Delivery Hero acquires hungryhouse.co.uk

January 30, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

delivery heroFood take away directory business Delivery Hero has acquired hungryhouse.co.uk. The acquisition was initiated in March 2012, and since then the UK site tripled the size of its business.

Delivery Hero headquarters are in Berlin.. The business is backed by Ru-Net, Kite Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Point Nine Capital and Team Europe. In the first 24 months, we raised more than $100 M

The acquisition was made as a share swap, with hungryhouse founders deciding to stay involved. “We believe there is still a lot of hungryhouse.co.uk Logogrowth potential left in this business, and so we re-invested 98% of the purchase price of our shares into Delivery Hero,” says hungryhouse Co-Founder Tony Charles . “We had always planned to make an exit, but the opportunity to continue the Delivery Hero success story was too much fun to turn down!”

Charles will be taking a leading role over product innovation, an area the company will be heavily focusing on in the year ahead.

Delivery Hero also recently acquired another player in the UK market, EatitNow.co.uk, and from January 24th 2013, hungryhouse took over all their orders.

Germany, Berlin & UK, London

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Performance Marketing Brands acquires Pushpins

January 24, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

pmbUS shopping programs business Performance Marketing Brands has acquired Pushpins. Pushpins is a free iOS application that offers grocery shoppers digital coupons at over 6,000 stores and weekly specials at over 50,000 stores, as well as easy access to nutritional information and an intelligent shopping assistant.

Pushpins’ technology integrates with customer loyalty cards, so coupons get automatically deducted during grocery store purchases at the checkout. pushpins

“Expanding into grocery categories is a great way for us to expand opportunities for our members to save with coupons, deals and cash back every time they shop,” said Kevin H. Johnson, CEO of Performance Marketing Brands. “The Pushpins application provides a wonderful tool for consumers to shop smarter.”

Pushpins was founded in 2010 by Co-Founders Jason Gurwin, CEO, and Peter Michailidis, CMO. The two entrepreneurs previously built entertainment and point-of-sale systems

USA, San Francisco, CA & Palo Alto, CA

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Shutterfly Acquires ThisLife

January 14, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

shutterflyShutterfly has acquired ThisLife, a cloud-based solution offering intuitive photo and video organization, storing and sharing.

“Since 1999, Shutterfly has made it easier for consumers to be more creative with their memories,” said Jeffrey Housenbold, president and chief executive officer of Shutterfly. “The combination of ThisLife’s best in class cloud organization and storage solution with Shutterfly’s award-winning product creation paths, uniquely positions Shutterfly to be the leading full service solution for storing, organizing, and sharing life most important memories.“this life

In the coming months, Shutterfly will add ThisLife’s technology to the Shutterfly platform. ThisLife’s intelligent organization platform offers features like facial recognition and presents photos and albums in an elegant timeline for convenient sharing and product creation. ThisLife’s employees, including founders Andrea and Matt Johnson, will join Shutterfly.

The company will share additional details about the acquisition on its Q4 2012 earnings call.

USA, Redwood City, CA

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Pearson announces Investment in Nook Media

January 5, 2013 — askhabra

se_header_logo_pearsonPearson has made a strategic investment in NOOK Media LLC, a manufacturer of e-readers and tablets which also runs 674 college bookstores across America alongside its NOOK digital bookstore and content delivery platform. In the transaction, Pearson will invest $89.5 million in cash giving it a 5% equity stake. Following the transaction, Barnes & Noble will own approximately 78.2 percent of NOOK Media and Microsoft will own approximately 16.8 percent. Subject to certain conditions, Pearson will earn the option to purchase up to an additional five percent ownership in NOOK Media.

Nook Media was spun off from Barnes & Noble Inc earlier this year when it also announced a partnership with Microsoft, wherein the latter purchased a 17% stake in the new firm for $305m, which gave the firm a $1.7 billion post money valuation (source:http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/04/nook-media-officially-spins-out-of-bn-with-microsofts-help-plans-to-enter-ten-new-markets-by-next-year/). Pearson’s announcement also comes after company announced that holiday sales had declined compared to 2011 and that demand has been weaker than expected.

Will Ethridge, CEO of Pearson North America, said “Pearson and Barnes & Noble have been valued partners for decades,” and that “with this investment we have entered into a commercial agreement with NOOK Media that will allow our two companies to work closely together in […] making our content and services broadly available to students and faculty through a wide range of distribution partners.”

UK, London & USA, New York, NY

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Expedia to acquire majority of trivago

December 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

expediaExpedia is to acquire a 61.6% equity position in trivago, a metasearch company headquartered in Germany, for  €477 million including €434 million in cash as well as €43 million in Expedia  stock.

“The trivago team built one of the largest, fastest growing and most well known travel sites in Europe conducting more than 100 million hotel searches annually through a culture focused on developing great products, building a strong brand and promoting partners’ businesses. These attributes closely align with our Expedia, Inc. strategy and values and we are thrilled to have them join our portfolio,” said Dara Khosrowshahi , Expedia, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer.

Founded seven years ago, trivago quickly grew into a consumer champion for hotel accommodation featuring comprehensive search results from over 600,000 hotels across over 140 booking sites in over 30 countries in 23 languages. Through its primarily cost-per-click revenue model, trivago profitably doubled revenue each year since 2008 and currently expects to deliver approximately €100 million in net revenue for 2012.

