Cinsay acquires LaunchFish social media marketing firm

December 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

eCommerce technology company Cinsay has acquired LaunchFish, the Dallas-based social media marketing firm. The combined companies offer a social commerce marketing solution focused on driving measurable results and completing transactions through content syndication.

“This acquisition is extremely synergistic for Cinsay, as we have had tremendous demand for our Smart Container™ managed services,” said Briggs in making the announcement. “It is a huge game changer for our clients, especially when considering the exponential growth that continues to take place in both video sharing and social commerce.”

LaunchFish was founded in 2009 by Kyle Nelson, a 20-year marketing veteran whose experience with emerging growth companies has generated tremendous success. During his career, Nelson has secured nearly $130 million in funding for startup ventures, and led exclusive partnerships with Fortune 1000 companies, including Yahoo!, broadcast.com, CBS, Sprint, Adecco and The Tom Peters Company. As part of the acquisition agreement, Nelson will head Cinsay’s Social Services division.

USA, Austin, TX and Dallas, Tx

 

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Publicis Groupe acquires Gomye

December 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired 100% of Gomye, a full service digital agency providing integrated and interactive marketing services, with offices in Beijing as well as Chengdu and Chongqing, two rapidly growing major cities in western China. Gomye will be rebranded to become Publicis Modem Beijing (the digital arm of Publicis Worldwide in Beijing) and Publicis Modem Chengdu. The agency’s 51 staff members will be folded into Publicis’ local team. Its CEO, Alan Yang, will become Managing Director of Publicis Modem Beijing and Publicis Modem Chengdu, and will report to the CEO of Publicis Beijing.

Coupled with the acquisition of Shanghai agency Wangfan earlier this month, the acquisition of Gomye, which remains subject to the approval of the relevant authorities, further emphasizes Publicis Worldwide’s strong commitment to building leading digital capabilities across China.

Founded in 2003, Gomye’s superior digital expertise, coupled with its leading position in Chengdu and Chongqing, ideally place the agency to benefit from the strong growth potential of China’s most important western cities. Following a period of investment in the coastal metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China’s 2011-2016 Five Year Plan, approved inMarch 2011, gives priority focus to developing the country’s vast interior. Chengdu – the capital city of Sichuan province — and its sister city Chongqing are among the economic, transportation and communications hubs designated for massive investment and rapid growth. Gomye’s clients includes Vanke Real Estate (China’s largest residential developer), movie and media company Huayi Brothers Media Group, liquor company Wuliangye Yibin, China Mobile and China Telecom.

This is the latest in a series of China agency acquisitions for Publicis Groupe that includes Wangfan (November 2011), Genedigi (June 2011), Dreams (May 2011), Interactive Communications Ltd (February 2011), and Eastwei Relations (November 2010).

“Acquiring Gomye is a particularly important move for us. It not only further strengthens our digital capabilities in Beijing but also gives us the critical ability to offer our clients significant digital expertise in the booming cities of Chengdu and Chongqing” commented Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and Chairman of China Publicis Groupe.

France, Paris & China, Beijing

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Glam Media completes Ning acquisition

December 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Glam Media has completed of the acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Ning, the online platform for building social web sites. Additionally, Ning co-founder and chairman, Marc Andreessen, has joined Glam Media’s board of directors.

USA, Brisbane, CA

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24/7 Real Media acquires digital video advertising company Panache

December 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

24/7 Real Media, Inc., WPP’s marketing technology company, today announced its acquisition of Panache, a provider of digital video advertising fulfillment software and services.

“Panache’s technology capabilities and extensive selection of video ad formats are unmatched in the industry,” said David J. Moore, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 24/7 Real Media. “The addition of these assets to 24/7 Real Media’s robust offerings, will empower us to satisfy the large and growing appetite for video in the digital advertising marketplace.”

“24/7 Real Media is a respected leader in multiplatform ad management, targeting and analytics,” said Steve Robinson, President, Panache. “Our combined capabilities create opportunities to greatly boost video and advertising revenues for our clients across all formats and devices, while reducing their operating costs and increasing efficiencies. Any publisher serious about profitable video ad monetization needs to pause, put decisions on hold, and look at what our combined companies bring to the table.”

