WPP takes majority stake in GroupM and JWT businesses in Russia

January 13, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP is to take an 80% majority stake in the WVI Group of companies, the joint venture holding company for a number of WPP brands in Russia, including media investment management businesses Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, Mindshare, GroupM and the global marketing communications company JWT. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. An agreement has also been reached to purchase the remaining 20% stake in 2016.

UK, London & Russia, Moscow

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WPP agrees to acquire majority stake in Marketeers Vietnam

January 10, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP has acquired a majority stake in the business of Marketeers Vietnam Co., Ltd., a full-service integrated marketing agency based in, Vietnam. Marketeers conducts promotional campaigns, activation and field marketing services. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002, Marketeers is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, with representative offices in Hanoi, Danang and Can Tho, in addition to marketing service teams throughout the country.

Marketeers employs more than 75 people, with more than 1,000 people in activation and field marketing services. Marketeers’ clients include Diageo, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Budweiser, Kirin Interfood, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

UK, London & Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City

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YouGov acquires Hong Kong based market research company Decision Fuel

January 9, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

yougovYouGov plc, the online market research agency, has acquired Decision Fuel (“DF”). 

DF is a market research and technology company whose objective is to provide fast, high-quality research to the Asian market using online and especially, mobile-based, technology to reach consumers across the region.

YouGov will pay 6 times the EBITDA achieved by DF for the financial year ended 31 July 2016 and 2 times the EBITDA Decision-Fuelachieved for the financial year ended 31 July 2017. The EBITDA base to be used for FY 2017 is subject to a cap in that it may not exceed 150% of the FY 2016 EBITDA.  An initial payment of $ 1 million will be paid on completion to a group of minority shareholders who are not involved in the management of the business.  This will be deducted from any future earn-out payments.  The earn-out payments may be satisfied at YouGov’s option by cash or the issue of YouGov shares or a combination of the two. Based on YouGov’s business plans for DF, it currently expects the total consideration to be approximately £5 million. A maximum cap for contractual purposes has been set at £18 million.

In the year ended March 2013, DF made a loss of £460,000 before interest, depreciation and amortisation and had gross assets of £300,000 as at 31 March 2013.

DF has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore and its own proprietary platform for mobile-based research. DF was set-up in 2011 by two  buyers of research in the Asian region: Patrick Corr, formerly a senior executive with Star TV, the Asian TV network   and strategy firm Monitor, and Colin Marson, a former senior executive with Cerebos (part of Suntory) and strategy firm, Monitor. They will both continue to lead the business after it becomes part of the YouGov group. DF’s non-executive chairman is Adrian Chedore, the founder and former CEO of Synovate. Further funding since the company’s launch has been provided by a group of angel investors from the region.

DF’s business operates across Asia, conducting single and multi-country projects primarily in China and South-East Asia. It has already built a consumer panel of 60,000 across five countries where it offers an Omnibus style service.  Clients to date include global brands and media agencies.  DF currently has 14 staff most of whom are based in its Hong Kong base with business development teams located in Singapore and Shanghai. DF is licensed to operate in China through a WOFE (“wholly owned foreign enterprise “)

Following completion, DF will immediately adopt the YouGov brand and its integration will be overseen by YouGov’s Middle East management team, based in Dubai, which is managing the Group’s expansion to emerging markets.

Commenting on the acquisition, Stephan Shakespeare, CEO of YouGov, said:

“This acquisition meets our strategic objectives to increase further YouGov’s presence in high-growth markets.  Decision Fuel will help us to expand our Group’s business rapidly in the vital China and SE Asia markets that our clients are already asking us to serve. Decision Fuel’s mobile technology will also allow us to develop our mobile offering.  We are very pleased to add Decision Fuel to our growing global network.”

UK, London and Hong Kong

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Tarsus Group plc – acquisitions in China and Turkey – disposal in France

January 8, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

TarsusTarsus Group, the international business-to-business media group, has ended the year strongly with like-for-like organic revenue growth up by approximately 11%. Tarsus has also made new acquisitions in China and Turkey and agreed to dispose of up to 18% of the Group’s French business.

China – SIUF acquisition

The Group is to acquire 50% of the China (Shenzhen) International Brand Underwear Fair (“SIUF”) from Mr Zhang Fengwei and associates. SIUF was launched in 2006 and has become a leading show in the Asian Pacific market for underwear garments. It is an annual event, held in May at the Shenzhen Exhibition and Conference Centre in Southern China. The show comprised 15,900 square metres (net) of space in 2013 and Tarsus expects it to continue its track record of growth in 2014.

To date, SIUF’s core business has focused on domestic brands but going forward will seek to internationalise the exhibitor range as well as launch a new sourcing event for lingerie manufacturers. Mr Zhang Fengwei and associates will continue to manage the business post acquisition.