The deal is anticipated to close during the first half of 2013. Post close, the trivago co-founders and management team will continue to operate independently based out of trivago’s headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany.

USA, Bellevue, WA & Germany, Dusseldorf

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Groupon acquires channel management provider CommerceInterface

December 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Groupon has acquired CommerceInterface, a provider of web-based channel management technology that helps manufacturers, distributors and retailers succeed at managing their businesses and selling online. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Groupon has used CommerceInterface technology since April 2012 to streamline operations of the growing Groupon Goods platform and automate interactions with thousands of existing vendors. The acquisition enables Groupon to leverage infrastructure provided by CommerceInterface to support and optimise the Groupon Goods business around the world in 2013.

“CommerceInterface has proven to be an important piece of Groupon Goods infrastructure in the U.S., quickly and reliably streamlining the execution of orders and other vendor interactions,” said Faisal Masud, head of Groupon Goods. “We look forward to enhancing our abilities to better support merchants overseas beginning early next year.”

CommerceInterface will no longer service other retail channels and current customers will have the option to transition to other vendors over the next six months with migration support from the company.

USA, Chicago, IL

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Palamon Capital Partners acquires a majority interest in on-line beauty retailer feelunique.com

December 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

UK based Private Equity firm, Palamon Capital Partners, has acquired a majority interest in on-line beauty retailer feelunique.com.

feelunique.com has revenues of more than £30 million of annual revenue and the deal values feelunique.com at £26 million.

feelunique is an on-line retailer of premium products in haircare, skincare, cosmetics and fragrances, selling full-permissioned stock from almost all of the major brands including Dior, Lancôme, Clarins, Guerlain, Yves Saint Laurent, Benefit and Kerastase. The Company has built a strong reputation for its customer service and website editorial content, which is directed by Newby Hands, a beauty journalist and Harper’s Bazaar Beauty Director-at-Large. It was founded in 2005 and employs more than 125 staff at its headquarters and logistics centre in the Channel Islands.

Palamon will purchase a majority shareholding from the founders and earlier-stage investors and will provide further capital to support the Company’s growth plan. Sirius Equity will invest alongside Palamon in the transaction. Following Palamon’s investment, Sirius co-founders Robert Bensoussan will join the Board of the Company as Chairman and Jim Sharp will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Bensoussan also is Chairman of L K Bennett, a board member of Interparfums and former investor in and CEO of Jimmy Choo.

Dan Mytnik, Partner at Palamon commented: “We are delighted to be investing in feelunique, a high growth business that is ideally placed to benefit from the fast expanding on-line retail beauty sector with its established platform, a strong business model and entrepreneurial management team. We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with founders, Aaron Chatterley and Richard Schiessl, and to welcome Robert Bensoussan and Jim Sharp to the Board. The expertise of Robert and Jim in the luxury branded sector will be invaluable in taking the business to the next level.”

UK, London & Channel Isles, Jersey

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Google acquires Incentive Targeting

December 1, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

googleGoogle has acquired coupon targeting company Incentive Targeting. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The acquisition was announced in a Tweet by Mike Dudas. Mike is on Google’s mobile commerce team. The Tweet reads, “Google acquires Incentive Targeting to power highly targeted manufacturer and private label coupon programs”

Here is the press release from Incentive Targeting:

We are excited to announce that Incentive Targeting has been acquired by Google!

When we founded Incentive Targeting in 2007, we set out to do for retail couponing what Google had done for online advertising: make it simple, relevant, measurable, and effective. So, it is both humbling and gratifying to be joining the ranks of the company that inspired our initial vision.

As part of Google, we will have the resources and expertise to continue the transformation of couponing from a way to give discounts to a way to build business. And, we can now work towards that vision as part of a company that improves the lives of hundreds of millions of people every day.

We didn’t reach this milestone alone. From day one, we have relied on the support and commitment of our retailers, brands, investors, partners, and advisors, as well as the hard work and dedication of our team. We could not have done this without them, and as we look ahead, we are thrilled to be part of Google!

– Ben, Josh, and the entire Incentive Targeting team

USA, Mountain View, CA & Cambridge, MA

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USA, Mountain View, CA & Cambridge, MA

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GiftCardLab.com acquires 1-800-GIFTCARD.com

September 25, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

GiftCardLab.com, an online provider of gift cards, has acquired 1-800-GIFTCARD.com, Inc., including its client portfolio and vanity 1-800 number. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the 1-800-GIFTCARD.COM team. They have built a wonderful business based upon superior customer service and had amazing vision to register and trademark key assets in the gift card industry. We plan to continue in this tradition, now as a team. With sales now approaching $100 Million, we believe this acquisition is the first step in reaching $1 Billion in annual gift card sales by 2014” said Dave Jones, CEO of Gift CardLab.

USA, Dallas, TX

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September 24, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Groupon has acquired Savored, a provider of reservations at restaurants across the United States. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Savored works with around 1000 restaurant across the United states. After booking a reservation on Savored.com and visiting the restaurant, diners receive up to a 40% discount applied automatically to their bill. The restaurant get incremental revenue for tables that would otherwise be empty.

“Savored’s platform nicely complements Groupon’s efforts in yield management, an area we’ve pioneered with Groupon Now!,” said Dan Roarty, VP of Groupon Now. “We look forward to working together to achieve a common goal – making dining out even more fun and affordable for consumers while helping restaurateurs manage inventory and grow their businesses.”

USA, Mountain View, CA & Chicago, IL

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