~Europe | Fusion Corporate Partners

Lyceum Capital has acquired energy procurement and compliance specialists McKinnon & Clarke for £22M

January 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

ACQUISITION
FDN Database Reference: F231109-285

Acquirer: Lyceum Capital
ACQ Web: http://www.lyceumcapital.co.uk
Location: United Kingdom, London
Region: Europe
Description: Private Equity
Category: Private Equity
Contact 1: Daniel Adler, Partner
Contact 2: David Harland, Partner

Vendor: McKinnon & Clarke
Vendor Web: http://www.mckinnon-clarke.co.uk
Location: United Kingdom, Fife, Scotland
Region: Europe
Description: European energy procurement and compliance specialists.
Category: Energy, Procurement
Contact 1: Sandy McKinnon, Founder
Contact 2: Simon Northrop, CEO

Aprox. Value: £22,000,000

Details: Lyceum Capital has taken a significant majority stake in McKinnon & Clarke. The company employs 87 people in Scotland and a further 286 across an international network of offices. The growth plan will focus on new opportunities in international markets and aims to treble the £22.7 million turnover during the next few years. Sandy McKinnon will retain a minority share in the business and CEO, Simon Northrop, will continue to lead the company. Daniel Adler and David Harland from Lyceum Capital will join the board. Debt funding was provided by HSBC.

Link: Press Release

Other deals in the sector

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

Thomson Reuters acquires Discovery Logic

January 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

ACQUISITION
FDN Database Reference: F231109-284

Acquirer: Thomson Reuters
ACQ Web: http://www.thomsonreuters.com
Location: USA, New York, NY
Region: North America
Description: Information for decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets
Category: Data provider
Contact: Keith MacGregor, Executive Vice President of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters

Vendor: Discovery Logic
Vendor Web: http://www.discoverylogic.com
Location: USA, Rockville, MD
Region: North America
Description: Provider of customizable analytics and decision support solutions for scientific research
Category: Scientific
Contact: Mike Pollard (will continue with the business as Vice President and General Manager of Discovery Logic after the acquisition)

Aprox. Value: Undisclosed

Details: From the Thomson Reuters – “The acquisition of Discovery Logic will enhance current research analytics offerings and provide increased decision support and workflow solutions to academic, government, non-profit and commercial professionals.” The company becomes part of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters.

Link: Press Release

Nuance Acquires SpinVox to expand their Voice-to-Text Business

January 3, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Vendor: SpinVox
Vendor Web: http://www.spinvox.com
Location: United Kingdom, Marlow
Region: Europe
Description: Provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumer.
Category: Mobile, Technology
Contact 1: Christina Domecq, Founder
Contact 2: Daniel Doulton, Founder

Aprox. Value: $102.5 million, comprising $66 million in cash and $36.5 million, or approximately 2.3 million shares, in Nuance common stock.

Details: By integrating SpinVox’s carrier services with Nuance’s advanced speech recognition platform, Nuance will further accelerate the growth of its voice-to-text business and scale to meet the needs of a growing, global customer base.

Links: The SpinVox blog Press Release

Posted in ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Telefónica acquires IP communications business JAJAH

December 23, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

Vendor: JAJAH
Vendor Web: http://www.JAJAH.com
Location: USA, California, and Israel
Region: North America, Middle East & Africa, Europe
Description: Seamless IP communications services across the organisation, regardless of location or device. Used in around 200 countries by millions of people and are integrated into everyday instant messaging and social media applications, as well as through its own JAJAH direct-to-consumer offer.
Category: Technology, Communications
Contact: Trevor Healy, CEO of JAJAH

Aprox. Value: EUR 145 million in an all-cash transaction.

Details: Telefónica has acquired communications innovator JAJAH. the company will continue to operate under its current brand reporting into Telefónica Europe, which will be the first of Telefónica’s regional business divisions to offer seamless JAJAH services to customers wishing to extend their communications experience. The agreement is subject to formal clearance by CNC, the Spanish competition authority.

Link: Press Release

Posted in ~Europe, ~Middle East & Africa, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Matrix invests £4.3M in MBO and recapitalisation of Iglu.com

December 21, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

FDN Database Reference: F231109-275

Acquirer: Matrix Private Equity Partners
ACQ Web: http://www.matrixgroup.co.uk
Location: United Kingdom, London
Region: Europe
Description: Venture Capital Trust Manager and UK small buyout specialist. Specialise in backing in quality companies with quality management teams, making equity investments of £2m to £7m, in typical transaction sizes of £5m – £20m
Category: Private Equity
Contact: Guy Blackburn (guy.blackburn@matrixgroup.co.uk)

Vendor: Iglu.com
Vendor Web: http://www.iglu.com
Location: United Kingdom, London, Wimbledon
Region: Europe
Description: Internet based travel agency specialising in the sale of ski and snowboarding holidays; villa and tropical holidays; cruise holidays; hotel accommodation; flights to Canada and Lapland holidays.
Category: Travel Agent
Contact: Richard Downs, Managing Director

Aprox. Value: Invested £4.3million in the management buyout and recapitalisation

Details: Matrix Private Equity Partners have completed their fifth deal since the summer. Matrix has invested £4.3million in the management buyout and recapitalisation of Iglu.com, the London based specialist ski and cruise holiday online travel agent.