The consideration will be met from Tarsus’ existing cash resources and bank debt facilities. The acquisition is conditional on Chinese regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the next few months.

Turkey – IFO minority interest acquisition

The Group acquired the outstanding 25% of the issued share capital of Istanbul based IFO not already owned by Tarsus in December 2013 from Mr Selahattin Durak, who will become an advisor to the Group. The Group purchased the initial 75% in June 2011.

IFO is one of the leading exhibition businesses in Turkey whose three events are Asansor (Lifts), REW Istanbul (Recycling and Waste Management) and Sign Istanbul (Outdoor Advertising and Visual Communications). The consideration will be met from Tarsus’ existing cash resources and bank debt facilities.

France

The Group has agreed to sell up to 18% of its French business to Romuald Gadrat, the incumbent Managing Director of the division, who will continue to run the business going forward.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:

“These transactions are another key step in the execution of our “Quickening the Pace” strategy.

“We are delighted to add SIUF, a market leading exhibition to our portfolio. China is an important market for us and this acquisition fits with our “Quickening the Pace” strategy as well as providing synergies with our Off-Price shows in the US. This acquisition will consolidate our position in this fast growth market.

“IFO was Tarsus’s first purchase in Turkey and we have been very pleased with its performance since then, so we are delighted to acquire the remaining 25% stake in the business.”

The Group expects to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2013 during the week commencing 3 March 2014.

UK, London & China, Shenzhen & Turkey, Istanbul & France, Paris

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GroupM acquires digital media specialist, plista, in Germany

January 7, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP’s wholly owned operating company, GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, has acquired plista, a digital media specialist in Germany. the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2008 and employing approximately 100 people, plista is an online advertising specialist bringing advertisers and publishers together via its data-driven proprietary content and advertising platform. By optimally connecting advertising with content (native advertising), advertisers maximise the plistaefficiency and effectiveness of their campaigns whilst publishers benefit from prolonged user visits and additional monetization of their digital services. GroupM sees great potential in developing plista on a global level as part of its digital specialist portfolio, parallel with Xaxis and Quisma.

plista currently operates in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Clients include Volkswagen, Sony, Coca-Cola and RWE among others. plista’s revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012 were EUR 3.9 million with gross assets as at the same date of EUR 2.9 million.

UK, London and Germany, Berlin

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News Corp acquires Irish social news agency Storyful

January 4, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

newscorpRupert Murdoch’s media company News Corp has acquired Storyful, a Dublin-based start-up social news agency, for €18 million.

Storyful discovers, verifies, acquires and distributes timely and relevant video and user-generated content to its partners.  With its combination of proprietary technology and journalistic expertise, Storyful also provides social media dashboards, real-time discovery tools, feeds and analytics to its customers, allowing them to integrate video into their news or advertising efforts via online and mobile platforms and to monitor social conversations and sentiment. So far in 2013, verified user-generated videos managed by Storyful generated 750 million views for its partners.

“Storyful has become the village square for valuable video, using journalistic sensibility, integrity and creativity to find, authenticate and commercialise user-generated content,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. “Through this acquisition, we can extend the village square across borders, languages and platforms.”

Storyful’s management team of Chief Executive Officer Mark Little and Executive Editor David Clinch will continue to oversee the company’s operations. Rahul Chopra, Senior Vice President of Video for News Corp, will join the Storyful management team, taking on the additional role of Chief Revenue Officer. Mr. Little will report to David Brinker, News Corp Senior Vice President and Global Head of Business & Corporate Development.

Storyful remains headquartered in Dublin, where the company was founded in 2010. Additional business development and advertising sales staff will be hired and based in New York. The business will operate as a stand-alone business unit within News Corp and continue to work with its existing roster of global customers, which includes The Wall Street Journal.

USA, New York, NY & Ireland, Dublin

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Richard Desmond to sell Channel 5

January 2, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

channel 5The FT is reporting that Richard Desmond has asked advisers to work on a possible sale of Channel 5, Britain’s fifth terrestrial television network. Channel 5 was launched in March 1997 and acquired by Mr Desmond for £103.5m in 2010.

The FT quotes a person familiar with the process as saying that Mr Desmond would seek a price in excess of £700m, equivalent to 10 times the network’s expected earnings before interest and taxation this year.

The group returned to operating profits with £20.6m in the first half of 2013, compared with a £16.1m loss a year earlier, although viewing figures have remained steady. In November 2013, Channel 5 was the fifth most popular television channel in the UK with a 3.9 per cent share of the monthly average viewing figures according to the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB).

Potential buyers are said to include ITV and US network Turner Broadcasting.

UK, London

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NUS Consulting Group acquires Enraedt in the Netherlands

January 1, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet
EnraedtNUS Consulting Group, a global energy management solutions company, has acquired Enraedt & Partners B.V., a private company specialising in energy management, procurement and sustainability. Enraedt is based in Almere, the Netherlands.

