would work together to provide coverage and analysis of U.S. policy and regulatory issues for customers.

“BNA’s employees have built a superior franchise and we are enthusiastic about a Bloomberg-BNA combination that will deliver more premium content to our professional audiences,” said Dan Doctoroff, CEO and President of Bloomberg. “BNA research and analysis will make Bloomberg’s products even more valuable, and BNA would benefit from our data and technology expertise.”

“For more than eight decades, we have provided our subscribers with quality products that allow them to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently,” said Paul N. Wojcik, Chairman and CEO of BNA. “We believe this is the start of a new day, where we will join forces with Bloomberg to extend our premium content to an expanded audience.”

“Bloomberg and BNA share many of the same values, including a commitment to deliver high-quality content to customers, employing highly skilled and experienced workers and offering superior customer service,” said Peter Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg. “We look forward to welcoming them to the Bloomberg family.”

The tender offer is expected to commence by September 8, 2011. If the tender offer is completed, untendered shares of BNA are expected to be converted in the subsequent merger into the right to receive the same US$39.50 per share price paid in the tender offer.

USA, New York, NY & Arlington, VA

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Johnston Press interim profits halve

August 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

UK and Ireland regional press publisher Johnston Press plc has announced interim results for the 26 weeks ended July 2, 2011.

Key Financials
26 weeks to July 2, 2011

  • Total revenue down 7.5% to £191.8m
  • Total advertising revenues decreased by 10.0% year on year, with employment revenues continuing to contribute most to the decline in print and digital, but offset by growth in national display advertising
  • Circulation revenues down just 1.8% on the first half of 2010
  • Digital revenues down 5.0%, but with an improving trend from -9.7% in Q1 to -1.5% year on year in Q2, reflecting the benefit of the launch of the Find it business directory in March 2011
  • Total costs for the first 26 weeks of 2011 were reduced by £8.3m compared with the same period in 2010, despite a £4.2m impact of newsprint prices

Group debt

  • Net debt is £370.7m. A reduction of £16.0m since the start of the year
  • Facility reduction of £20.0m scheduled for 30 June 2012 was brought forward to 30 April 2011 by the Group

 Other news

  • Two new digital partnerships with Zoopla for online property and Nimble Commerce for online vouchers
  • New Chief Executive Officer, Ashley Highfield, is to join the Group on 1 November 2011

Commenting on the results, John Fry, Chief Executive Officer of Johnston Press plc said:

“The Group achieved an operating profit before non-recurring items of £33.3m despite the challenging UK economic environment of the first half of 2011, down 17.6% on the first half of 2010. This was achieved by tight operational control, with further cost reductions of £8.3m resulting from new processes and an increased centralisation of back office functions. Operating cash flow within the Group remains strong, with a further debt reduction of £16.0m achieved in the first half of 2011.

We remain cautious about the advertising outlook for the second half of the year, with total advertising revenues in the first seven weeks down 8.1%. Digital revenues, which returned to year-on-year growth in May, have continued to grow in the second half with the first seven weeks up 6.8% compared to the same period in 2010. We are also delighted to be able to announce the new digital partnerships with Zoopla and Nimble which will enable a significant enhancement of our property website and the launch of a new online vouchers business in the autumn. The Board has confidence that, in the absence of a further significant deterioration in the UK economy, the outcome for the Group in 2011 will be broadly in line with current expectations.”

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BBC Worldwide agrees to sell magazines to Exponent

August 16, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The long running story of who is to buy the BBCs magazine looks to finally have ended. BBC Worldwide and Exponent Private Equity have signed a sale and licensing agreement for the publication of titles currently published by BBC Magazines, BBC Worldwide’s consumer magazines business. Under the terms of the deal Exponent will acquire, in full, Radio Times and a number of magazines less closely aligned to the BBC, as well as the rights to publish BBC-branded titles under licensing and contract arrangements.

The deal is expected to complete in the autumn, following clearance from the Office of Fair Trading.

Exponent is also to acquire BBC Magazines’ 50% stake in Dovetail, its subscriptions fulfilment company and its share of distribution business, Frontline. In addition, Exponent will acquire specialist publisher Origin Publishing in which BBC Magazines currently holds a minority stake.

At the same time, BBC Worldwide has announced that it has agreed the sale of a 50% shareholding in Worldwide Media, a publishing joint venture in India, to fellow shareholder, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, owner of The Times of India.

These transactions will deliver a total of £121m to BBC Worldwide, with the majority of the proceeds going back to the BBC.

Commenting on the deal with Exponent, John Smith, CEO of BBC Worldwide, said: “BBC Magazines is a world-class magazines business, with an incredible depth of talent across editorial, publishing, marketing and commercial. It continually provides readers with the highest quality content, has launched successful new titles in the UK and overseas, and has strongly outperformed the UK market in recent years.

“The deal announced today offers the best prospects for the magazines business to continue on this path of success, while BBC Worldwide pursues a strategy increasingly focused on international video and digital services. The consumer magazines market faces a number of challenges, and this transaction brings a focus and degree of investment that BBC Worldwide alone is unable to provide.”

Also commenting on the deal, Richard Lenane of Exponent, said: “We are delighted to have signed an agreement with BBC Worldwide for its magazines business, pending OFT approval. Exponent invests exclusively in market-leading businesses which have strong growth potential and great people. We believe that BBC Magazines is such a business.

“We look forward to working with the BBC Magazines team and in partnership with BBC Worldwide to continue to develop the BBC magazine franchise and to take advantage of the growth opportunities afforded to the business outside BBC Worldwide ownership.”

Under the terms of the deal, the titles and brands currently published by BBC Magazines will fall into one of three categories:

  • Sale – Radio Times and a number of magazines less closely aligned to the BBC, including olive and Gardens Illustrated, are being sold outright to Exponent;
  • Licence – BBC and BBC programme-branded titles will be licensed (including Gardeners’ World, BBC Wildlife), with BBC Worldwide not retaining ownership but keeping a strong continuing editorial interest under licensing agreements;
  • Contract – Titles relating to key BBC Worldwide brands (Top Gear, Good Food and Lonely Planet) will be retained by BBC Worldwide and published by Exponent under contract publishing arrangements.

The regulatory process is expected to take around 40 working days. The majority of BBC Magazines staff and BBC Magazines’ operations will transfer to the new company when the deal completes.

UK, London

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Guardian Media Group and Apax split £100M dividend from Trader Media Group

August 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Guardian Media Group and private equity firm Apax Partners are splitting a £100M special dividend from Trader Media Group after a debt refinancing deal.

GMG will use its share of the payout to top up its investment fund, which was set up two years ago as a hedge against declines in the newspaper industry.

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