Matchbin acquires NAVTEQ’s Radio and Television Advertising Group to form Radiate Media

October 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Matchbin, a provider of content management, advertising and local marketplace solutions for media companies, has acquired NAVTEQ’s Radio and Television Advertising Group, which as part of NAVTEQ Media Solutions provides content and advertising solutions for broadcast radio and television, forming Radiate Media, a media technology services company.

“Technology is changing the way advertisers, large and small, can promote themselves,” said Chris Rothey, former head of NAVTEQ Media Solutions, who will become Radiate Media’s new chief executive officer. “This enhanced offering will help our media partners revolutionize the industry in this evolving landscape and build strong relationships with local businesses.”

USA, Malvern, PA

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Berkery Noyes releases third quarter 2011 M&A Update for the Media & Marketing Industry

October 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Berkery Noyes has released its Third Quarter 2011 Mergers and Acquisitions Update for the Media & Marketing Services Industry.

The report analyses merger and acquisition activity in the sector across the three-month period and compares it with similar activity for the six previous quarters.

Overall, the report showed third quarter transaction volume in the Media & Marketing Services Industry increased 14 percent over the previous period, a partial recovery from the second quarter’s 24 percent decline. Transaction value, however, fell 23 percent in the third quarter, sliding from $13.5 billion to $10.4 billion.

Enterprise value multiples have been rising on a yearly basis according to Berkery Noyes research. Third quarter transactions in the Media & Marketing space commanded a median EBITDA multiple of 14.5, a 58 percent increase over the previous quarter, and a revenue multiple of 2.2, which continues to be the highest revenue multiple in the last seven quarters.

Publicis Groupe SA announced the most acquisitions in the Media & Marketing sector, with a total of 17 transactions year-to-date according to the report. The firm’s most recent purchases include Schwartz Communications, Inc., one of the largest independent public relations agencies in the U.S., and DPZ, one of Brazil’s leading advertising agencies.

“Interestingly, DPZ was Publicis Groupe’s third acquisition this year in Brazil,” said Berkery Noyes Managing Director Evan Klein. “As one of the top ten ad markets in the world, I have to think Brazil will continue to garner interest from advertising agencies in the near term.”

Third Quarter Key Highlights

  • The most active acquirer through Q3 2011 was Publicis Groupe SA with 17 acquisitions, including the acquisitions of Schwartz Communications, Inc., and DPZ during Q3 2011. Publicis Groupe SA also became majority stakeholder in Big Fuel Communications, LLC, and Spillmann/Felser/ Leo Burnett.
  • The largest Q3 2011 transaction was Bloomberg L.P.’s acquisition of BNA, Inc. for $963 million.
  • There were 124 financially sponsored transactions in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2011, with an aggregate value of $8.74 billion, representing 12 percent of the total volume and 24 percent of the total value, respectively.

A copy of the Third Quarter 2011 Media & Marketing Services Industry M&A Update is available here.

USA, New York, NY

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Ogilvy & Mather Russia to acquire digital agency Promo Interactive

October 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Ogilvy & Mather Russia is to acquire Promo Digital LLC, trading as Promo Interactive, formerly a part of the Next Media Group, subject to regulatory approvals.

The proposed acquisition will significantly strengthen Ogilvy’s digital offering to its clients. Promo Interactive is one of Russia’s leading digital agencies with a team of 53 employees and prestigious clients such as MTS, LG and Gazprom. The agency has a history of heavily investing in R&D, placing it in a position to offer clients state-of-the-art digital solutions in multi-media, mobile and infotainment.

Following completion, Promo Interactive and OgilvyInteractive will have a combined 71 employees, offering a broad scope of digital services.

Tatiana Azarova, OgilvyInteractive/OgilvyOne’s Managing Director said: “The addition of Promo Interactive will greatly enhance our digital offer. Evgeny and I have already discovered many opportunities to offer our clients solutions that will enhance the efficiency of digital channels. Together we will have the team to make digital work much more productively to deliver the results that clients now need.”

In commenting on the proposed acquisition, Miles Young, Global CEO of Ogilvy & Mather said, “We very much see Russia as a priority market in the context of our BRIC strategy. In this respect, digital is particularly important for our clients who are seeking to grow in Russia. Promo Interactive is quite simply the best independent company in the market, it’s one that we’ve been following for a long time and it will significantly enhance our ability to create end-to-end programs in the Russian Federation.”

