SKU Logistics acquires Dawson Marketing Services for £200K

May 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

smithnewsSmiths News PLC, the has sold Dawson Marketing Services Limited and its trading subsidiary, Marketlink Marketing Communications Limited to SKU Logistics in Swindon for £200,000.  SKU Logistics was previously part of Smiths News.

In an announcement Smiths News said, “The Group has chosen to divest MMC as it is not core to our stated strategy of being a leading player in chosen specialist distribution markets.”

In the year ended 31 August 2012, MMC generated revenues of £6.0m and operating profit of £0.1m.

UK, Swindon, Wiltshire

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RWS Holdings acquires PharmaQuest for £2.3M

May 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

RWS1RWS Holdings plc, a provider of intellectual property support services and commercial translations, has acquired PharmaQuest Limited for £2.3 million in cash.

PharmaQuest specialises in providing translation and linguistic validation of patient reported outcome measures resulting from clinical pharmaquest-logotrials conducted globally.  The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Oxfordshire, employing seven people.  Customers include pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organisations and academia.

PharmaQuest’s latest financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2013 show turnover of £1.4 million and adjusted profit before tax of £600,000.  Net assets acquired were less than £100,000.

Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman of RWS said, “We are pleased to have acquired PharmaQuest, whose progress we have monitored for several years.  It is an attractive business with excellent margins and good growth prospects in a rapidly expanding, specialist sector.”

UK, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire & Banbury, Oxfordshire

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WPP announces results for the year ended 31 December 2012

May 2, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP has today posted its annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012.

A copy is available to view on WPP’s website www.wpp.com.

  • Read the letter to shareholders here
  • Full financial statements are available here

Highlights

  • Reported billings were down slightly at £44.4 billion, but up 1% in constant currencies.
  • Revenues were up 3.5% to £10.4 billion and up almost 6% in constant currencies. Including 100% of associates, revenue is estimated to total 2.6 billion ($20.0 billion).
  • Headline PBIT was up over 7% to £1.531 billion against £1.429 billion in 2011 and up over 11% in constant currencies.
  • Headline PBIT margin was 14.8% in 2012 against 14.3% in 2011 (surpassing the historical pro forma high of 14.3% in 2008) On gross margin, the headline PBIT margin was 16.1%, up 0.6 margin points on 2011.
  • Reported profit before interest and tax rose over 4% to £1.311 billion from £1.258 billion. Headline EBITDA increased by 7% to £1.756 billion.
  • Headline profit before tax was up over 7% to £1.317 billion and reported profit before tax was up over 8% to £1.092 billion.
  • The share price is up by 31% in 2012 to 888.0p at year end. (2013, 16% since 1st January).
  • Dividends increased by almost 16% to 28.51p (a record level).
  • Diluted headline earnings per share were up over 8% to 73.4p (an all-time high) and diluted reported earnings per share decreased by over 2% to 62.8p, reflecting the release of prior year tax provisions in 2011.
  • Free cash flow strengthened to £1.094 billion in the year, over £1 billion for the second consecutive year.
  • Net debt averaged £3.2 billion in 2012, up £0.4 billion at 2012 exchange rates, and net debt at 31 December 2012 was £2.8 billion, £0.3 billion higher than 2011, reflecting increased spending on acquisitions (chiefly AKQA) and higher dividends.
  • Average net debt, was around 1.8 times headline EBITDA in 2012 compared with 1.7 times in 2011, and well within the Group’s current target range of 1.5-2.0 times.
  • In September 2012, the Group successfully issued $500 million of 10-year bonds at a coupon of 3.625%, together with $300 million of 30-year bonds at 5.125%.
  • So far, in the first three months of 2013, average net debt was up approximately £0.3 billion at £3.0 billion against £2.7 billion for the same period in 2012, at 2013 exchange rates.
  • With a current equity market capitalisation of approximately £13.0 billion, the total enterprise value of WPP is approximately £16.3 billion, a multiple of 9.1 times 2012 headline EBITDA.

UK London

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Endemol acquires a majority stake in Kuperman, the Israeli TV production company

April 29, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

endemol-logoEndemol has acquired a majority stake in Kuperman, Israel’s leading independent TV production company. The business will be renamed Endemol Israel.

