Utilitywise acquires Clouds Environmental Consultancy Limited

October 2, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Utilitywise, a leading independent utility cost management consultancy which was admitted to AIM on 12 June 2012,has acquired independent energy consultancy Clouds Environmental Consultancy Limited.

Clouds, based in Portsmouth, is an independent consultancy specialising in energy management services which are designed to help clients identify areas of potential energy and cost savings. Its team of highly qualified energy consultants helps businesses effectively manage their clients’ energy and environmental impact and, in so doing, improve resource efficiency and reduce business overheads. The Clouds team will continue to operate from Portsmouth and will provide Utilitywise with additional technical capabilities for its suite of energy management products.

The total consideration is for a maximum of £985,000 with an initial £600,000 paid on completion, (subject to adjustment on the basis of completion accounts) with the balance of up to £385,000 payable over the next 12 months, depending on certain EBITDA targets being met. The acquisition will be financed equally from the Company’s cash resources and through the issue of new ordinary shares in Utilitywise.  Clouds reported revenue of £945,000 and EBITDA of £185,000 in the year ending 30 April 2012.

With capacity to grow the Clouds team, the acquisition will provide Utilitywise with a new base from which to address the South of England, and further extends its coverage of the UK market. Clouds has a range of products and services which complement and extend the existing Utilitywise offerings in the areas of legislative Compliance, Auditing and Surveying and Feasibility and Design. They have an established market presence in both the public and private sectors and will bring to Utilitywise an extensive customer base, including customers such as British Airways, Telefonica O2, Eli Lilly, Thales, NHS Heath Trusts and The National Gallery

Geoff Thompson, Chief Executive of Utilitywise, commented, “We are pleased to have completed our first acquisition since admission to AIM in June 2012.  It has been our stated strategy to complement our organic growth with acquisitions that enhance and broaden our products and services. We have followed Clouds’ progress for many years and I am confident that their team of market leading energy consultants, strong customer base and geographic platform will be of great long term benefit to Utilitywise.”

UK, South Shields and Portsmouth

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Aegis Group acquires Finish marketing agency Irokeesi Oy

October 2, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis Group plc has acquired Irokeesi Oy, an experiential marketing agency in Finland. Irokeesi’s gross assets as at 31 December 2011 were €0.9 million.

Working with leading brand owners, advertising and media agencies, Irokeesi initiates and develops experiential concepts to support its clients’ marketing and public relations campaigns. The agency services its clients in the areas of in-store promotion, event and festival management, street team activation, sampling and business-to-business promotion. Since Irokeesi’s establishment in 2006, it has built up a strong client list of major international brands, including Kelloggs, Mercedes Benz, Lego, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, Nestle and Arla Foods, some of whom are already clients of Aegis Media in Finland.

Irokeesi will significantly strengthen Posterscope Finland’s operations, bolstering Aegis Media’s product portfolio in that market by providing clients with a new service offering in the exciting and fast-growing area of experiential marketing.

Juha Herranen, CEO of Aegis Media Finland said: “We are thrilled to have acquired Irokeesi, the leading experiential marketing company in Finland. Irokeesi will strengthen Aegis Media Finland product offer in the market and will enable us to offer even more integrated marketing services for our clients in Finland.”

Jimi Veijonen, Managing Director of Irokeessi said: “Irokeesi will be the first step in building an experiential marketing service offering for Aegis clients, creating a wealth of new business possibilities. Irokeesi has a very strong market position among large multinational FMCG companies, plus nationwide service capability. We are looking forward to joining Aegis Media and working with Posterscope.”

UK, London & Finland, Helsinki

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Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC – pre-close trading update

September 25, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC have issued a pre-close trading update ahead of the announcement of its results for the year to September 30, 2012.

Trading

Since issuing its Interim Management Statement on July 25, 2012, trading has continued in line with the board’s expectations.  As highlighted in that statement, market conditions became noticeably tougher from June, particularly in Europe.  As a result, revenues for the fourth quarter are expected to be broadly in line with the same period last year, with growth in subscriptions offset by weakness in advertising and delegate revenues.

Total revenues for the year to September 30, 2012 are expected to show a headline increase of approximately 9% on 2011.  The underlying increase, excluding acquisitions, is expected to be 3%.  Exchange rate movements have not had a significant impact on headline or underlying revenues.

Despite the challenging market conditions, the group expects to announce a record adjusted profit before tax* of not less than £105 million for the year to September 30, 2012 (2011: £92.7 million), helped by a reduction in net finance costs following the sharp reduction in the group’s net debt, as well as a lower long-term incentive expense.

Financial Position

At current exchange rates, group net debt at September 30, 2012 is expected to be no more than £40 million, against £88.5 million at March 31, reflecting the group’s strong second half operating cash flows.  Movements in the US dollar exchange rate have not had a significant effect on net debt levels.

Next Trading Update

The year end results will be announced on the morning of November 15, 2012, followed by an analyst presentation and investor meetings.

* Adjusted profit before tax is profit before tax, acquired intangible amortisation, accelerated long-term incentive expense, exceptional items, movements in deferred consideration, and non-cash movements in acquisition option commitment values.

UK, London

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Bglobal acquire Draig Technology Limited

September 24, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Bglobal plc, a provider of smart energy solutions and services to the UK energy market,  has acquired, through its subsidiary Utilisoft Limited, Draig Technology Limited, a business supplying billing and CRM software to independent electricity supply companies.

The consideration for Draig is £675,000 payable in cash on completion to the vendor, Richard Sheppard, who will remain with the Group for six months. In the 12 months ended 31 May 2012, Draig had revenues of £434,724.

Draig is based in Bangor, North Wales and develops and supplies software products including the Futura Utilities Billing and uCRM configuration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM that is already being sold by Utilisoft as part of its solutions to key customers.

