Bowmark Capital sells Law Business Research to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners

December 30, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

lbrLevine Leichtman Capital Partners has acquired Law Business Research (LBR), a provider of research, news, data and insight on international business law and legal markets, from Bowmark Capital.

LBR, which was established in 1996, was sold to Bowmark in 2013. The sale was managed by Fusion Corporate Partners on behalf of its original founders, Richard Davey, Callum Campbell and Sebastian O’Meara.

LBR creates content spanning 120 jurisdictions across its brands, serving a client base that comprises major corporations, government agencies and the global legal industry.  It is a information provider in fields such as competition law, arbitration law, cross-border investigations and Latin American corporate law.

Since Bowmark acquired the company, LBR has more than doubled its sales and profits.  It has added new territories and products, including two new titles, ’Global Investigations Review’ and ’Global Restructuring Review’, as well as a new workflow application, ’Arbitrator Research Tool’.  It has also significantly enhanced its technology platform and opened offices overseas.   During this period, employee numbers grew by 80 per cent.

Julian Masters, Bowmark senior partner, added: “The fact that 96 per cent of the world’s top law firms work with LBR is a tribute to the quality of the business and its management team.  The company is well-positioned to continue its strong record of success under its new owner.”

USA, Beverley Hills, CA & UK, London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ascential PLC acquires Clavis Insight

December 27, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

ClavisAscential PLC has acquired Clavis Insight for an initial cash consideration of $119 million plus future earn outs payable over three years.  

Clavis provides eCommerce analytics, with proprietary technology enabling consumer product companies to track and optimise the performance of their products across hundreds of retailer websites and mobile commerce sites globally.   Clavis customers include some of the world’s largest consumer product companies, such as P&G, Nestle, Unilever and L’Oreal.

 Clavis will join Ascential’s Information Services division and is complementary to One Click Retail.  Clavis employs 170 people, including 100 in Dublin, with hub locations in the US, UK, France and China serving a global customer base.

In the year to 31 December 2016 Clavis generated unaudited revenue of $13 million and an EBITDA loss of $7 million.  Gross assets at 31 December 2016 were $19 million.  Revenue is expected to grow to $17 million in the current financial year ended 2017 and Clavis is expected to break even in 2018.  Clavis has a high level of recurring revenue with 95% of total revenue being subscription-based.

The initial cash consideration is $119 million.  The earn out is payable in cash based on the annualised recurring revenue of the business at the end of each of the next three years to 2020 and is expected to total between approximately $25 million and $50 million.  A portion of the earn out is subject to founders remaining in employment with the company.  

Duncan Painter, CEO, Ascential, commented: “Ascential enables its customers to improve their business performance.  As a high growth business that offers synergies with our existing brands, Clavis fits well with our strategy, strengthening our eCommerce analytics offering for consumer product companies.  Through combination with OCR’s offering, we will provide ever more comprehensive, accurate and actionable analytics and insight.”

UK, London & Dublin, Ireland

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Mark Allen Group acquires Miles Publishing Limited 

December 21, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

MAGThe Mark Allen Group has acquired Miles Publishing from its owner, Miles Blossom. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MPL comprises two core products; the market leading brand, Comms Business, and its related event, Channel Live. Comms Business operates in the ICT sector whose primary audience is resellers of related products and services. Channel Live is the only ICT trade exhibition in the UK of its kind that takes place at the NEC in September.

Ben Allen, Chief Executive of MAG, said; “This is a great acquisition for us. I got to know Miles quite well when we sold him last year our golf magazine, Pro-Shop Europe. Miles has built up a very good company which, for personal reasons, he now wishes to dispose of, although, as a very keen golfer, he is going to retain the golf part of his operation.”

UK, London & Tunbridge Wells

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Marlowe plc acquires Guardian Water Treatment for up to £2.8M

December 21, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

gwtltd-marlowe-logoSupport services group Marlowe plc, the has acquired Guardian Water Treatment Limited (which includes GPCS Limited) for up to £2.8 million on a cash and debt free basis.

Founded in 2000, Guardian operates nationally from headquarters in Basildon, Essex, and employs around 90 staff. Guardian provides a portfolio of water treatment services to over 400 customers with a significant presence within the facilities management, engineering and manufacturing sectors.

For the year to 31 March 2017, Guardian reported revenues of £6.4 million, adjusted profit before tax of £0.4 million and net assets of £2 million. Marlowe are paying £2.4 million cash upfront and a cash earn-out capped at £0.85 million.

The key members of Guardian’s operational management team will be staying with the business.

Alex Dacre, Chief Executive of Marlowe plc, commented: “The acquisition of Guardian is a further significant step in our strategy of consolidation of the UK water treatment sector. The business benefits from strong recurring revenues, longstanding customer relationships and will further strengthen our capabilities in the attractive London market.”

UK, London & Essex

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Ogilvy & Mather acquires a majority stake in digital consultancy ARBA in Hong Kong

December 18, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

ogilvyWPP‘s wholly-owned marketing communications network, Ogilvy & Mather, has acquired a majority stake in ARBA, a digital consultancy. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in Hong Kong in 2012, ARBA offers bespoke digital design and software engineering services with a focus on sales acceleration and customer experience. It specializes in digital strategy and has strong expertise in the financial services industry. With a staff strength of more than 40, ARBA clients include FWD, Prudential, Hang Seng Bank and other financial and insurance providers.

