DST Global launches new fund and invests in Spotify and 360buy

April 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to Quintura Blog, Yuri Milner‘s  DST Global, which has made investments in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon, has launched a new fund, DST Global – 2 that will have international investors as limited partners. DST Global – 2will invest in later stage, high growth companies, reported newspaper Vedomosti. Its first investment was one in Groupon in January 2011.

DST Global – 2 is investing $50 million for a 5 percent stake in online music service Spotify, and investing in 360buy the largest Chinese online retailer, by joining its funding round,

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ALL3MEDIA considers a sale

April 1, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

A notification on All3Media’s website reads, “All3Media Has Appointed UBS To Conduct A Strategic Review Of Its Business. Possible Buyers Have Not Been Approached Nor Has ALL3MEDIA Received Any Offers.”

The FT is reporting that two analysts said a multiple of 12 times ebitda was possible, citing the amount paid by News Corp for Shine Productions in February. At a valuation of 12 times its 2009-10 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £50.7m, it would be worth about £600m.

ALL3MEDIA is Britain’s largest independent television production company. It was formed following the acquisition of Chrysalis Group’s TV division in September 2003, led by Steve Morrison, David Liddiment, Jules Burns and John Pfeil. In September 2006, Permira became All3Media’s majority shareholder.

UK, London

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Bauer closes in on BBC Magazines as Future and Burda drop out

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Brand Republic is reporting that BBC Worldwide has entered into protracted negotiations with German publisher Bauer Media Group as the 12-month hunt to find a publishing partner for its BBC Magazines portfolio nears completion.

Among those who previously took an interest were specialist consumer publisher Future and German giant Burda, both of which are no longer in talks with BBC Magazines.

Included in any deal will be the licensing rights for BBC Magazines and international best-seller Top Gear.

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Read the full story at Brand Republic

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Collective acquires UK video network Web TV Enterprise

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Collective, a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising, has acquired premium online video advertising network, Web TV Enterprise. The deal, follows Collective’s February acquisition of video advertising platform OggiFinogi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Web TV Enterprise is the UK’s largest premium online video ad network, representing many of the UK’s leading web publishers and content owners. A pioneer of the VOD (video on-demand) advertising space since 2006, Web TV presents advertisers with the widest range of premium video channels on the web, reaching more than 25 million UK viewers a month.

“Slow adoption of online video advertising has resulted in the format’s potential being left largely untapped with video companies remaining a small subset of overall television advertising spend,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective. “Unlike most video networks, Web TV’s revenues come largely from broadcast media budgets versus smaller digital plans. This is a trend that we see accelerating in the UK, US and globally.”

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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Lansons takes a 25% stake in social media agency cubaka

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Lansons Communications has bought a 25 per cent stake in a social media agency cubaka. The agency was founded in 2009 by Simon Rutherford, former Toyota head of digital. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As part of the deal Tony Langham, Lansons chief executive, will join the cubaka board. The agency will relocate to Lansons offices but maintain its independent branding.

Langham explained: ‘All of our campaigns include social media, but there are also social media only briefs and we weren’t in the market to win those and neither are most of the other top 25 PR agencies under their own identities.’

He added that the investment allows the agency to attract a higher quality of social media strategist than creating a social media function in-house.

Rutherford said the tie-up would ‘offer clients the chance to plan effective social media strategy, web development, community management and crisis comms management together so that they work cohesively.’

Cubaka will continue to service its own clients as well as offer specialist digital consulting to Lansons’ clients and help drive new business.

Clients at the six-strong agency include Toyota, Lexus and Davina Peace.

The news comes four months after Lansons bought public affairs consultancy Foresight Consulting.

Langham said that the agency remained interested in making another tactical acquisition in the digital space.

Read more on Simon’s Rutherford’s blog

UK, London


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Econsultancy – profits up and membership hits 100,000

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Econsultancy, the community website for digital marketing and e-commerce professionals has reached the major milestone of 100,000 members globally. Earlier this month Meera Shah, Director at Red Apple Delivery became the 100,000th person to sign up.

The membership milestone has been achieved eight years after Econsultancy first launched its paid-for subscription model, and follows on from a period of international expansion to the US, Middle East and Far East.

Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein says: “We’re all thrilled to have surpassed the 100,000-member mark. We’ve always believed in our professional community-focused business model and, in an era where many publishers are scrabbling to find a monetization model that works, it’s exciting to be growing so fast, particularly in the US, Middle East and Far East. We believe the internet is opening up huge opportunities internationally for UK businesses like ours: the growth in elearning and web-delivered professional qualifications alone is immense.”

The business is also growing financially. PaidContent reported today that Econsultancy’s profits for the current year are expected to be up by 50% to £1.5 million and revenues up by around £1 million to close to £6 million.

Read the full story on Econsultancy’s website – here

UK, London

 

 

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Lagardere and Hearst sign the share purchase agreement for the sale of Lagardere’s international magazine business

March 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Update

Previous article Hearst Corporation to buy the international magazine business of Lagardère posted onJanuary 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet | Edit

Lagardère SCA has today signed the share purchase agreement for the sale of its international magazine business to Hearst Corporation.

The closing of the transaction remains subject to approval by local partners in certain countries as well as to certain customary governmental approvals and antitrust clearances in certain jurisdictions.

The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the coming months.

France, Paris

 

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TechTarget to acquire Computer Weekly from Reed Business Information

March 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Technology media company TechTarget is to acquire the websites, product offerings, and events associated with Computer Weekly and its sister channel-targeted brand MicroScope from Reed Business Information. The transaction is expected to close by the end of April. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The print versions of both Computer Weekly and MicroScope will be discontinued when the deal concludes.