Russia, Moscow

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Silverpop acquires location-based marketing platform PlacePunch

October 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Silverpop, a provider of a scalable, integrated email marketing and marketing automation platform, today announced its acquisition of Atlanta-based PlacePunch, a location-based marketing platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

PlacePunch makes it easy to engage customers via location check-ins incorporated into multi-channel campaigns. Its suite of marketing programs instantly works across all major location-based social networks such as Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter.

“Today, marketers must listen carefully to their customers and deliver the most relevant content at the moment they want it most,” said Bill Nussey, president and CEO of Silverpop. “Our acquisition of PlacePunch, a true pioneer in the location-based marketing space, provides a remarkably powerful opportunity for our customers to market to people who have clearly indicated an interest in their company and a desire to purchase its products or services.”

Co-founder Adam Steinberg will be joining Silverpop as Segment Marketing Director for Social Media. Co-founder Chris Glace will serve as a Product Innovation Architect after integrating PlacePunch into Silverpop Engage.

USA, Atlanta, GA

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Federated Media Publishing has acquired Lijit Networks

October 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Federated Media Publishing has acquired Lijit Networks, Inc. Lijit is a provider of advertising services, audience analytics and reader engagement tools for online publishers of all sizes. The combined entity will reach nearly 300 million global unique visitors according to Quantcast.

Lijit, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado will continue to operate independently but in conjunction with the rest of Federated Media Publishing. Lijit CEO Todd Vernon and COO Walter Knapp will take on corresponding EVP of Technology and SVP of Platform Revenue responsibilities at Federated Media Publishing and will report directly to Federated Media Publishing’s CEO, Deanna Brown. Additionally, Lijit board member Seth Levine from Foundry Group will join the Federated Media Publishing board of directors, effective immediately.

USA, San Francisco & Boulder, CO

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Report: Quarterly analysis of UK-headquartered private equity control deals in the £10 million to £100 million segment

October 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

  The volume and value of deals completed during the first nine months of 2011 in the lower mid- market investment space has increased year on year for the past three years, according to research from Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School.

For more information, visit the Lyceum Dashboard

Data from The UK Growth Buyout Dashboard – a quarterly analysis of UK-headquartered private equity control deals in the £10 million to £100 million segment – shows that 63 transactions completed between 1 January 2011 and 30 September 2011. This compares to 50 investments for the same period of 2010 and just 25 during the first nine months of 2009.

During Q3 2011, deal volume has built on an encouraging first six months of 2011 with a greater number of deals completed than in Q2. The combined value of those deals fell slightly (from £794 million to £785 million) but both volume and value of deals was still higher than the same quarter of 2010.

Q3 deal value being lower than Q2 despite five more transactions, indicates that there are fewer large deal opportunities however the lower mid-market continues to replenish itself as new businesses enter the space looking to grow with private equity investment.

Transaction sizes

The combined deal value of £785 million exceeds the £698 million recorded during Q3 2010 and the £220 million of Q3 2009.

The highest transaction value recorded in the last three months was £87.8 million, compared to a high of £100 million in Q2 H1 2010.

Meanwhile, transactions valued between £50 million and £100 million fell from seven in Q2 to five in Q3. The majority of the 22 lower mid-market deals completed were in the £26 million – £50 million range, with 86 per cent under £50 million.

The increase in deal activity indicates that there is a growing appetite for investment and that transactions should continue to rise unless there is a significant reversal in the state of the wider economy. There may not currently be the appetite for the larger end deals in the mid-market space but as long as volume maintains its upward trend, the necessary deal flow which keeps the market moving does exist.

Transaction types

Management buyouts (MBOs) and secondary buyouts (SBOs) remained the most prevalent transaction types for private equity investors, but the number of MBOs completed in Q3 2011 actually fell to nine from 12 in Q3 2010 – lower than each of the previous six quarters back to Q1 2010.

There were also two public to private delistings during Q3, compared to one in each of the previous two quarters.

No Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) were recorded, a trend which stretches back to Q1 of 2010 and is unsurprising in a financial climate of weak capital markets where so many anticipated floats have been shelved.

Trade, IPO and secondary exits

A total of nine secondary buy-outs (SBOs) characterised the quarter – the highest number of any quarter during the last two years and an indication that private equity firms are now beginning to sell assets that they have held onto throughout the depths of the economic downturn.

