WPP acquires Sinotrust Market Research in China from Experian

May 13, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP‘s wholly-owned operating company TNS, a custom research company, is to acquire Sinotrust Market Research, a  market research and consulting company in China, from Experian. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1992, Sinotrust Market Research employs 350 people and has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Sinotrust Market Research is the industry market leader in automotive market research in China.experian Its offering includes consumer research, product research, brand research, channel research and customer research analysis.  It has a blue-chip client list that includes leading automobile companies.

Sinotrust Market Research’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 March 2013 were RMB 255 million, with gross assets at the same date of RMB 95 million.

UK, London & China, Beijing

Related articles

1. Experian

2. WPP

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Aegis Media acquires mvi in Canada

May 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis

 Aegis Media, the media and digital communications group, has acquired nvi.

nvi, with offices in Montreal and Toronto, is a specialist performance marketing agency whose focus is on search marketing and digitalnvi performance media. Established in 2005, nvi has built a fast-growing business, with a diverse client base including, Allstream, RONA, Club Med, Michael’s and Chapters/Indigo.

Aegis Media Canada currently comprises Carat, Vizeum and Isobar. nvi will join Aegis Media’s iProspect network, expanding the brand throughout Canada. nvi co-founder Guillaume Bouchard ,  will become CEO of iProspect Canada. The  acquisition will increase Aegis Media’s Canadian digital revenue by 15% and by as much as 33% in the Quebecmarket.

“nvi is a market leader in search and digital in Canada,” said Nigel Morris , CEO Aegis Media Americas & EMEA. “The Canadian performance market is evolving at a rapid pace and this acquisition will make us very well positioned to harness this growth.”

UK, London & Canada, Montreal

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TripAdvisor acquires CruiseWise

May 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

tripadvisorTripAdvisor has acquired key technology and staff from CruiseWise, Inc. the former online cruise booking agency.  The team and non-transactional functionality will be integrated into Cruise Critic, a TripAdvisor brand. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The cruise industry continues to grow in popularity and we are delighted to be able to further strengthen our Cruise Critic business with this move,” said Steve Kaufer , co-founder and CEO TripAdvisor, Inc.  “By integrating key elements of CruiseWise and the in-depth knowledge behind it, we will enhance our ability to help travelers find their perfect cruise at a price that suits them with seamless links to our booking partners.”

Cruise Critic is published by The Independent Traveler, Inc., which was acquired as a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, Inc. in 2007.

Newton, MA

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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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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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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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Publicis Groupe to acquire Neev in India

April 18, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

PublicisPublicis Groupe is to acquire Neev, an Indian technology services providers specialising in eCommerce, SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud applications across web, social and mobile. Neev will be aligned with Razorfish, one of the largest interactive marketing and technology companies in the world; the acquisition triggers the launch of the Razorfish brand in India.

Founded in 2005 and based in Bangalore, Neev has  grown quickly and now employs a team of 250 specialists.

“Razorfish can now offer scaled expertise in India, complementing its already strong presence in Greater China and Australia,”says Vincent Digonnet, President APAC of Razorfish and Digitas networks. “At the core of Razorfish lies innovation and technology, and we can only launch the brand in a market with a very deep tech development capability. Neev is providing us with the right engine, including an ability to deliver sophisticated state of the art web, ecommerce, mobile and social solutions. In addition, the acquisition will support the development capabilitiesof Razorfish technology teams in the US.”

Earlier this year, Publicis Groupe acquired the digital agency Convonix based in Mumbai and back in 2012 acquired  iStrat (December 2012), Resultrix (August 2012) and Indigo Consulting (April 2012).

The agency will operate as Razorfish Neev led by Neev CEO, Saurabh Chandra . He will report into Kanika Mathur , Managing Director for Razorfish and Digitas India, with a direct connection to Ray Velez , Global CTO for Razorfish.

UK, London & India, Bangalore

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Next Fifteen Communications Group acquires Connections Media

April 9, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

next15Next Fifteen Communications Group plc has acquired an 80% stake in Connections Media LLC, a Washington DC based, full service digital agency specialising in politics and public affairs.

Connections Media has been acquired from Jonah Seiger (CEO & founder), Phil Lepanto (Chief Technology Officer) and Andy Weishaarcmlogo (Chief Creative Officer). The initial consideration is $1.85 million, paid in cash at completion. Deferred consideration may be payable over the course of the next 5 years subject to the achievement of revenue and profit performance targets. Any deferred consideration that becomes payable will be satisfied by cash or up to 25% in Next Fifteen shares, at the option of Next Fifteen.

 

For the year ended 31 December 2012 Connections Media had revenues of $2.65 million and profit before tax of $0.85 million. The gross assets at 31 December 2012 were $1.15 million. The business will be acquired with $0.55 million of net working capital.

Seiger, Lepanto, Weishaar and the Connections Media design, development and client services leadership team will remain with the company post-acquisition, with Seiger serving as CEO and Operating Manager.

“Connections Media is a great addition to the Group. As political and corporate worlds becomes more social and digital, the products and services offered by Connections Media become increasingly valuable. Being able to offer such services helps us accelerate our transition from being a PR only group into a full service digital and social communications group,” said Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15.

UK, London & USA, Washington, DC

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LIN Media acquires majority ownership in HYFN

April 4, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

linLIN TV Corp., a local multimedia company, has acquired a majority ownership position in HYFN, a full service digital agency that develops and implements mobile, social and web experiences for some of the world’s largest brands. Morgan Harris, founder of HYFN, will continue in his role as Chief Executive Officer.

“Our acquisition of this growing and successful company is part of our continued investment to build our digital media ecosystem in a strategic way that drives synergies and positions us as the leading one-stop-shop for all marketing needs,” said Vincent L. Sadusky, President and Chief Executive Officer of LIN Media.

Founded in 2000 with offices in Los Angeles, California and New York, New York, HYFN is a collective force of strategic, creative, engineering and client service specialists that deliver results-driven campaigns for mid-size, Fortune 500 and global companies that want to reach and engage their target audiences wherever they are, on any device.

“The demand for robust social and mobile marketing solutions that break through the clutter continues to grow at a rapid pace,” said Robb Richter, Senior Vice President Digital. “We’ve been extremely impressed with HYFN’s digital capabilities, business model and the strength of their management team. There are important competitive advantages that result from having the agency’s creative talent in the same room as their engineers.”

USA, Providence, RI

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Getty Images acquires G&S Imagens do Brasil

April 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

GETTY IMAGES SAO PAULO

Getty Images has acquired G&S Imagens do Brasil Ltda, its third party distributor in Brazil. Trading under the name of Getty Images do Brasil, G&S Imagens has been the primary distributor of Getty Images’ creative and editorial content in the Brazilian market since 2008 and has been a key contributor to Getty Images’ success in the fast-growing region.

“As worldwide demand for content across multiple channels and platforms continues to increase, we are delighted to strengthen our ability to fully serve the Brazilian market,” said Jonathan Klein , Getty Images co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The need for both local and global content remains strong in Brazil and across Latin America, as the region continues to develop and grow. This acquisition will further enhance our geographic presence as well as our ability to better serve customers in the region and around the world, with a greater choice of innovative and inspiring content.”

USA, New York, NY & Brazil, Sao Paulo

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