Key Publishing acquires Model Activity Press

March 16, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Key Publishing, a UK based publisher of aviation magazines has acquired the business of Model Activity Press (M.A.P.), publisher of Aviation Modeller International, Flying Scale Models and Military Machines International.

Commenting on the buy, Adrian Cox, Managing Director of Key Publishing Ltd said “We are delighted to bring the M.A.P. titles into the Key portfolio. Whilst these titles are in sectors new to Key, there is a natural fit and synergy with our extensive range of aviation titles and our recent launch, Airfix Model World. We are looking forward to building on the firm foundations that the magazines currently have by using the economies of scale that a larger organisation can bring to the party. This is yet another step in some exciting development plans that we have for Key which will involve both more launches and further acquisitions.”

Tony Dowdeswell, owner of M.A.P. said “We have been very happy with the development of our magazine portfolio over the years but the time is right to sell. We are extremely pleased that it has found a great home at Key Publishing, whose culture of serving the interests of enthusiasts fits perfectly with that of M.A.P. Ltd. We are confident that under Key’s wing the magazines will thrive and have the opportunity to reach their true potential”.

The first issues of the three M.A.P. titles produced by Key Publishing will be the May 2011 issues.

UK, Lincolnshire

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Google buys video quality technology company Green Parrot Pictures

March 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

From the Google Blog.

Today, we’re pleased to announce we’ve acquired Green Parrot Pictures, a digital video technology company founded by Associate Professor Anil Kokaram at the Engineering School of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. In the last six years, their small team of engineers has built cutting-edge video quality improvement technology that has been used in major studio productions from Lord of the Rings to X-Men to Spider-Man. Their technology helps make videos look better while at the same time using less bandwidth and improving playback speed. If you’re interested in seeing some of the incredible work Green Parrot Pictures has previously done, check out some of the videos on their website.

With the equivalent of over 170,000 full-length movies uploaded to YouTube every week, the team’s experience in this area — working on solutions for both video consumers and experts alike — will be a source of new ideas and further innovation at YouTube and across Google. We look forward to working with them to make the videos you upload every minute of every day to our site look even better.

Jeremy Doig, Director, Google Video Technology

Ireland, Dublin

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The Carlyle Group to acquire The Foundry from Advent Venture Partners

March 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

US private equity company, The Carlyle Group has acquired a significant majority stake in The Foundry Visionmongers, a developer of visual effects software, from Advent Venture Partners and other stakeholders. Falcon Investment Advisors, LLC has converted its current ownership in The Foundry into mezzanine notes in support of the acquisition. The founders and management will continue to retain a significant minority stake. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in London with more than 100 employees, The Foundry has established itself as a critical technology partner to the major feature film studios and post production houses in the US and UK. The Foundry’s products have been used to make recent “must see” movies including Avatar, Tron: Legacy, Alice in Wonderland, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours and Black Swan – all award winners or nominees.

Commenting on the transaction, Dr. Bill Collis, CEO of The Foundry said, “Carlyle’s financial strength, extensive network, and track record in the management of software companies are great assets to our business. We’re exceptionally proud of our achievements over the past two years and have benefited significantly from the deep insight and timely guidance provided by Advent. We look forward to partnering with Carlyle and seeking new opportunities in current and new markets as we continue to progress and innovate.”

Since the management buyout of the Company in June 2009, the management team and founders have worked closely with Advent and Falcon to transform the Company from a best-of-breed plug-in developer to the leading industry visual effects software provider through a combination of unique product partnerships, sales execution, channel development and global expansion. During this period, headcount tripled from 35 to more than 100 and growth accelerated, with revenue increasing from £6.1 million to £14.9 million in 2010. The Company expanded its now 4,000-strong customer base to include The Moving Picture Company (MPC), Prime Focus, Dreamworks, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Framestore, Cinesite, Double Negative and several other high-end facilities.

Mike Chalfen, General Partner at Advent Venture Partners, commented, “This transaction highlights the high quality growth equity opportunities available in European tech. The Foundry has become the global leader in its market, produced phenomenal revenue and profit growth, and executed ambitious product acquisition and channel development plans. To exceed expectations on all these dimensions required a clear view of where value would be created, and a strong leadership team to sustain tremendous commitment throughout the organisation.”