USA, New York, NY

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Adconion Media Group acquires smartclip

November 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Adconion Media Group has acquired digital video advertising business smartclip. terms of the deal were not disclosed. Adconion will gain 118 employees in Europe and expand to 27 offices servicing clients throughout the UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Portugal in Western Europe; Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland in Northern Europe; and Russia.

The acquisition will strengthen Adconion’s position in online video in its existing markets and accelerate the deployment of its digital distribution platform into the emerging markets of Eastern and Central Europe and into the segment of Connected TV. The smartclip business with its expertise in digital video advertising will complement Adconion’s existing product range. The proprietary in-stream video and Connected TV technology of smartclip will be integrated with the Adconion platform, which is already delivering targeted ads and content across display, email, social and both in-banner and in-stream video

Prior to this acquisition Adconion had a potential reach of 687m unique users monthly across its global platform or just over half the global online population. Now, with the inclusion of over 500 new publisher sites from the smartclip portfolio, this number will grow significantly as well as increase the Adconion global footprint to 17 countries worldwide.

Tyler Moebius, Adconion’s  founder and CEO commented, “The addition of smartclip’s exclusive in-stream reach and Connected TV apps to our platform is an important development in growing the online video industry globally. We will now be providing advertisers an exclusive audience which they can reach in scale across in-banner, in-stream and Connected TV,” said

Matthias Quadflieg, Adconion’s chief operating officer international commented “We believe advertising will be the main monetisation vehicle for Connected TV programs and apps. The heritage of Adconion Media Group lies in maximising revenue for commercial partners through delivering the right audience, on the right platform, to the right brand, at the right time, at unprecedented scale.”

UK, London

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Adconion Media Group raises £21M to support acquisition plans and general operations Posted on May 12, 2011

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Groupon’s IPO – what the commentators say

November 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

On Friday Groupon raised $700 million after offering 35 million shares at $20 per share, the largest IPO by an Internet company since Google raised $1.7 billion in 2004. The company’s share prices closed at $26.11, up 30.55 percent.

Here is what is being said about the IPO.

USA, Chicago, IL

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Yahoo! to acquire interclick

November 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Yahoo! is to acquire interclick. Yahoo! will acquire data targeting capabilities, optimisation technologies and new premium supply, as well as a team experienced in selling audiences across disparate sources of pooled supply. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! will commence an all cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of interclick at $9.00 per share. The transaction has an estimated total equity value of approximately $270 million. The companies expect the tender offer to close by early 2012.

interclick, headquartered in New York, was founded in 2006 and became a NASDAQ-listed company in 2009. Powered by OSM, interclick offers proprietary data-valuation capabilities combining analytical expertise and media fulfilment to help marketers navigate the complex data ecosystem to drive successful online display and video campaigns. OSM is a powerful solution which aggregates and organises billions of data points from 3rd party providers – delivering actionable consumer insights, scalable audiences and the most effective campaign execution.

“This investment underscores our focus on enhancing the performance of both our guaranteed and non-guaranteed display business across Yahoo and our partner sites and, combined with Yahoo!’s reach and advertising leadership, will deliver a powerful solution for marketers,” said Ross Levinsohn, EVP, Americas region. “interclick’s innovative platform will allow Yahoo! to expand its targeting and data capabilities to deliver campaigns with stronger performance metrics.”

“We believe that this is a great outcome for our shareholders,” said Michael Brauser, interclick Co-Chairman of the Board. “Michael Katz and his team have done a tremendous job over the past few years and I’m proud to have helped make this outcome a reality.”

GCA Savvian Advisors, LLC acted as the lead financial advisor to interclick in connection with the transaction.

USA, Sunnydale, CA & New York, NY

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Matchbin acquires NAVTEQ Broadcast Media Division to Form Radiate Media

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Matchbin has closed its first institutional equity financing led by New York-based growth equity investor Level Equity. Greycroft Partners and vSpring Capital are co-investors in the $10 million round.

Simultaneously, the business acquired NAVTEQ Media Solution’s Radio and Television Group, closing a $12 million credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank. The combined company, which will be named Radiate Media. provides localised content, digital content management solutions and an advertising platform to over 6,000 local and national advertisers through its network of over 2,000 media partners.

