Sovrn acquires UK advertising technology OnScroll

April 20, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

sovrnSovrn Holdings, Inc.has acquired UK-based online advertising technology company OnScroll. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition brings to Sovrn OnScroll’s in-view ad technology as well as international expansion with an experienced London based team.

onscrollPublishers using OnScroll are able to provide advertising inventory that is viewable while the reader is actively engaged. They are also able to measure and respond to user engagement time. Buyers can utilise their specific viewability requirements.

The OnScroll team has a substantial base of professional publishers in the UK and will instantly provide Sovrn a large European market. OnScroll co-founder Andy Evans will lead Sovrn’s team in the UK and Europe as Managing Director. Co-founder Babac Vafaey will assume the role of Vice-President of Business Operations for the UK and Europe.

“With this deal, Sovrn gains an incredibly smart and dedicated group of people committed to helping publishers capture more value from the attention they create,” said Walter Knapp, CEO of Sovrn. “Andy, Babac, and the entire OnScroll team have created a fantastic product and perhaps even more importantly they are 100% culturally aligned to our mission of helping professional publishers succeed.”

Sovrn will integrate the OnScroll technology into the its Meridian platform so all publishers can access OnScroll technology for display, video and mobile advertising inventory as well as reporting on active reader engagement.

USA, Boulder, CO & UK, London

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Zoopla Property group to acquire the Property Software Group

April 20, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

zooplapropertyZoopla Property Group Plc is to acquire Property Software Holdings Limited from LDC for £75 million in cash with £47m payable on completion, £22 million payable 6 months after completion and £3m payable each of 12 and 24 months after completion.

In the year ended 31 March 2016, PSG generated revenues of £15.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA of £5.1 million, with 84% recurring revenues and a customer retention rate of over 97%. The value of PSG’s gross assets was £28.2 million as at 31 March 2015

Property Software GroupEstablished in 2007, PSG is a provider of software solutions to property professionals, used in over 8,000 agency branches. PSG provides workflow tools to over 40,000 estate and lettings agents across the UK through its innovative cloud-based (Alto, Jupix) and desktop (Vebra, Core, CFP) software products and provides essential systems for the day-to-day management of inventory, marketing and communications as well as diary management, chain progression, business reporting tools and financial processes.

In addition to its software products, PSG’s newest products, MyPropertyFile and MoveIT, provide agents with digital platforms for engaging more effectively with their clients and generating additional revenue streams from a variety of property-related services.

PSG will continue to operate as a standalone platform. Mark Goddard, CEO of PSG, will become Managing Director of the Group’s Property Services division, reporting to ZPG Founder & CEO, Alex Chesterman.

Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of Zoopla Property Group Plc said, “This acquisition is a game-changer, combining ZPG’s best-in-class property marketing solutions with PSG’s best-in-class property workflow solutions, and will transform the services available for both UK agents and consumers.

UK, London

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Experian to acquire CSIdentity Corporation

April 20, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

experianExperian is to acquire CSIdentity Corporation, a provider of consumer identity management and fraud detection services, $360 million.

Founded in 2006, CSID uses its patent-protected technology to access a variety of data and scours the internet in real-time to monitor websites, blogs, bulletin boards and chat rooms to identify the illegal trading and selling of personal information. It provides a range of services, including credit data, to notify consumers of potential abuse of their identities and that their digital identity information is being actively sold or traded on the internet. This helps consumers to take action to protect themselves.

csid-logo-60CSID’s clients include information services companies, retailers, financial institutions, insurance companies and other institutions with large customer or membership bases.

Experian’s ProtectMyID product alerts consumers to potential abuse of their identity information when new credit enquiries are made and accounts are opened in their names. CSID enables us to move beyond credit monitoring and enrich our offer to create a superior identity protection service. This two-level approach, using both credit and identity information, means we will proactively inform a consumer that their identification data has been compromised and advise that stolen identity information is actively being used in credit enquiries.

Taking into account the full year revenue from recent contracted client wins, we expect the acquisition of CSID to add annualised incremental revenues of approximately US$120m and EBIT of approximately US$30m for the year ending 31 March 2017. Experian expect to report one-off integration costs of US$8m in the first 12 months.

Brian Cassin, Chief Executive Officer of Experian said: “The acquisition of CSID accelerates execution of our Consumer Services strategy and enables us to address a broader spectrum of the consumer market.”

CSID is being acquired from private equity and other investors, management and employees and will form part of Experian Consumer Services in North America.

UK, London & USA, Austin, TX

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Burson-Marsteller to acquire majority stake in Effect PR in Turkey

April 20, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

effect_agency_logo2xWPP’s wholly-owned global public relations and public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller is to acquire a majority stake in Turkish communications firm Effect PR. the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Istanbul, Effect PR employs around 80 people and has been Burson-Marsteller’s exclusive affiliate partner in Turkey since 2012. Following the acquisition, it will become a full member of the network and be renamed Effect Burson-Marsteller.

Effect’s clients include Microsoft and General Electric. Unaudited net sales for the year ended 31 December 2015 were approximately $2.5 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately $3.3 million.

UK, London & Turkey, Istanbul

WPP acquires healthcare media specialist CMI in the US Posted on March 29, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet 

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Keywords Studios acquires Synthesis for up to €18m

April 13, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

keywordsKeywords has acquired the Synthesis group of companies. Synthesis provides localisation, audio and localisation testing services to video game developers and publishers. In particular, Keywords is acquiring 100% of the equity share capital of Synthesis Global Solutions SA in Switzerland, Sillabit S.R.L. in Milan, Italy and Synthesis Deutschland GmbH in Hamburg, Germany from the founders. In addition, certain assets and employees of Synthesis’s operations in France, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, US, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea and Japanwill transfer to Keywords.

