TripAdvisor acquires Niumba.com

May 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

tripadvisorTripAdvisor has acquired Niumba.com, a holiday rentals website. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Niumba features more than 230,000 properties globally and brings to TripAdvisor the world’s largest collection of Spanish holiday rentals with more than 120,000 properties in Spain.

“This acquisition underscores our continued commitment to growing TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals,” said Dermot Halpin , president, niumbaTripAdvisor Vacation Rentals.  “We’re delighted to bring Niumba on board; its strong brand, talented team, and impressive collection of vacation rental properties make it an excellent addition to TripAdvisor.”

Niumba will continue to operate as an independent brand and website from its offices in Madrid.  The company’s listings will remain on Niumba.com and will soon additionally be featured on TripAdvisor and Holiday Lettings.

USA, Newton, MA & Spain, Madrid

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TripAdvisor acquires CruiseWise

May 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

tripadvisorTripAdvisor has acquired key technology and staff from CruiseWise, Inc. the former online cruise booking agency.  The team and non-transactional functionality will be integrated into Cruise Critic, a TripAdvisor brand. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The cruise industry continues to grow in popularity and we are delighted to be able to further strengthen our Cruise Critic business with this move,” said Steve Kaufer , co-founder and CEO TripAdvisor, Inc.  “By integrating key elements of CruiseWise and the in-depth knowledge behind it, we will enhance our ability to help travelers find their perfect cruise at a price that suits them with seamless links to our booking partners.”

Cruise Critic is published by The Independent Traveler, Inc., which was acquired as a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, Inc. in 2007.

Newton, MA

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nCrowd Acquires Tippr

April 25, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ncrowdnCrowd, Inc., a daily deals business and the Atlanta-based parent company of social commerce websites HalfOffDepot.com and CrowdSavings.com, has purchased the assets of Seattle-based Tippr.com and Groupalicious.com.

Brian Conley, CEO of nCrowd, stated that the acquisition was nCrowd’s largest to date. “The addition of Tippr and Groupalicious brings tippr-logo-230x69our active subscriber base to over 3.2 million in the U.S,” said Conley.

Over the past two years, nCrowd has purchased the assets of more than 20 U.S. daily deal sites in order to attain a broad audience for its proprietary Automated Internet Marketing (AIM) platform.

According to Conley, the acquisition of Tippr and Groupalicious solidifies nCrowd as the third largest domestic online player in the localgroupalicious-logo coupon space, behind Groupon and LivingSocial.

USA, Atlanta, GA

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DealMates acquires I Love Discounts

April 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

dealmatesDigital News Asia is reporting that DEAL Mates Sdn Bhd has acquired I Love Discounts, a move that sees Dealmates, which claims to be Malaysia’s No 1 flash sales site, boost its current 500,000 members by an additional 250,000.ilovediscounts

I Love Discounts’ current forecast revenue is an estimated RM7 million (US$2.3 million). The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

I Love Discounts was founded in 2010 by partners Edwin Koh, Andy Teh, Davie Saw and Desmund Hang, as Ilovediscounts.my under Aeterno Sdn Bhd.

The agreement was signed between both parties in February 2013.

Full story

Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

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LifeApps Digital Media acquires Sports One Group

April 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

LifeApps-Icon-2012-85pxLifeApps Digital Media Inc., a digital media company focusing on health, fitness, sports publications, and next-generation social networks, has acquired Sports One Group and Performance Gear, a wholesale supplier to the promotional products industry providing athletic apparel, uniforms and decorating services. Effective as of April 1, 2013, LifeApps has acquired certain assets of Sports One Group, including a supplier base of leading fitness apparel designers and over 1,300 customers.

“We believe this is a great acquisition for LifeApps and a step towards expanding our physical and digital products across our sports, health and fitness based communities,” said Robert Gayman, CEO of Life Apps. “Through this new digital platform, we can now service the promotional and sports industries, the sporting goods sector and individual health enthusiasts with our diverse family of e-commerce and m-commerce fitness products. We are confident that the LifeApps team will be able to enhance and improve the current e-commerce business of Sports One Group and build an m-commerce solution for the business in the near future. In addition, the acquisition of Sports One Group will provide an immediate revenue stream to the Company.”

USA, San Diego, CA

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RetailMeNot acquires Dutch online coupon site Actiepagina.nl

March 13, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

RetailMeNot, Inc., a marketplace for online coupons and deals, has acquired Actiepagina.nl, a publisher of online coupons in the Netherlands. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

RetailMeNot, Inc.’s existing portfolio of European websites also includes VoucherCodes.co.uk (www.vouchercodes.co.uk) in the U.K.; Bons-de-Reduction (web.bons-de-reduction.com) and cash-back website Poulpeo (poulpeo.com) in France; and Deals.com (www.deals.com) in Germany. In North America, RetailMeNot, Inc. also operates Deals2Buy (www.deals2buy.com) and RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com), the most widely used online coupon site in the United States.

Maurice Buijs , who founded of Actiepagina in 2005, will continue to serve as general manager of RetailMeNot, Inc.’s Dutch operations. The transaction includes transitioning all existing full-time staff to RetailMeNot, Inc. employees, bringing RetailMeNot, Inc.’s total global headcount to approximately 330 employees.