Chris Rothey, who founded and took Traffic.com public before being acquired by NAVTEQ in 2007, has joined Radiate Media as CEO. “Technology and evolving content distribution models continue to rapidly change the way advertisers, large and small, promote themselves in a quantifiable fashion,” said Rothey. “Our collective offering will help our media partners leverage their strong and enduring relationships with local businesses to provide both today’s and tomorrow’s performance advertising solutions.”

“We are excited to back Chris Rothey in the creation of Radiate Media. Their business model, scale and deep technology is unique in the local advertising space,” said Ben Levin, partner at Level Equity. “We are attracted to businesses that are changing the way business is done in large and evolving markets. Radiate has cracked the code on how to enable the massive base of incumbent media properties to access the shift in spend to measurable and locally delivered advertising solutions. Chris is a world-class executive who has over a decade of experience providing local and mobile products. The opportunity to sponsor the acquisition of a highly valuable asset he founded over a decade ago and integrate it with a technologically innovative and rapidly growing local advertising business is compelling.”

USA, Salt Lake City, UT & Malvern, PA

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Publicis Groupe acquires Chinese digital agency Wangfan

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Wangfan, an innovative digital agency based in Shanghai that focuses on piloting interactive campaigns, web branding, and the conception and design of websites.

Founded in 1997, Wangfan was among the first digital agencies in China, and has won numerous creative awards. The agency has seen rapid revenue growth in recent years, with a 19% increase in 2010 over 2009 and a projected 16% increase in 2011. Its clients include Puma and Shanghai General Motors, alongside a broad range of other international and Chinese companies.

Wangfan will be rebranded to become part of Publicis Modem Shanghai, the digital arm of Publicis Shanghai, and Wangfan CEO Bill Wang will become Managing Director of Publicis Modem Shanghai. Wangfan’s 61-person team will provide a fresh boost to Publicis’ local skill-set in the surging digital market. According to ZenithOptimedia, ad expenditure rose by 25.3% in China in 2010. Further double-digit growth is expected through 2013, driven specifically by Internet advertising, whose share of total spend will rise from around 18% in 2010 to 25% by the end of 2013.

The acquisition of Wangfan, which remains subject to the approval of the relevant authorities, is another step towards Publicis Groupe’s objective of doubling its size in the fast-growing Chinese market between 2010 and 2012. This goal is part of an overall strategy of strongly boosting revenue derived from emerging economies and from the digital sector. In the past twelve months the Groupe has acquired Chinese agencies Genedigi (June 2011), Dreams (May 2011), Interactive Communications Ltd (ICL) (February 2011), and Eastwei Relations (November 2010). In terms of organic growth (not including acquisitions and foreign exchange movements), China was one of eleven countries where the Groupe’s growth hit double digits in the first half of 2011.

Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and Chairman of China Publicis Groupe, commented, “China is a core priority for us. It’s a market where we aim to be perceived as essential interlocutors. Wangfan is a superb agency with a talented and fast-moving team. They began as pioneers and they have kept moving ahead of the creative and technological wave in the ongoing digital boom. We’re pleased to welcome them to our team in Shanghai.”

“Through this acquisition, Publicis Shanghai is able to integrate more talents and resources, and to offer our clients more services,” added Chenghua Yang, Managing Director of Publicis Shanghai.

France, Paris & China, Shanghai

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mergermarket Q3 Monthly M&A Insider report

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to the mergermarket Q3 Monthly M&A Insider report (October 2011), global m&a in the first three quarters of 2011 totalled us$1,718bn – a 21.5% increase from the us$1,414.4bn worth of deals registered in the first three quarters of 2010 – and the financial services sector saw an even steeper 37.4% increase during this nine-month window. The first three quarters of 2011 brought us$208.5bn in financial services deals to market, up from us$151.7bn in the same period last year,

Sectors covered by Fusion DigiNet

The largest sector by market share was Energy, Mining and Utilities at 23.1% (835 deals) down 10% (-125 by volume), in 7th place is Business Services at 4.4% (1,159 deals) -17% (+62 by volume), media is in 8th place at 1.9% (279 deals) +23% (no change by volume).

See the full report at mergermarket

Posted in B2B Services, Broadcasting, Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Consultancy, Content Media, e-Commerce, Energy & Environmental Services, Games, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Marketing/Advertising, Mobile Apps, Research Reports, ~Asia, ~Europe, ~Latin America and Caribbean, ~Middle East & Africa, ~North America, ~Oceana. Leave a Comment »
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