The Synthesis Group posted pro forma revenues of €16.9 million and PBT of €2.0 million for the year ended 31 December 2015. The Group is paying up to €18 million, of which €1m in cash is contingent on revenue of at least €15 million being achieved in the 12 month period after the acquisition. Of the initial €17 million payable, €10.2 million was paid in cash on completion with the remainder in new Keywords shares to be issued in two equal tranches on the first and second anniversary of the acquisition.

Synthesis founded in Milan in 1995. It has expanded internationally, initially opening branches in Italy and Spain, followed by Germany, the USA and Japan and later extending its presence to France, Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan and Singapore. Founders Max and Luca Reynaud, , and the management team, will remain with the business.

Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords, commented: “The acquisition of the Synthesis Group represents our largest acquisition to date and, in common with our acquisition in February 2014 of Babel Media, is an important milestone in our consolidation of this highly fragmented market.”

Ireland, Dublin & Italy, Milan

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Johnston Press completes the acquisition of i

April 11, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

Johnston Press plc has completed the acquisition of i from Independent Print Limited.

The acquisition was originally reported on 12 February 2016.

UK, Edinburgh & London

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Euromoney sells Gulf Publishing Company and the Petroleum Economist

April 1, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney plcEuromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the international online information and events group, is selling its energy publishing businesses, Gulf Publishing Company in Houston and the Petroleum Economist in London, to a consortium led by Gulf’s CEO, John Royall and media investor Russell Denson, for a cash consideration of $18 million. Euromoney has owned Petroleum Economist since 1989 and Gulf since 2001. The transaction is expected to close on April 30, 2016.

Commenting on the announcement, Euromoney CEO Andrew Rashbass, said: “In line with our strategy, we are selling these businesses because they are not core for us. We believe the new owners, with their base in Houston, Texas, are better positioned to develop these businesses. John Royall has been a valued and respected colleague at Euromoney. I have no doubt he will continue to show outstanding leadership of these businesses under their new ownership.”

John Royall said: “Euromoney has been a great home to these businesses. We and our partners look forward to building an independent and innovative media company that will take advantage of opportunities in the global energy industry.”

UK, London & USA, Houston, TX

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Ten Alps acquires Straker Films

April 1, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

tenalps plcTen Alps, trading as Zinc Media, the TV and multimedia content producer, has acquired Straker Films Limited. Straker Films is a corporate video production business that works with companies and organisations to help them communicate with their customers, staff and the public through moving image.

Ten Alps are paying an initial consideration of £110,000 in cash instalments between completion and September 2016. 3 percent of total sales in the year following completion will be as a deferred consideration if the annual revenues are less than £300,000. This increases to a maximum of 10 per cent. of total sales if the annual revenues are greater than £500,000.

In the year ended 29 February 2016 Straker Films generated revenue of £0.64m and a profit before taxation of £0.19m. As at 29 February 2016 net assets were £0.75m.  Straker Films currently has one employee, who will continue post completion.

Straker Films was founded in 2004 by Nick Straker and Nicola Mann. It has a client base including Rio Tinto, National Grid, TfL, Aviva, Nationwide and The Department for Education.

 Mark Wood, CEO of Ten Alps, comments:  “Ten Alps has already broadened its range of television production through the acquisition of Reef TV and its investment in Chrysalis Vision.  The acquisition of Straker Films gives Ten Alps a significant and credible footprint in the corporate video and story-telling market and we look forward to growing our business in this high growth market.”

Straker Films will be located in Ten Alps’ London office, working with the Ten Alps corporate communications team and the Group’s TV production businesses.  Nick Straker and Nicola Mann will remain as freelance consultants to Straker Films for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition and handover.

UK, London

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Wilmington acquires Evantage Consulting

March 30, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

WilmingtonWilmington plc has acquired Evantage Consulting Ltd, a UK-based provider of specialist Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Analytics solutions.

Wilmington, through its healthcare analytics subsidiary NHiS, has partnered with Evantage for over five years. The acquisition will sit within Wilmington’s Insight division.

Wilmington is paying an initial £1.4m with a deferred cash consideration of up to £4.6m by 2020 based on profit based targets.

In the year to 31 October 2015, Evantage reported revenues of £1.1 million and profits before tax of £0.9 million. Gross assets were £1.2 million.

Commenting on the acquisition, Pedro Ros, Chief Executive Officer of Wilmington, said: “I am delighted to welcome Evantage to Wilmington. With this addition to our Group we advance one of our strategic objectives of building our competency in healthcare analytics which will allow us to be even better placed to deliver our clients the insight they need to optimise their businesses.”

Evantage was established in 2001 by Julian Snape and Chris Wiggins to provide outsourced analytics and resource optimisation solutions for the UK pharmaceutical industry. Snape and Wiggins will continue in the business post acquisition.

UK, London

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WPP acquires healthcare media specialist CMI in the US

March 29, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP has acquired Communications Media, Inc., one of the largest healthcare media agencies in the US. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

CMI’s unaudited revenues were US$38 million as of December 31, 2015. Its clients include 10 of the top 20 pharmaceutical advertisers in the United States and overall it represents 340 brands among 51 clients. CMI employs more than 210 people and is based in King of Prussia, PA, with offices in New York, Philadelphia, and Pennsauken, NJ. It was founded in 1989.

CMI a provider of media investment management and non-sales force promotional strategy, planning, customer insights and data solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industries. As part of the acquisition, Ogilvy CommonHealth Medical Media, the media practice of WPP’s wholly-owned Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, will become part of CMI. CMI will become a media investment management hub for GroupH, parent company for WPP’s healthcare specialist companies.

UK, London & USA, King of Prussia, PA

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