“In addition to our two websites in North America, the acquisition of Actiepagina.nl puts us in our fourth country in Europe,” said Cotter Cunningham, Founder & CEO, RetailMeNot, Inc. “I look forward to working with Maurice and our new team in the Netherlands so we can show more Dutch consumers how easy it is to save money while shopping online, and help our merchant partners grow their business.”

USA, Austin, TX & The Netherlands

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Expedia Completes Acquisition Of Majority Interest In trivago

March 12, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

expediaExpedia has completed its acquisition of 61.6% of the fully-diluted equity of trivago, a German hotel metasearch company, paying approximately €434 million in cash (approximately US$564 million based on March 8, 2013 exchange rates) and agreeing to issue a total of 875,200 shares of Expedia, Inc. common stock over five years. trivago will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Previous DigiNet reporting

“Metasearch is an incredibly popular product because it enables consumers to find their ideal hotel at the lowest possible rate. The trivago team built one of the best hotel search user experiences and gained tremendous brand recognition in Europe. We are thrilled to officially welcome them to the Expedia, Inc. family,” said Dara Khosrowshahi , Expedia, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Our focus remains on rapidly growing revenue as we expand globally,” said Rolf Schromgens, trivago co-founder and Managing Director. “The ability to leverage Expedia’s knowledge of and experience with global scale operations will be invaluable to profitably achieve this goal,” added Schromgens.

USA, Bellevue, WA & Germany, Dusseldorf

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Middle Eastern daily deal site Cobone.com acquired by Tiger Global Management

March 12, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Cobone LogoCobone.com, a daily deal company in the Middle East, has been acquired by investment firm Tiger Global Management. Irish entrepreneur Paul Kenny , founder and current CEO of Cobone.com, along other members of Cobone’s management team including Warrick Godfrey , Pieter Sleeboom, Tahira Khan and Loai Ayoub will remain with Cobone. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dubai based Cobone was founded in August 2010 by Kenny with backing from the Jabbar Internet Group. Cobone.com is the largest deal site in the Middle East region, and has grown its registered user base to more than 2 million customers.

“This deal represents a very exciting future for Cobone as it reaffirms its commitment to the Middle Eastern market and e-commerce industry,” said Paul Kenny . “Tiger Global gives us the international clout and the financial resources to expand regionally and surpass already high customer expectations. Loyal Cobone users can look forward to many exciting developments and innovative offerings in the very near future.”

USA, New York & UAE, Dubai

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Strong financial results for Moneysupermarket.com

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ms-logoMoneysupermarket.com has produced a strong set of financial results for the year ended 31 December 2012. Adjusted revenue for the year increased by 15% to £204.8m (2011: £178.5m), generating adjusted EBITDA which was 26% higher at £66.5m (2011: £52.5m). This included external revenues of £1.8m and EBITDA of £2.8m respectively, resulting from the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com which was acquired on 21 September 2012.

During 2012 the Group has continued to see good growth. Trading during the second half of the year improved relative to the comparable first half performance in the Insurance, Home Services and Travel verticals. Revenues in the Money vertical however were broadly flat in the second half of the year as savings revenues declined as a result of the introduction of the Bank of England’s ‘Funding for Lending’ scheme, which enables financial institutions to seek low cost funding centrally rather than through retail deposits from the consumer markets.

The Group acquired MoneySavingExpert.com on 21 September 2012 for a total consideration of up to £92.5m including deferred consideration of up to £27.0m. Trading since acquisition has been strong.

Financial highlights

  • Adjusted revenue increased by 15% to £204.8m (2011: £178.5m);
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 26% to £66.5m (2011: £52.5m);
  • Adjusted EBITDA margins increased by 3% to 32%;
  • Adjusted gross margin increased to 74.1% (2011: 71.9%);
  • 97% of EBITDA converted to cash;
  • Cash balance of £18.7m (2011: £35.0m) at the year-end reflecting the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com; the Group is debt free;
  • Dividend increased by 27% to 5.74p;
    • Final dividend increased 30% to 3.94p per share (2011: 3.03p);
  • £10.6m (2011: £nil) net credit in statutory profit following agreement of new VAT recovery method with HMRC;
    • Credits of £4.5m and £1.9m recognised for 2012 and 2011 respectively, in lower irrecoverable VAT charge.

Full details of year end results

UK, Wales, Ewloe

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Condé Nast invests $20m in farfetch

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

cni-logoCondé Nast International, a division of Advance Publications, has led a $20m investment in farfetch, the e-commerce marketplace for independent fashion boutiques. Existing investors Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures and e.ventures also participated in the fundraising.

“This investment will fuel our entry to new markets while assisting our growth in existing ones. Our goal to build a unique curated farfetchglobal franchise in online designer fashion is brought several steps closer through the exciting involvement of Condé Nast,” commented Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive of Condé Nast International.

James Bilefield, President of Condé Nast International Digital, adds “As the leading multimedia publisher connecting people to the fashion brands they love, this investment underlines our commitment to extend the scope of our activities and back great entrepreneurs. It follows the recent news of our involvement with the e-commerce businesses Monoqi and Renesim in Germany, plus the investment activity of our parent company Advance Publications in the USA.” As part of the investment, James Bilefield will join the farfetch board.

farfetch launched in 2008 and brings together luxury brands from over 250 of the world’s most respected independent fashion boutiques for men and women. With 82,000 highly curated products from over 2,000 of the world’s best brands, farfetch currently has 150,000 customers in over 140 countries. farfetch is backed by Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures, e.ventures and Condé Nast International.

UK, London &

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