WPP’s GroupM acquires a majority stake in Netbooster Asia

November 13, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

WPP’s wholly owned operating company, GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, is to acquire a majority stake in NB Agency Asia Holding Limited (“Netbooster Asia”), the Hong Kong holding company of digital marketing agencies in the Philippines and Indonesia, subject to regulatory approval.

Founded in 2007 and based in Manila and Jakarta, Netbooster Asia is a digital marketing agency offering media, production and creative services. The agency employs around 110 people and clients include Unilever, L’Oreal, Del Monte, Globe, BDO, Wyeth and Intel. This acquisition will see Netbooster rebrand in the Philippines as Movent. In Indonesia, the agency will be consolidated into GroupM’s digital offering.

Netbooster Asia’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were approximately US$2.4 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately US$2.4 million.

London, UK & the Philippines & Indonesia

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Aegis Media acquires Hablar in Japan

October 31, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis Group has acquired Hablar, a performance marketing and search agency in Japan.  Hablar, located in Tokyo, is a specialist performance marketing agency whose focus is on search marketing and digital performance media. Established in 2003, Hablar has built a fast growing business in this important sector for clients, including a long partnership with Aegis Media in Japan.

Aegis Media Japan comprises iProspect, Carat, Vizeum, SPI and Isobar.  Hablar will be merged into iProspect Japan’s existing operations, strengthening its capabilities and providing additional service for its clients.

UK, London & Japan, Tokyo

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The Carlyle Group completes its acquisition of Getty Images for around $3.3 billion.

October 26, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

The Carlyle Group has completed its acquisition of Getty Images in a transaction valued at approximately $3.3 billion.

With the completion of the transaction, The Carlyle Group has acquired a controlling stake in Getty Images. Getty Images Co-Founder and Chairman Mark Getty and the Getty family have rolled substantially all of their ownership interests into the acquisition. Getty Images management, including Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Klein, has invested significant equity in the company.

“We are pleased to announce the completion of this transaction in partnership with The Carlyle Group,” said Jonathan Klein, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Getty Images. “The Carlyle Group’s global resources and network will be a great help to us as we move Getty Images forward into the next phase of our development and growth.”

Eliot Merrill, Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, said, “In the last seventeen years, Getty Images has established itself as a leading digital media company and a business steeped in innovation. We look forward to partnering with Getty Images’ experienced and talented management team in expanding the company’s global footprint.”

Carlyle Partners V, L.P. a $13.7 billion U.S. buyout fund, provided equity financing for the investment. J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman, Sachs & Co, HSBC, Nomura and RBC Capital Markets provided debt financing for the transaction.

USA, Washington, DC & Seattle, WA

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Gannett acquires Rovion

October 26, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Gannett Co., Inc. has acquired Rovion, a Boston-based, a rich media advertising company, which is owned by Local Corporation. Rovion’s primary product, Ad Composer, includes a self-service technology platform that enables the full development and deployment of rich media and mobile HTML5 ads without requiring coding expertise.

Advertisers and agencies are increasingly demanding mobile rich media ad solutions and self-service ad creation tools, and the Rovion acquisition will enable Gannett’s PointRoll, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions and technology, to expand their mobile and self-service platform capabilities.

Rovion will be part of the Gannett Digital organization under PointRoll, with all Gannett divisions leveraging the Rovion platform capabilities.

USA, McLean, VA & Boston, MA

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Sale of PriceGrabber and North America online lead generation activities for up to $110M

October 26, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Experian has completed the sale of its price comparison shopping business (PriceGrabber) and its North America online lead generation activities (LowerMyBills and ClassesUSA) to the management team of those businesses.

The gross consideration is $80 million, consisting of US$2m cash at closing and a US$78m loan note. In addition further consideration is available to Experian if defined profit targets are achieved over time and in certain other circumstances, up to a fully inclusive total of US$110m. In respect of the transaction, Experian expects to realise cash tax relief of approximately US$120m over the next two years.

Last month a $175m deal with Ybrant Digital, a marketing company based in Hyderabad, to buy PriceGrabber and LowerMyBills fell through.

Don Robert, Chief Executive of Experian said:

“Over the past four years, we have focused our strategy on extending our global lead in credit information and analytics, digital marketing services and consumer services. As part of that process, we designated PriceGrabber and the lead generation activities as non-core operations, believing that they would be best developed by an independent owner. We thank all our friends and colleagues at these businesses for their support over the years and wish them every future success.”

For the year ended 31 March 2012, revenues for the businesses sold were US$283m and EBIT was US$20m.

UK, London & USA, Los Angeles, CA

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Chime Communications to acquire pH Associates for up to £14M

October 16, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Chime Communications plc, the communications and sports marketing group, is to acquire pH Associates Limited, a company providing market access and data to the pharmaceutical industry, for an initial consideration of £6.92 million.

The initial consideration comprises £6.07 million in cash, and £0.85 million in cash representing working capital of PHA at acquisition that is surplus to requirements after PHA joins the group.

Chime is acquiring the business from PHA’s two owner Directors; Kate Peperell and Lesley Howell. Following completion, Kate and Lesley will continue to develop PHA as part of Chime’s healthcare division, OPEN Health.  PHA’s clients include: Abbott, Janssen Cilag, Novartis and Sanofi.

PHA reported revenue of £1.7 million for the year ended 30 September 2011 and operating profit of £584,000. The gross assets of PHA were £966,000 as at 30 September 2011.

Further tranches of deferred contingent consideration totalling a maximum of approximately £14 million, may be payable depending upon the future trading performance of PHA. Three such tranches may be payable, in 2013, 2014, and 2016. In the case of 2014 and 2016, at Chime’s option up to 20% of the deferred consideration may be satisfied through the issue of new Chime ordinary shares.

UK, London & Marlow, Buckinghamshire

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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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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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Essence Digital acquires Black Bag Advertising

September 18, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

London and New york based digital agency Essence Digital has acquired San Francisco-based media agency Black Bag Advertising. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Expansion in the U.S. is critical to our growth strategy and we expect this acquisition to be the first of a number,” said Matt Isaacs, Chief Executive Officer of Essence Digital. “The fit between Essence Digital and Black Bag Advertising is perfect; we share the same insight and innovation-driven approach to client work, as well as the same cultural ethos. We are excited about what our combined skills and experience will enable us to achieve in the future.”

Black Bag Advertising is an analytics and results driven media agency co-founded in 2004 by Eric Yang to provide media strategy, planning and buying, campaign management and analysis to clients in the automotive, banking, insurance, retail, and consumer packaged goods industries.

 USA, New York, NY & San Francisco, CA & UK, London
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Performance Marketing Brands Announces Acquisition of OneReceipt

September 7, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Performance Marketing Brands has acquired OneReceipt, a free web and iOS application that allows users to organize their receipts, track and manage purchases all in one place. OneReceipt adds an invaluable consumer service and mobile strength to one of the largest independent loyalty companies. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are excited to bring the OneReceipt technology to the PMB family and help their community of online shoppers develop a deeper understanding of their purchases. Leveraging the PMB retailer and brand relationships, we hope to bring substantial savings and rewards to our deeply valued users”

Launched in 2011, OneReceipt extracts data from email receipts automatically, to help consumers better understand where and what they are purchasing. Paper receipts are added to the account to provide consumers with a comprehensive view of their spending. Additional benefits include updates on shipping information and status, return policies, alerts and item level details on purchases. Users can also view their receipts within their credit card or bank statements.

USA, San Francisco, CA

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