There were six exits to trade, higher than the previous two quarters but lower than the eight which took place in Q3 2010.

Investments by industry

Technology, media, telecommunications (TMT) businesses continue to dominate the lower mid- market with eight out of 22 deals this quarter (38 per cent) and five transactions in business support services.

Retail – undoubtedly one of the sectors hardest hit by a dip in consumer spending – continues an encouraging run of three deals or more completing in every quarter since Q2 2010.

Commentary

Andrew Aylwin, Partner at Lyceum Capital, said: “In the £10m to £100m value range, UK private equity deal volumes continue to recover. With 63 completed transactions so far for the 9 months to 30th September, the market is trending back to historical norms of 100+ control deals a year. The UK lower mid-market segment remains a plentiful source of high quality opportunities across a range of sectors and private equity firms such as Lyceum Capital continue to play a key role in supporting dynamic companies that need capital to continue their successful development and drive the recovery of UK plc.”

Professor Scott Moeller at Cass Business School commented further: “This performance of the UK lower- mid market in the third quarter is in distinct contrast to the overall market when much larger deals of £100 million plus are considered. That market has declined during the past two quarters and some reports show it declining dramatically in Q3 – Bloomberg, for example, this week reported a 43 per cent decline in deals with European purchasers for the overall market. Therefore, the volume of deals in the lower mid market is encouraging in this difficult economic environment, and may prove in the next quarter to continue to be resilient. There is further evidence in our figures of a positive shift in the market with a strong mix of industries, including healthcare, which was absent last quarter and a resurgence in technology deals.”

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Interpublic acquires majority control of S2Publicom

October 3, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Interpublic has acquired majority control of S2Publicom, ranked among the top five public relations firms in Brazil. The operation will represent an important part of Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris growth plans in the region. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

S2Publicom was formed last year by the merger of S2 and Publicom, two major public relations firms that have been operating in the country for more than two decades, both of which were affiliates of Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris. The firm has two offices in Sao Paulo and one in Rio de Janeiro. It employs 125 professionals with broad communications and media relations expertise, as well as specialists in crisis management, media training and digital communications.  S2Publicom has been at the center of marketing communications in Brazil, providing clients with strategic communications insights and counsel in multiple sectors such as corporate, consumer, technology and healthcare. McDonald’s, Petrobras, HTC and Gol Airlines are among the agency’s long-standing clients.

Jose Luiz Schiavoni, one of S2Publicom’s founding partners, will continue to lead the company as CEO. Schiavoni has been a pioneer in the public relations industry in Brazil. In addition to his client-related experience, he has been a vocal advocate for continuous improvement of professional standards and ethics in public relations. He also served as the president of the Brazilian Association of Public Relations Agencies (Abracom) for four years, from 2004 to 2008. Two of the other three original founding partners, Luciana Gurgel and Aldo De Luca, will continue to be senior strategists and client counselors.

Harris Diamond, chief executive officer of Interpublic’s Constituency Management Group, which includes Weber Shandwick,Golin Harris and other companies with operations in Brazil including FutureBrand and Octagon, commented about the acquisition:  “Our successful past collaborations with S2Publicom convinced us that they are the right partners to help Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris support their multinational clients and to continue to build a great business together in what is clearly one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Brazil is one of the largest consumer markets in the world, and as it plans to host the FIFA World Cup™ 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, we see great opportunities to build our presence in the market.”

Schiavoni added, “Through our long association as an affiliate partner with Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris, our agencies have built a relationship of mutual trust. The experience of bringing the best thinking to our clients has demonstrated that our business philosophies and styles are a good fit.  We are very excited that we can now offer our staff more opportunities for professional development and can offer our clients a global reach.”

USA, New York, NY & Brazil, Sao Paulo

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Vantage Media and BrokersWeb merge

October 3, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet
Vantage Media and BrokersWeb have completed a merger to create one of the world’s largest online performance marketing companies.  The combined entity will focus on delivering new customers, via clicks and leads, to clients in the Education, Insurance and Moving verticals.

“The combined company will deliver unmatched value for clients and media partners,” said Patrick Quigley, Vantage Media CEO who will lead the combined company. “The transaction allows both companies to build upon and leverage the strengths of each other. Our technology platforms and media capabilities are highly complementary and the combination will create immediate revenue opportunities and additional value for our clients and media partners.”