Commenting on the acquisition of Draig, Group Chief Executive Tim Jackson-Smith said: “I am delighted to welcome Draig into the Bglobal group of companies. We know from talking to our key customers that the ability to offer a flexible, fully integrated billing and PAYG solution is of major strategic importance to them and the skills, experience and IPR that we acquire as a result of this deal mean we are in a strong position to offer a class leading solution to our customers.

UK, Darwen, Lancashire

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MoneySupermarket.com completes the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert

September 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC has completed the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.

MoneySavingExpert was established in 2003 by Martin Lewis and is one of the UK’s leading personal finance and personal finance journalism websites, with reported revenues of £15.773 million and EBITDA of £12.642 million in the year ended 31 October 2011.

MoneySupermarket.com and MoneySavingExpert have worked closely together for a number of years with the common goal of helping customers save money. The acquisition supports MoneySupermarket.com’s strategy through enhancing Moneysupermarket.com’s brand and user content; growing direct-to-site revenues and improving the customer experience; and utilising Moneysupermarket.com’s skills to optimise MoneySavingExpert’s website and user experience.

Martin Lewis will remain as editor-in-chief of MoneySavingExpert.  MoneySupermarket.com intends to preserve the editorial independence of MoneySavingExpert through an agreed editorial code.

UK, Ewloe, Wales

Previous reporting:

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Mediafed acquires Taptu

September 22, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

RSS advertising service Mediafed is acquiring mobile search and technology company, Taptu, known for its consumer apps and news aggregation platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Our acquisition of Taptu will create the first global platform to monetize RSS across all digital devices,” said Ashley Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of Mediafed. “This is the future of publishing and we are elated to gain the incredible Taptu product, technology, team and committed user base in this quest.”

UK, Cambridge & USA, Denver, CO

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Universal Music gets approval to buy EMI’s recorded music business

September 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

UPDATE: Vivendi’s Universal Music Group has received EU regulatory approval to buy EMI’s recorded music unit for $1.9 billion after agreeing to sell record labels that bring in nearly a third of the British company’s revenues.

Original story: Universal Music could get approval to buy EMI’s recorded music business as early as tomorrow Posted on September 21, 2012

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MOO.COM acquires Flavors.me from Hii Def

September 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

MOO.COM has acquired Flavors.me from Hii Def Inc. In the form of an asset purchase, MOO will retain the Flavors.me website, brand, technology, IP and customers in an all-cash deal. terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MOO one of the world’s fastest-growing online printers, focusing on both personal and professional identity products, such as business cards and now personal identity webpages. Flavors.me provides another way for customers to showcase themselves, but in a digital format that can be shared over email, mobile, social networks and the web.

Richard Moross, Founder and CEO of MOO.COM, said “We really admire what the Hii Def team has done with Flavors. It was clear that we shared many of the same values of good design and usability. When the opportunity arose to acquire the Flavors product we were very excited. Over the past six years, MOO has focused on helping people create beautiful print products to make them or their business look great. We’ve always had strong bonds with the web, from our first partnership with Flickr back in 2006, and more recently our integration with Facebook Timeline. Identity is core to what we do and this acquisition is a great fit for the MOO brand, giving us a 100% digital identity product to add to our existing range of print products. It’s a fantastic complement to our line-up, offering customers a beautiful personal web page that they can use to promote themselves or their business.”

Flavors.me will sit initially alongside MOO’s suite of physical products – business cards, postcards, greeting cards, stickers and other accessories – as a standalone product, but in the future the two businesses will become much more closely linked. MOO will continue to invest in the product to increase ease of use and enhance the mobile offering, as well as adding new design features.

UK, London and USA, Providence, RI

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Universal Music could get approval to buy EMI’s recorded music business as early as tomorrow

September 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

The FT is reporting that European and US competition regulators could approve Universal Music’s £1.2 billion bid for EMI’s recorded music business as early as Friday, but will demand that the Vivendi-owned Universal Music sell off at least a third of the company. The deal has already been cleared in several countries, including Australia and Japan.

Read the full story

 

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Publicis Groupe to acquire LBi for €416M

September 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe are to acquire LBi for €2.85 per share in cash, valuing LBi at approximately €416 million.

LBi is one of the few large remaining independent digital communications agencies and the only one with a global footprint. Headquartered and listed in Amsterdam, LBi currently employs approximately 2,200 people in 16 countries (of which 630 are based in the UK) and has 32 offices around the world. Traditionally active in digital marketing, LBi has expanded its offering to a wide suite of digital media services, ranging from communication, e-commerce services to brand strategy, content, social media and mobile. LBi has succeeded in attracting and retaining a large number of prestigious clients, in a broad range of sectors, such as Lloyds TSB, Volvo, Johnson & Johnson, Coca Cola, Carlsberg and Ikea.

In 2011, LBi reported net revenue of €196.6 million, up 12.0% from 2010, and an adjusted EBITDA of €31.9 million implying a margin of 16.2%. In the first half of 2012, LBi reported net revenue of €119.4 million, up 18.2% from the equivalent period in 2011 on an organic basis, and an adjusted EBITDA of €19.9 million implying a margin of 16.7%.

“The acquisition of LBi is another step forward in further strengthening our digital operations” said Maurice Lévy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe. “Within the global advertising landscape, LBi is a well known partner for extraordinary digital customer experiences, based on a blend of creativity and expertise in technology, strategy and social media. The integration of LBi will further enhance our capabilities and, through a wider pool of resources and talent, help deliver innovative and best-in-class services to our clients, which is our relentless focus. Furthermore, this acquisition has a positive impact on our EPS in the first year post acquisition.”

More details are available here

France, Paris & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

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