Founded in 1966, Computer Weekly is read by UK Managers, Directors and CIOs monitoring the technology landscape. ComputerWeekly.com receives an average of 425,000 visits and 1 million page views each month. It has an associated email database of more than 165,000 subscribers, 42% of which are senior level IT managers. MicroScope has a long history of helping advertisers to reach the value-added resellers (VARs) that influence the technology purchase decision-making process. This site receives more than 100,000 page views each month and maintains more than 15,000 email subscribers.

TechTarget owns more than 90 technology-specific websites with 9 million registered members. Computer Weekly and MicroScope will complement TechTarget’s established offerings in the region, including SearchDataManagement.co.uk, SearchNetworking.co.uk, SearchSecurity.co.uk, SearchStorage.co.uk, and SearchVirtualDataCentre.co.uk.

“ComputerWeekly.com and MicroScope.co.uk strengthens TechTarget’s already high quality audience and substantial reach into senior IT decision makers in the UK,” said Bill Crowley, senior vice president of international, TechTarget. “TechTarget brings significant new opportunities to these properties with our history of developing audiences, lead generation expertise and our operational ability to execute multi-country guaranteed programs,” continued Crowley.

Computer Weekly and MicroScope are brands that UK IT decision makers already trust, and they bring technology news and IT management focused content with deep understanding of UK market nuances. TechTarget brings detailed technical content that all IT pros and managers need to make informed purchase decisions. Advertisers on these sites will gain a broader range of lead generation tools and branding products, along with greater functionality for interacting with IT buyers as they actively research technology solutions.

With the addition of Computer Weekly, TechTarget will also pursue new events in the IT space in addition to its existing Storage and Virtual Desktop events, and will expand on custom events already run by Computer Weekly.

USA, Newton, MA & UK, Sutton, Surrey

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Endemol UK buys a 50% stake in Holy Moly

March 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Media Guardian is reporting that former Big Brother producer Endemol UK has bought a 50% stake in Holy Moly in a deal which sees Jamie East’s secret identity as the celebrity gossip website’s founder formally unveiled for the first time.

Holy Moly employs six full-time staff. It, will move out of its existing offices in Charlotte Street, in central London, into the Endemol HQ in Shepherd’s Bush.

Read the full story

Uk, London

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Schneider Electric acquires energy procurement and sustainability services business Summit Energy

March 25, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Schneider Electric is to acquire Kentucky based energy procurement and sustainability services business Summit Energy Services.

Summit Energy provides its clients with services including energy procurement, risk management, market intelligence, data management and sustainability consulting. It employs around 350 staff based in 11 international offices across North America and Europe and serves client. The business is expected to generate sales of approximately $65 million for the current year with an EBITA margin above the Schneider Electric average.

The total purchase price for the company is $268 million (~ € 190 million) on a debt-free cash-free basis, subject to certain adjustments. The completion of the transaction is subject to regulatoryapprovals and customary closing conditions. This acquisition is expected to be accretive on earnings per share from year 1 and to meet Schneider Electric’s Return on Capital Employed criteria in 2014.

According to Schneider Electric, Summit Energy will be an excellent complement to Schneider Electric’s demand-side capabilities in the fields of energy audits, energy monitoring and energy efficient solutions.

Chris Curtis, Schneider Electric’s Senior Executive Vice President, North America, commented: “The acquisition of Summit Energy allows Schneider Electric to broaden our energy management services and solution portfolio, offering customers the ability to manage and optimize their energy consumption from the supply side through the demand side, while also growing our energy and environmental online reporting capabilities.”

“By joining with Schneider Electric, we will be able to deliver Summit’s unique service offering to Schneider Electric customers,” said Steve Wilhite, Summit Energy’s President and CEO. “In recent years, we have invested heavily in people and technology to serve our clients. In combining our strengths with Schneider Electric’s resources, Summit Energy will be even better positioned to lead our clients to cost-effective and sustainable energy.”

Summit Energy and Schneider Electric have issued an Open Letter about the acquisition, as follows:

Today we are excited to announce that Summit Energy has agreed to be acquired by Schneider Electric.

This is an expansion and growth strategy for both companies:

Schneider Electric will benefit by expanding into the energy procurement and sustainability services space, broadening its energy management solution portfolio through the acquisition of a leader in this regard.

Summit Energy benefits from access to Schneider Electric’s global reach, technical capabilities and financial resources enabling continued expansion in terms of services and technology-related tools for our clients, as well as increased geographic growth opportunities.

As you may know, Schneider Electric is a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries. Headquartered near Paris, France and with North American headquarters in Palatine, Illinois, Schneider Electric has been in operation for nearly 175 years and is widely recognized as the global specialist in energy management.

In recent years, Summit Energy has invested heavily in people and technology to serve its clients. In combining Summit Energy’s strengths with Schneider Electric’s knowledge and resources, we will be even better positioned to lead customers to cost-effective and sustainable energy.

This is a very positive step for both organizations. This partnership of two leaders will only serve to strengthen our service offering as well as provide customers with additional energy management related resources. We look forward to sharing more information with you on the new opportunity this acquisition presents in the near future.

Signed

Steve Wilhite, President and CEO, Summit Energy
Jeff Drees, US Country President, Schneider Electric

France, Rueil-Malmaison & USA, Kentucky

Posted in B2B Services, Consultancy, Energy & Environmental Services, Procurement, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »
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