Arma Partners LLP acted as financial advisors and Morrison & Foerster LLP acted as legal advisors to The Foundry. Carlyle was advised by Travers Smith LLP.

UK, London

 

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St Ives plc sells magazine businesses

March 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

St Ives plc has sold its loss making magazine business, comprising St Ives Peterborough Limited, St Ives Plymouth Limited, St Ives Roche Limited and St Ives Web Limited, to Walstead Newco3 Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Walstead Investments Limited, for £20 million. £15 million in cash and £5m in loan notes.

The Magazine business is the web offset printing operation of St Ives, offering magazine printing capabilities to customers across the UK. The business is responsible for the production of weekly, monthly and specialist magazine titles. It employs around 670 people. Revenues to year-ending July were £70.5 million generated pre-tax losses of £5.1m.

St Ives will retain ownership of the properties currently occupied by the Magazine business in Peterborough, Plymouth and Roche and will lease them to the new owners.

UK, Peterborough

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Radian6 has acquired 6Consulting

March 11, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Social media monitoring firm Radian6 has acquired 6Consulting.

London-­based 6Consulting is a social media firm offering social media monitoring to enterprises and agencies in the UK. 6Consulting’s clients include Kellogg’s, EDF, Belron International, Dyson, Fujitsu, Sony Ericsson, the Central Office of Information, the Metropolitan Police, the Greater Manchester Police, as well as many of the region’s top public relations and ad agencies. The firm has been an official reseller for Radian6 since 2009.

The 20 employees at 6Consulting will become employees of Radian6 Technologies UK. That will take the total number of employees at Radian6 to over 280. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

UK, London & Canada, Fredericton

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Perform Group to float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange

March 10, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Perform Group, a digital sports media company, is planning to float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Offer will have a primary and secondary component in order to achieve a minimum free float of 25%, producing a company valuation of approximately £500 million. The primary proceeds, expected to be approximately £70 million, will principally be used both to accelerate PERFORM’s organic growth plans and to fund complementary strategic acquisitions.

The principal existing shareholders are current management and employees, who collectively own 40% of the Company, and Access Industries, a privately held U.S.-based industrial group, which holds 58% of the Company indirectly through a wholly owned subsidiary.
The Company has appointed Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley as Joint Sponsors and Joint Global Co-ordinators of the Global Offer, with Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and UBS acting as Joint Bookrunners.

PERFORM is a global market leader in the commercialisation of multimedia sports content across multiple internet-enabled digital platforms and the owner of one of the largest portfolios of digital sports rights in the world. The Company is led by co-founders and Joint Chief Executive Officers, Oliver Slipper and Simon Denyer.  It generates revenues through four streams: content distribution, advertising & sponsorship, subscriptions and technology & production.

UK, London

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Publicis Groupe acquires digital engagement agency Airlock

March 10, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Airlock, a London-based digital engagement agency, specialising in multi-platform interactive solutions. The Airlock brand will become part of the Leo Burnett Group in the UK.

Airlock provides clients with the full spectrum of digital and interactive communications services including creative development, digital brand strategy, web design, online advertising, social media, digital outdoor, metrics & reporting, content management systems (CMS), e-commerce solutions, as well as platform & application development.

Founded in 2001, Airlock is an Emmy, Webby, BIMA and IAB award-winning agency with clients that include the BBC, NBC Universal, Channel 4 and Wrangler. The agency’s team of 16 digital specialists strengthens Leo Burnett’s rapidly-expanding digital capabilities, bringing the number of digital specialists in the UK Leo Burnett Group to more than 85.

The agency will continue to be headed by its current leadership: Will Lebens, Managing Director; Charlie Martin, Creative Director, Joseph Denne, Technical Director; Chris Mair, Strategy Director. They will report into the Group Chief Digital Officer, Marc Giusti.

Digital is one of the two growth drivers at the heart of Publicis Groupe’s targeted acquisition strategy and today accounts for 28% of the Groupe’s revenue. Over the next three years, Publicis Groupe aims to increase the percentage of revenue derived from digital to 35%.

Andrew Edwards, Group Chairman and CEO Leo Burnett (UK): “Leo Burnett UK digital operations have been gaining a very nice momentum over the past months. Today’s acquisition of Airlock not only further strengthens our offer, but more importantly, it represents an important investment in creativity and innovation for our clients.”

