Private equity firm Wafra Partners has acquired All Island Media, a shopper publication group serving the Long Island, New York local media market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
USA, New York, NY
Online sports media company SB Nation has acquired SportsRadioInterviews.com. SportsRadioInterviews.com (SRI) is a streaming sports blog which provides analysis of breaking news, upcoming games and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. Co-founded by Jimmy Shapiro and Dan Zucker of www.zuckermediagroup.com, SRI has developed a unique style of breaking national sports news by pushing out local and syndicated sports radio station interviews.
“Our goal at SB Nation is to provide sports fans with news, opinion and analysis, regardless of where the information happens,” said Jim Bankoff, Chairman and CEO of SB Nation. “There is so much great content on the radio, SRI will be a great asset and compliment the entire SB Nation portfolio.”
SRI co-founder Jimmy Shapiro commented, “Creating this site has allowed us to leverage our relationships in the sports media business to build a category leader quickly. We are looking forward to continuing to grow the brand under Jim and his teams’ guidance.”
Shapiro will stay on as the Executive Editor of SportsRadioInterviews.
USA, Washington, DC
Social game developer SunGame Corp. has signed a letter-of-intent to merge with Nevada-based Freevi Corporation. The merged entity will be renamed Freevi Corporation.
The merger is a strategic fit for both companies. Freevi will utilize SunGame’s technical resources both for its expansion into the exploding virtual game market as well as its current product development, and will be trading as a reporting company on the OTC:BB market. SunGame gains from the massive potential exposure Freevi will bring when it launches on a wide scale in 2011.
The company will maintain a joint board and executive team led by Guy Robert, CEO of SunGame, Ranulf Goss, IT Director, SunGame, and Neil Chandran, President of Freevi.
USA, Los Angeles, CA
WPP announces has agreed to acquire I-Behavior Inc through KBM Group, part of WPP’s Wunderman network.
I-Behavior is a privately-held database marketing business which provides direct marketing services to multi-channel merchants – retailers, financial services firms, catalogue sellers, consumer magazines, business-to-business companies – based on consumer purchase transaction data.
Based in Louisville, Colorado, I-Behavior’s projected full-year revenues for this year are expected to be approximately $25 million. It employs 83 people.
I-Behavior helps merchants market more effectively through its innovative co-operative database which includes over 8 billion purchase transactions. The database covers purchases by 171 million consumers from 110 million households. It also has information generated by 103 million online buyers and 35 million business-to-business purchasers. Collectively, this represents more than $320 billion in online and offline purchases. The database has more than 1,900 merchants who contribute data about customer transactions in exchange for highly qualified and modeled predictions about future buying behaviors.
This acquisition continues WPP’s strategy of investing in digital knowledge-based marketing solutions companies in fast growing markets and sectors. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and the approval of I-Behavior’s shareholders.
USA, Louisville, CO & Richardson, TX
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Nexant, a global provider of intelligent grid software and clean energy solutions, announced today that Dr. Romesh Wadhwani of Symphony Technology Group has joined TeleSoft, Oak Investment Partners, Intel Capital, and Beacon in raising a total of $50 million to close the company’s latest investment round.
“We are delighted to welcome Romesh to Nexant,” said Arjun Gupta, Nexant Executive Chairman. “We are privileged to have Romesh’s participation—particularly his extensive experience building software companies—as we scale Nexant’s next-generation platform and applications, such as GridSmart®, TrakSmart®, and ChemSystems®.”
“My chief mission has always been to help build great companies over the long term by investing in transformative technology and exceptional talent capable of delivering breakthrough client value,” said Dr. Wadhwani. “I believe Nexant has the potential to be one of those great companies and I am excited to be working with Nexant’s team of energy and software experts to accelerate growth and help scale the company.”
Nexant’s software focuses on the sophisticated demands of next-generation electricity grid operations and energy markets—managing energy efficiency, demand response, and distributed generation; improving the efficiency of the power grid; and supporting market operations. In addition, Nexant provides a wide range of technical, operational, and strategic consultingservices to utilities, and oil, gas, and chemical majors.
USA, San Francisco, CA
Global Green Carbon Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Optim Consult. Optim is a carbon emission reduction and carbon asset service provider for the global carbon market. Global Green Carbon is a world-wide project developer of carbon financed AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use) initiatives.
Optims’ clientele currently consists of global entities such as CEMEX, Gas Natural, Forestal Mininco, EPM, ECOPETROL and USAID to name but a few. Optim dominates the carbon arena with a portfolio of over 30 carbon emission reduction projects in both the compliance and voluntary markets generating over 6 million tCO2e.
“The acquisition of Optim provides Global Green Carbon diversification into all sectors of the carbon market,” commented Christopher Werner, Chief Executive Officer of GGC. “Optim benefits from diversification into forestry and agroforestry markets with revenues beyond carbon. Our melded respective strengths provides a solid platform for growth and positions us as key players as the global carbon markets mature.”