Through the newly launched operation Endemol plans to invest in creativity and format development across all genres in Israel for both the local and international markets.

Endemol Israel will also produce Endemol’s international formats for the Israeli market.

Elad Kuperman, co-owner of Kuperman and one of Israel’s leading TV producers with more than 20 years’ experience of creating, kupermanproducing and commissioning entertainment shows, will lead Endemol Israel as CEO.

Media investor and entrepreneur Ynon Kreiz, has sold his 50% stake in Kuperman, which he acquired in 2009. He will exit the company as part of the deal.

Just Spee, CEO of Endemol Group comments: “With the launch of Endemol Israel we establish a presence in one of the world’s most creative markets. The high volume of innovative formats coming out of the region continues to grow and our ability to deliver this content to our clients around the world makes this an exciting opportunity.  Kuperman is already Israel’s number one TV producer and our partnership underlines Endemol’s commitment to investing in the very best creativity and talent around the world.”

Established in 2005, Kuperman is a multi-award winning company with a track record of delivering hit programming across a range of genres including reality, entertainment, drama, comedy, game shows and kids programming.

Among the company’s international successes are Israel’s most popular sitcom Traffic Light, which sold to Fox in the US and CTC in Russia and entertainment show Honey Please, which was picked up by GSN in the USA.  Reality series The Successor has been sold to ProSieben in Germany, SBS6 in The Netherlands and TV2 in Hungary as well as generating the US version Phenomenon, which aired on NBC and sold to CTV in Canada and Nine Network in Australia.

Kuperman also produces Endemol’s reality blockbuster Big Brother for Keshet, which first launched in 2008 and went on to become Israel’s most successful TV show.  Most recently series 4 averaged a rating of 41.5%, outperforming the slot average by 70%; and season 5 is due to launch soon.

The Netherlands, Amsterdam & Israel, Tel Aviv

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Independent News & Media PLC – results for year ending 31 December 2012

April 26, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

inmIndependent News & Media PLC has announced the Group’s results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2012. A detailed presentation on these results is available on the Group’s website inmplc.com.

The Group’s interim management statement in respect of the period from 1 January 2013 to 19 April 2013 is also published today.

Financial & Operating Highlights

  • Revenues of €539.7 million, down 3.3%
  • Operating Profit, pre-exceptionals, of €59.7 million, down 20.9% – delivering an operating margin of 11.1%
  • EBITDA, pre-exceptionals, of €80.7 million (including dividends received of €11.1 million) for FY 2012 – down 21%
  • Operating Costs were reduced by €2.5 million despite inflationary cost increases in South Africa in excess of 5.7%, the year-on-year impact of the acquisition of International House Dublin (‘IHD’) and the launch of GrabOne. Excluding IHD and GrabOne, costs reduced by €9.2 million
  • Continued progress in digital, with revenue growth of 21.4% mainly driven by the successful rollout and full year impact of GrabOne in the Island of Ireland
  • Net exceptional charges after tax totalled €273.7 million primarily driven by non-cash asset impairments in APN and Island of Ireland and costs relating to headcount reductions of over 200 in 2012

INM results 2012-1

Strategic Highlights

A restructuring agreement has been reached with its banking syndicate, to effect an amendment to its Master Facility Agreement, which will become effective following the sale of its South African business.

INM says –  this will put it on a secure financial footing with a sustainable debt level, on completion of all stages. On full completion, the new bank deal will give INM the flexibility to reposition itself to embrace opportunities in the digital arena and deliver further significant cost reductions, whilst continuing to invest in the Group’s core print titles.

INM recently announced the sale of its South Africa business for R2 billion (approx. €167m) before expenses – all net proceeds will be used to pay down bank debt.

More details (London Stock Exchange)

Ireland, Dublin

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Publicis unveils €3 billion acquisition plan

April 26, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

PublicisAccording to reporting by Campaign, Publicis Groupe unveiled a six-year growth plan at an event for investors at LBi London’s offices on Tuesday. Jean-Michel Etienne, the chief financial officer of Publicis Groupe, said that “the envelope [for acquisitions] will be €500 million each year.” LBi is a digital communications agency acquired by Publicis last year valuing LBi at approximately €416 million.