France, Paris & UK, London

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Pearson agrees to buy Education Development International

March 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Pearson, the publisher of the Financial Times, has agreed to buy Education Development International. The Offer is 200 pence in cash for each EDI Share and values EDI’s entire issued ordinary share capital at approximately £112.7 million.

The Offer Price represents a premium of approximately 61 per cent to the Closing Price of 124.0 pence per EDI Share on 4March 2011, the last business day prior to the commencement of the offer period; and 73 per cent to the average Closing Price of 115.6 pence per EDI Share over the three months prior to 4 March 2011.

EDI is a leading provider of education and training qualifications and assessment services, with a strong reputation for the use of information technology to administer learning programmes and deliver on-screen assessments.

Pearson believes that the addition of EDI will complement Pearson’s existing work-based learning business and will create an enlarged qualifications group offering a comprehensive range of vocational and academic services to the UK and international markets. Pearson believes that its financial resources, international scale and strengths in assessment, publishing and technology will also enhance the offering to EDI’s customers.

John Fallon, Chief Executive of Pearson’s International Education Business, said, “In EDI we have found a dynamic partner who shares our commitment to education and training. In the UK and around the world, we will be even better placed to work with employers and training partners to develop high quality apprenticeships and related qualifications. In this work, we will help companies to be more competitive and make their staff more employable.”

Nigel Snook, Chief Executive of EDI, said, “The Offer Price to acquire the EDI business reflects the value created for shareholders over the past 10 years through the hard work and commitment of the staff and management team. We now look forward to working with our Pearson colleagues to take the business on to its next stage, creating a world-class organisation supporting vocational education and training programmes in the UK and internationally.”

Citi is acting as financial adviser and corporate broker to Pearson. Brewin Dolphin is acting as financial adviser and corporate broker to EDI.

UK, London

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Bergen Energi forms global energy management alliance

March 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Here is a story we missed in early February:

Energy services company Bergen Energi, has formed a strategic alliance with US based Delta Energy and Brazilian Comerc Energia. The alliance, known as Energy Experts, is created with the mission to offer a global solution to serve the energy management and data reporting needs of industrial and commercial clients with facilities around the world.

Bergen Energi is also cooperating with energy data management company Entech USB.

The global energy markets have over the last decades seen a rapid development. Deregulation in the markets for, inter alia, electricity and gas, the emergence of increasingly international markets and a sharpened focus on CO2-emissions related to energy consumption are three key features of this development.

Bill Schjelderup, CEO and founder of Bergen Energi says: “Just as global companies demand financial and legal consulting from advisors with a global reach they now request the same reach from their energy management advisors. They need expertise and tools to benefit from price movements in a global market. They need frequently updated reports on their worldwide energy consumption, cost and carbon footprint. Via the Energy Expert Alliance we will be able to provide these services in a comprehensive and comprehensible way – also to clients with global operations”.

The member companies of Energy Experts combine more than 285 energy experts serving over 1,200 clients with facilities in North America, Europe and South America. The alliance plans to expand Energy Experts’ presence into additional geographies in the coming months.

Bergen Energi: Norway, Bergen
Delta Energy: USA, Columbus, OH
Comerc Energia: Brazil, Sao Paulo
Entech USB: London

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Google acquires BeatThatQuote.com

March 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Google has acquired BeatThatQuote.com, a UK based price finance companies price comparison site, for £37.7 million.

The notice on BeatThatQuote.com reads as follows:

“BeatThatQuote.com today was sold to Google for £37.7 million. We think this deal is a tremendous opportunity for our company to develop new and innovative options for personal finance in the UK.
Our team is excited about becoming a part of Google. We look forward to working with their engineers to create new tools making it easier for consumers to choose the right financial products. We think we can offer more transparency and better pricing information than existing online offerings.

We are confident that by combining BeatThatQuote.com’s expertise in UK financial products with Google’s technology, we’ll accelerate innovation in this field, benefiting consumers and the companies offering these products. We plan to keep working with our current partners and look forward to working with new ones, too.

John Paleomylite
Managing Director”

UK, London & USA, Palo Alto, CA

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