Posted in ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Edipresse Group sells its stake in RBA Edipresse to its JV partner RBA Holding

December 21, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

ACQUISITION
FDN Database Reference: F231109-274

Acquirer: RBA Holding Editorial S.A.
ACQ Web: http://www.rba.es/
Location: Spain, Barcelona
Region: Europe
Description: Media Group
Category: Media
Contact: Enrique Iglesias Montejo, RBA Holding CEO

Vendor: Edipresse Group
Vendor Web: http://www.edipresse.com
Location: Switzerland
Region: Europe
Description: International media and communications company based in Switzerland. Active in newspapers, magazines and electronic publishing, the Group employs 2800 people and publishes over 180 titles and websites in 15 countries and territories.
Category: Media
Contact: Michel Preiswerk, CFO Edipresse Group

Aprox. Value: Undisclosed

Details: “Edipresse Group has sold its 33% stake in the Spanish magazine publishing company RBA Edipresse to its joint-venture partner RBA Holding. RBA Holding thus becomes 100% owner of RBA Edipresse. The amount of the sale was not disclosed. The transaction still has to be formally submitted to the Spanish competition authorities for approval. This transaction fits into the overall strategy of the Edipresse Group to disinvest from the Iberian market and the assets it does not control.
”

Link: Press Release

Posted in ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Affiliate marketing business, Skimlinks, raises $1.5M

December 20, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

Link: StrategyEye

Posted in ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Mood-based video search firm, Jinni Media, raises $1.6M

December 16, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

FUND RAISING
Database Reference: F231109-295

Business: Jinni Media Ltd
Web: http://www.jinni.com/
Location: Israel
Region: Middle East & Africa, Europe
Business description: According to Jinni, “Jinni isn’t a social network, it’s an internet application designed to fit how people relate to movies and TV. And since conversation is part of that, we’ve created tools to meet people with shared tastes, compare preferences, and review and rank titles.”
Category: Search, Video
Contact: Michael Pohl, CEO

Investors: DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures (Isreal, Tel Aviv and USA, Menlo Park, CA)

Round: Round A
Amount raised: $1,600,000

Details: Israel based Jinni Media Ltd has raised $1,600,000. The new cash will fund Jinni’s expansion and provide the resources it thinks it will need to chase after deals for its mood-based video search and recommendation technology.

Link: Cable Digital News

Posted in ~Europe, ~Middle East & Africa. Leave a Comment »

Social game firm Zynga raises $180M from Russian investor DST

December 16, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

FUND RAISING
Database Reference: F231109-292

Business: Zynga
Web: http://www.zynga.com
Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Region: North America
Business description: Social gaming company
Category: Online Games
Contact 1: Mark Pincus, Founder and CEO
Contact 2: Andrew Trader, co-founder

Investors: Previous investor Digital Sky Technologies (DST) is leading a group of investors. DST is a Russian investment firm.

Amount raised: $180,000,000

Details: D.S.T. will invest directly in Zynga while also buying stock from shareholders, including the company’s employees. The move is aimed at giving employees and shareholders of the prominent start-up a way to cash out before an initial public offering. Previous investors include Kleiner Perkins, Avalon Ventures, Foundry Group, Union Square Ventures and Institutional Venture Partners.

Link: New York Times

Related DigiNet article

17 November 2009 – Social gaming company Zynga raises $15.18M

Posted in Content Media, Games, Internet Media, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Real-time urban guide, Tellmewhere raises €550,000

December 15, 2009 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

FUND RAISING
Database Reference: F231109-290

Business: Tellmewhere
Web: http://tellmewhere.com
Location: France, Paris
Region: Europe
Business description: Real-time urban guide powered by users across the globe. Tellmewhere works as a web and mobile service, available for free on the iPhone and on Android. The comapny was founded in January 2007 and has share capital of € 120 515
Category: Search : Directory
Contact 1: Gilles Barbier, CEO, Co-Founder (Twitter)
Contact 2: Romain Ehrhard, Co-Founder (Twitter)

Investors: Led by Stephane Romanyszyn, founder and CEO of entreparticuliers.com