In signing the Definitive Agreement, Juan Andres Lopez, President of Optim Consult commented, “We are very optimistic about this union and in particular the ability to leverage our respective strengths in the developing US market. Our broad scope of carbon emission reduction experience and asset management and their expertise in international forestry and finance will ensure that both companies are strengthened as the markets evolve.”
USA, Chicago, CA
Undertone has acquired Jambo Media, one of the largest suppliers of online video advertising distribution and technology with more than 17 million unique viewers* per month. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Online video represents an exciting growth opportunity, with Piper Jaffray projecting 39 percent annual growth over the next five years to become a $5+ billion market. With this acquisition, Undertone adds Jambo’s video player and content management technology to its portfolio and gains the ability to create premium video inventory for a market in which current and future demand far outpaces available supply.
“While brand advertisers use video in traditional settings like television, it is under-utilized online,” said Mike Cassidy, CEO of Undertone. “Undertone’s goal is to help marketers ‘span the screens,’ putting video to work for brands on televisions, personal computers and mobile devices. Pairing video and display under a single management platform helps advertisers serve the right content in the right format to the right person, delivering results that impact the brand.”
Fortune 500 brands, including both advertisers and publishers, create a tremendous amount of content. Now, they will have a new distribution channel for in-stream video married with high-value, branded content. Undertone executes integrated campaigns across brand-safe sites from a single platform that includes key analytics to give marketers the ability to manage, measure and improve upon their campaigns.
“Our clients want to take advantage of online video, but not at the expense of brand safety,” said Erin Matts, Chief Digital Officer, OMD. “With this acquisition, Undertone can deliver the reach our brands need without sacrificing quality.”
USA, New York, NY
Amazon has acquired rival e-commerce company Quidsi for around $540m, according to several reports. An announcement is due later today.
Diapers.com was founded in Montclair, New Jersey, by Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara. It is described as the largest online baby care specialty site in the United States.
Recent Amazon deals reported on Fusion DigiNet
USA, Montclair, NJ & San Francisco, CA
McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, has acquired Starting Out, a publisher of life-skills learning, and workplace readiness information for the education, workforce, and corrections markets.
The acquisition significantly strengthens McGraw-Hill Education’s position as a leading provider of adult basic education, college, workforce, and career-development resources, providing the company with considerable opportunities to leverage Starting Out’s products and capabilities.
“We are pleased to expand both our print and digital capabilities in career and workforce development,” said Jeff Livingston, senior vice president of McGraw-Hill Education’s Applied, College & Career Readiness Center. “It is important to provide resources that build on the basic life-management skills many young adults receive in school and at home. The addition of Starting Out reinforces our commitment to helping students and young adults make informed decisions regarding their career paths as they transition from one life stage to the next.”
With state-specific information in more than 80 life skills categories, each edition in the Starting Out! series offers a practical guide to decision-making for learners as they transition into a productive life and career. Topics include financial literacy, employment and careers, health and nutrition, civic responsibilities, conservation, housing and taxes, diet and nutrition, consumerism, and more.
USA, New York, NY
ZeniMax Media, parent company of game publisher Bethesda Softworks, has announced game designer and director, Shinji Mikami, has joined ZeniMax in a deal where ZeniMax acquired Tango Gameworks, the development shop founded and run by Mikami. Best known as the creator of the Resident Evil series, Mikami is a 20-year veteran of the industry who has developed numerous award-winning titles.
“It’s refreshing to find a publisher who understands, trusts, and supports the development of blockbuster games and works to make it a collaborative effort,” said Mikami. “The library of AAA franchise titles ZeniMax owns speaks for itself. We are very excited to be joining ZeniMax and working with a company that is dedicated to creating the best games ever made.”
Based in Tokyo, Mikami has an extraordinary track record as one of the world’s most successful game developers. Five of his projects, including Resident Evil, have scored 90 or above on Metacritic.com and Gamerankings.com.
The development studio Mikami founded, Tango Gameworks, is dedicated to AAA multi-platform game development and has attracted some of Japan’s most accomplished and experienced developers who served key roles on game franchises like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy. Tango will continue to be run by Shinji Mikami, and he will serve as the creative lead for all future projects.
“Shinji Mikami has earned a stellar reputation as one of the industry’s finest game developers,” said Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax Media. “He has repeatedly created hit titles that have earned praise from fans and critics around the world. We share his vision for innovative, genre-defining games and look forward to working with Shinji and his team at Tango.”
Tango joins a distinguished group of development studios at ZeniMax that includes Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, and Arkane Studios. This most recent acquisition reflects Bethesda Softworks’ unwavering commitment to delivering premier titles to gamers worldwide.
USA, Rockville, MD & Japan, Tokyo
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