“We are more confident than ever with the prospects of the BrokersWeb business, and welcome the resources Vantage Media will bring,” said Matias de Tezanos, CEO and founder of BrokersWeb, who will continue in that role and lead the combined company’s international expansion. “This transaction enhances BrokersWeb’s leadership position in technology, advertising clients, audience and publishers, while enabling us to create additional meaningful revenue opportunities for our partners.”

The BrokersWeb business will retain the “BrokersWeb” name and all of its management, while gaining additional technical, financial and human resources to grow the business.

USA, El Segundo, CA & Miami, FL

 

 

 

 

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Glam Media to acquire Ning

September 21, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Glam Media, the vertical social content platform company, is acquiring Ning, the online platform for building social websites, including more than 100,000 custom branded fan sites.

“Ning is the clear leader for creating custom social websites and communities. Acquiring Ning adds a natural extension to our social media platform, new distribution channels and a talented Silicon Valley team, all of which support our aim to connect brands with engaged, passionate audiences,” said Samir Arora, Chairman and CEO of Glam Media. “With the addition of Ning, Glam Media will truly become the first next generation media company in the post-social world.”

Ning will operate as a new business unit within Glam Media. Jason Rosenthal, Ning’s CEO, will join Glam as EVP Social Media & General Manager of Ning, and will be a member of the Glam Media executive team.

Additionally, Marc Andreessen will join Glam Media’s board of directors, joining the venture firm investors in Glam — Accel’s Thereisa Ranzetta and DFJ’s Tim Draper — as well as Co-Founder of Glam Media Fernando Ruarte, Dr Marcel Reichart from print media leader Hubert Burda Media, and Glam Media Founder & Chairman Samir Arora. Andreessen is a Silicon Valley pioneer who created Mosaic, the first web-browser and was the co-founder of Netscape Communications. In 2009, Andreessen created the venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, with Ben Horowitz that invests in leading edge technology companies. He currently serves on the boards of Facebook, HP, eBay and other leading technology companies.

USA, Brisbane, CA

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Yahoo! for sale?

September 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The New York Times DealBook is reporting that Yahoo! is preparing to sell and has attracted the attention of several buyout shops and strategic investors.

Private equity firm Silverlake, Microsoft and Alibaba Group are all mentioned as potential bidders. Yahoo’s board discussed Silver Lake’s approach during its meeting on Wednesday and hired Allen & Company as its investment bank for a continuing review of Yahoo’s business.

Yahoo! latest quarterly results report is for the period ending June 30, 2011. As follows:

Revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs (“revenue ex-TAC”) was $1,076 million for the second quarter of 2011, a 5 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2010, primarily due to the revenue share related to the Search Agreement with Microsoft. Excluding this item and other special items, revenue ex-TAC for the second quarter of 2011 increased 1 percent year over year. Special items include the impact of the divestiture of HotJobs, broadband deferred revenue amortization, and certain fee rate reductions.

GAAP revenue was $1,229 million for the second quarter of 2011, a 23 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2010, primarily due to the required change in revenue presentation related to the Search Agreement and the associated revenue share with Microsoft. Excluding the impact of these two items and the impact of the divestiture of HotJobs, broadband deferred revenue amortization, and certain fee rate reductions, revenue for the second quarter of 2011 decreased 9 percent compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Income from operations increased 9 percent to $191 million in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $175 million in the second quarter of 2010.

Net earnings per diluted share increased 18 percent to $0.18 in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $0.15 in the second quarter of 2010.

Second Quarter 2011 Revenue Results

  • Display revenue ex-TAC increased 5 percent to $467 million, compared to $445 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • GAAP display revenue increased 2 percent to $524 million, compared to $514 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • Search revenue ex-TAC was $371 million, a 15 percent decrease compared to $438 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • GAAP search revenue was $467 million, a 45 percent decrease compared to $842 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • Cash Flow and Cash Balance
  • Cash flow from operating activities for the second quarter of 2011 was $331 million, a 5 percent decrease compared to $347 million for the same period of 2010.
  • Free cash flow was $96 million for the second quarter of 2011, a 25 percent decrease compared to $127 million for the same period of 2010.
  • Cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable debt securities were $3,255 million at June 30, 2011 compared to $3,629 million at December 31, 2010, a decrease of $374 million. During the second quarter of 2011, Yahoo! repurchased 30 million shares for $472 million.

Read the Quarterly earning announcement

USA, Sunnyvale, CA

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