Deals are likely to focus on digital technology businesses in markets including Brazil, Russia, China, Turkey and India as well as countries in South East Asia.

Publicis has been highly acquisitive over the last few years. See related articles below.

France, Paris & UK, London

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IPC Media sells Horse Magazine to MyTimeMedia

April 25, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Horse-June13rIPC Media has sold Horse magazine to MyTimeMedia. Horse was published within the IPC Inspire portfolio.

MyTimeMedia publishes specialist hobby magazines , including popular titles such as Hi Fi News, Home Cinema Choice, Homemade with Love, Stamp Magazine, The Woodworker and Model Engineer.

IPC Inspire managing director Paul Williams says: “MyTimeMedia is passionate about hobbies, so it is the perfect new home for Horse.  My personal thanks go to each member of the team for the great work they have done on Horse and I wish them all the very best for the future.”

MyTimeMedia CEO Owen Davies adds: “We are delighted to welcome Horse magazine and its staff to our business. The magazine will be a perfect fit with our print portfolio and we look forward to developing the website to increase its reach within the equestrian community.”

UK, London

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GetYourGuide acquires Gidsy

April 24, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

gidsyGetYourGuide, a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and an online portal for tours and activities at destinations across the globe, has acquired Gidsy. Gidsy is a Berlin-based, peer-to-peer platform for discovering local experiences and things to do. GetYourGuide will integrate Gidsy’s marketplace of  experiences and make them bookable on www.getyourguide.com. Gidsy’s full team will join GetYourGuide. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gidsy has been backed by Sunstone Capital, Index Ventures and by names such as Werner Vogels, Christophe Maire and Ashton Kutcher.

“GetYourGuide is very excited to gain Gidsy’s great expertise and know-how in the world of online tours andgetyourguide activities,” said Johannes Reck, CEO of GetYourGuide. “By combining Gidsy’s proven excellence in design and expertise in building engaging mobile and social experiences with GetYourGuide’s fast-growing web platform and strong distribution network, we are positioned to completely transform the way travel activities are discovered, bought and sold. Thanks to this move, GetYourGuide is providing consumers with an unmatched resource for  finding and booking travel experiences.”

Switzerland, Zurich & Germany, Berlin

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ITV acquires The Garden

April 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

itvITV plc is to acquire 100% of the multi-award winning independent producer, The Garden, the company behind 24 Hours in A&E and Inside Claridge’s.

ITV will pay an upfront cash consideration of £18m with a further capped cash payment contingent on The Garden’s future performance.  The additional consideration is only payable on the delivery of significant profit growth over the next five years.  In 2012 The Garden made an operating profit of £2.5m. 

The Garden’s Chief Executives, Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple, said: “The values and ethos of The Garden will remain unchanged, as will our appetite for innovation, our insistence on delivering to the highest standards and our focus on the key relationships we’ve built up over the years. Being part of ITV will help us grow further in the UK and, in particular, to achieve our international ambitions. We will be working more closely with ITVS whilst continuing to concentrate as hard as ever on our important relationships with Channel 4 and the BBC. We are both totally committed to this new venture and we look forward to many successful and exciting years ahead with our new partners.”

UK, London

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Eniro acquires majority holding in blog network Bloggerfy

April 20, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

eniroEniro, one of the largest search companies in the Nordic region and Poland, is acquiring a majority holding in Bloggerfy for SEK 0.5 M from FameAds Sweden. Bloggerfy is one of the Nordic region’s largest blog networks.  Eniro will control 51% of Bloggerfy, FameAds Sweden will control the remaining 49%.

Bloggerfy develops and operates sales of sponsored links and banners for bloggers that are linked to the bloggerflynetwork in Sweden and Norway. The network currently comprises approximately 65,000 registered bloggers in Sweden and 8,500 bloggers in Norway. In total, the network has approximately 2.5 million unique visitors per week, of whom about one million are expected to increase traffic on Eniro’s search services.

“Today, blogger trends are rapidly reflected in corporate sales. With Bloggerfy we can use the power of bloggers’ influence on purchasing patterns to a direct benefit for Eniro’s customers,“ says Sara Kullgren, SVP Group Products and Services at Eniro.

Sweden, Stockholm

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