“We are very pleased to welcome Enraedt into the NUS Consulting Group. This transaction fits our long-term strategy and commitment to growing NUS Consulting’s international coverage and service capabilities,” said Richard Soultanian, Co-President of NUS Consulting Group. As part of the transaction, Enraedt & Partners will change its name to NUS Consulting Group B.V. “Over the past decade, Enraedt has developed an excellent reputation in the Dutch energy markets. We will be combining Enraedt with our own Amsterdam office. Our goal is to create a single team that provides exceptional services and support to both NUS’s international clients as well as our local Dutch accounts,” said Allyn Rieke, General Manager for the Benelux region.

USA, Park Ridge, NJ & The Netherlands, Almere

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NUS Consulting Group acquires Viking Energy Management Posted on September 5, 2011

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Global M&A Performance Roars Back in 2013

January 1, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

Acquirers around the world enjoyed their best performance this year since the financial crisis began in 2008, outperforming companies not involved in M&A activity by an average of 4.7%, according to Towers Watson’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor.

The study of completed M&A deals over $100 million, conducted in partnership with Cass Business School in London, shows that during 2013, North America acquirers outperformed those in other regions at 8.1% above the regional MSCI Index. This represented a significant turnaround from last year, when the region underperformed the index by 1.3%.

Acquiring companies in Asia Pacific outperformed the regional index by 3.5% (compared to a 0.1% underperformance in 2012), while performance in Europe came in at 2.2% above the regional index (compared to 2.4% in 2012).

“The big M&A story for 2013 is how well acquirers’ stock performed relative to that of non-acquirers across the three regions we track. And North America acquirers showed the most dramatic reversal, underperforming the index in 2012, then outperforming the index so strongly this year,” said Jim McKay, North America M&A practice leader at Towers Watson.

North America continues to lead the other regions in terms of the volume of deals completed, with 375 deals over $100 million so far in 2013. This accounts for nearly 60% of the global total. Asia Pacific has overtaken Europe as the second-most active M&A region, completing 141 deals to Europe’s 104. As a result, for the second year in a row, Europe had the lowest number of completed deals in 2013 and its lowest level since 2009.

The research also shows that in 2013, there were fewer megadeals (those over $10 billion) than in prior years. There were only four such deals in 2013, none of which occurred in the second half of the year. This marks the first time this has occurred for any six-month period in nearly three years.

The data also show that in 2013, slow deals (those taking over 70 days from announcement to completion) performed better than deals completed rapidly (7.0% versus 3.1%). In addition, domestic deals (where the acquirer and the target company are both based in the same country) outperformed cross-border deals by 5.2%.

“While many companies have cash to spend on acquisitions, and the economic outlook is improving for many countries, the research confirms that most companies are still taking a surprisingly restrained approach to M&A,” said McKay. “Such caution is understandable, but we do know from previous research that companies buying into a rising market tend to outperform their peers to a greater extent than those buying in a flat or declining market. So if the markets remain strong, those companies willing to be among the early movers in their industry are likely to see a clear advantage.”

USA, London and UK, London

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ITE Group – Annual Financial Report

December 27, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ITEInternational trade exhibitions and conferences group ITE Group has published its Annual Financial Report for the year to September 2013. 

The group continued to expand its business in the year through a mixture of organic and acquisition led growth and has now established itself in the Asian exhibition markets through its investments in ABEC in India, Tradelink and ECMI in Malaysia and since the end of the financial year in Sinostar in China.

Good organic growth across ITE’s core portfolios in Russia and the CIS together with a strong biennial performance from the Moscow International Oil and Gas Exhibition have combined with the newly acquired businesses in Asia to deliver record financial and operating results.

In this, the stronger year of its biennial pattern, ITE’s revenues were £192.3 million (2012: £172.3 million) and yielded headline profits before tax of £59.4 million (2012: £53.0 million) and headline diluted earnings per share of 19.3p (2012: 16.9p). Reported pre‑tax profit was £43.9 million (2012: £40.5 million) and fully diluted earnings per share was 14.0p (2012: 12.8p). The Group finished the year with net cash of £23.5 million (2012: £13.0 million), after investing £26.1 million on acquisitions during the year.

Although large events have traded well, much of 2013 growth has come from ITE’s portfolio of medium sized events, often run from the smaller regional offices. This growth in smaller events looks set to continue into 2014, and ITE forecasts economic growth in Russia to be maintained at current levels.

At 30 November revenues booked for 2014 were £106 million, representing circa 55% of market expectations for 2014 revenues. On a like‑for‑like basis revenues are circa 7% ahead of last year.

The recent announcement of the Sinostar joint venture means ITE enters the new financial year with good business prospects in three of the major emerging market economies: Russia, India and China.

Download ITE’s 2013 Annual Financial Report here.

UK, London

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