 ARBA’s revenues were around HKD 17.3 million, with net assets of around HKD 5.8 million for the year ending March 2017.

UK, London & Hong Kong

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Catena Media acquires Squawka.com and related assets from Squawka Ltd for £1M

December 14, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

Catena MediaThe online performance marketing company Catena Media has acquired Squawka.com and related assets from Squawka Ltd. Squawka is a high-volume traffic global football news site with a Daily Fantasy Sports section in beta version. The main site currently attracts around 4 million users per month, and has around 800,000 followers on Twitter.

The purchase price amounts to a one-time upfront cash payment of GBP 1 million (approximately EUR 1.1 million). The acquisition is expected to generate annual sales of approximately EUR 2 million with an estimated 60% margin.

Henrik Persson Ekdahl, Acting CEO of Catena Media, said, “We see potential for Squawka as a high-volume traffic site with a global audience, to which we look forward to implementing an affiliation business model. The company has invested in automatic data feeds for their user-friendly graphical interfaces, which is something we aim to integrate into other Catena Media products.”

Malta, Ta’ Xbiex & UK, London

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Keywords Studios acquires games developer Sperasoft

December 13, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

keywords

Keywords Studios, an international technical services provider to the global video games industry, has acquired Russian game development business Sperasoft from the founders Igor Efremov, Alexei Kudriashov and Mark Rizzo.
The total consideration is $27 million. Keywords Studios are paying $22 million in cash, $1 million of which is deferred until the first anniversary of the acquisition. The remainder will be paid through the issue of new shares, which will be issued to the sellers on the first anniversary of the acquisition.

 

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Sperasoft provides game development, art creation and software engineering services to video game developers and publishers around the world from its production studios in St Petersburg and Volgograd, Russia and Krakow, Poland. Founded in 2004, Sperasoft employs 400 software engineers and artists. The company offers a full range of services for initial game development as well as developing games in live operations.

Andrew Day, Chief Executive Officer of Keywords Studios, said, “The acquisition of Sperasoft provides us with an entry point into co-development, positioning us as a strategic partner to games developers at the early stages of the games development lifecycle. As games are becoming bigger and are higher definition, game developers are increasingly relying upon co-development arrangements with companies like Sperasoft to provide them with broader capability to develop both initial games and additional content and features post launch.”

USA, Santa Clara, CA & Ireland, Dublin

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Media Development Investment Fund acquires majority stake in South Africa’s Mail & Guardian

December 12, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

MDIF Media Development Investment FundMedia Development Investment Fund, a New York-based not-for-profit investment fund for independent media in emerging markets, has acquired a majority stake in South African media company Mail & Guardian. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The restructured ownership sees M&G’s Chief Executive Officer, Hoosain Karjieker, acquire a minority stake in the business as part of a Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transaction.

The Mail & Guardian is an award-winning South African title edited by Khadija Patel who was this week named as one of Africa’s leading talents by the New African magazine.

Trevor Ncube, the newspaper’s former publisher, said “My partner for 14 years, the MDIF, under the leadership of Harlan Mandel have put forward a compelling case plan that will ensure the survival of the M&G well into the future. Ownership of the M&G is equivalent to carrying a baton that gets passed on from generation to generation with just this underlying principle: Editorial independence is sacrosanct. I have often said my role over the past 25 years has been more of a custodian of a great South African asset, than an owner.”

USA, New York, NY & South Africa, Johannesburg

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YouGov acquires Galaxy Research in Australia

December 11, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

YouGovYouGov plc, the market research and data analytics group, has acquired Galaxy Research Pty Ltd, a market research agency in Australia. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Galaxy, based in Sydney, has a market research offering comparable to YouGov’s Data Services offering. The agency known in the Australian market for opinion polling and as the administrator of the local political opinion polling brand, Newspoll.

YouGov’s existing Australian business, established two years ago, operates in keeping with YouGov’s core model of using data collected from its proprietary panel of members to provide syndicated data products and services. The combined business will be in a position to expand its data products and services offering.

GalaxyDavid Briggs, the founder and Managing Director of Galaxy, will lead the combined business and team of 11 employees in Australia, which will initially operate under the brand YouGov Galaxy.

Stephan Shakespeare, CEO of YouGov, commented: “With its reputation for accuracy and an excellent roster of corporate market research clients, Galaxy was an obvious fit for the YouGov Group. This acquisition increases our presence in Australia which is a significant market and one which is strategically important to our international clients.”

UK, London & Australia, Sydney

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GlobalData acquires MEED Media from Ascential for £17.5M

December 8, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

GlobalDataGlobalData PLC has announced the acquisition of MEED Media FZ LLC  from Ascential PLC for a cash consideration of $17.5 million. MEED, formerly known as the Middle East Economist Digest, provides premium business information content with an industry focus on infrastructure and projects in the Middle East. The business services its growing client base principally through annual subscription contracts.

As reported on Fusion DigiNet in January 2016, GlobalData Holding Limited, a company then owned by Mike Danson and Wayne Lloyd, was acquired by Progressive Digital Media Group Plc. Mike Danson is Executive Chairman of Progressive Digital Media Group.

Commenting on the acquisition Bernard Cragg, Executive Chairman of GlobalData, said: “MEED gives the Group the opportunity to further expand into a key region and adds an additional industry vertical to our offering whilst maintaining our disciplined investment criteria of premium proprietary content and strong renewable subscription based revenues.”

UK, London & UAE, Dubai

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