WatchIt Technologies begins negotiations with two green companies

September 13, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

WatchIt Technologies has begun negotiations with two separate companies for possible acquisition. Both companies are in the fuel savings arena.

The first company under consideration is an established company that utilizes a patented technology to significantly decrease the fuel consumption of motorized vehicles. It also has the added benefit of reducing carbon outputs into the environment.

The second company under consideration is an established GPS (Global Positioning System) business with several years of experience in both hardware and software and is currently producing revenue. According to the company, it is considered a “green technology” because it assists fleet managers in reducing fuel consumption and at the same time aids in reducing the carbon output of the vehicles by providing data that enables the managers and drivers to reduce idle time and reduction in miles driven.

“Although technically very different, there is a synergy between the two technologies,” according to Brian Riley, President of WatchIt Technologies. “Being able to remotely monitor the performance of any fuel saving technology as can be done with a GPS device will add additional credibility to the reported performance results. In the future it may also allow for the general public to watch in ‘real time’ a vehicle’s performance providing complete transparency of the process.”

USA, Arden, NC

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Amazon buys online music retailer Amie Street

September 8, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Amazon.com Inc., seeking to expand its position in the music download market against rivals like Apple Inc.’s iTunes Store, has purchased online music retailer Amie Street for an undisclosed amount.

In an e-mail to users Wednesday, Amie Street said it has found “a great home” for its site AmieStreet.com with Amazon. The Seattle-based online retailer first invested in the site nearly four years ago, Amie Street said.

Amie Street, which is based in Long Island City, N.Y., was founded in 2006. Unlike online music stores like Amazon MP3 and the iTunes Store, the site has allowed users to buy songs that start off free and become increasingly expensive as they rise in popularity.

The e-mail said that starting Sept. 22, site visitors will be forwarded to Amazon.com Web pages, and the AmieStreet.com service will be shut down. Users have until that date to spend any credit they have with the site or download any songs they’ve already purchased.

On Wednesday afternoon, the site was unavailable for use, with visitors greeted by a note informing them that it was “down for maintenance.”

The e-mail said that going forward, Amie Street will focus on developing Songza.com, which is an Internet radio service that lets people build playlists with friends.

USA, San Francisco, CA

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Power-Save Energy Company is to acquire Vica Energy

September 8, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

According to an SEC filing, Power-Save Energy Company is to acquire Vica Energy. The details of the 8K that was filed today with the SEC reads:

“On August 18, 2010, we entered into a Letter of Intent with Vica Energy, Ltd. (hereinafter “Vica”), an Alberta corporation pursuant to which the Company agreed to acquire all of the assets of Vica.  We are currently underway in the due diligence period requested under the Letter of Intent and we will prepare the Asset Purchase Agreement and anticipate a closing date by the end of September. The Company, concurrently with reviewing the due diligence material, is preparing a Solicitation of Proxies, pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and will hold a special shareholder meeting as soon as practicable thereafter.

The Asset Purchase Agreement will contain the customary terms and conditions for a transaction of this type, including representations, warranties and covenants, as well as provisions describing the consideration, the process of exchanging the consideration and the effect of the Acquisition Agreement.”

About Power-Save Energy Co.

Power-Save Energy Company (http://www.power-save.com) is a marketing and manufacturing company focused on becoming the premier retailer of renewable energy and energy savings products in the United States. The company is dedicated to the mass-market sale of energy savings products and now renewable energy products direct to the homeowner and small business. The company not only provides both quality tested and certified products direct to the consumer, but also provides them at prices affordable to everyone.

USA, San Luis Obispousa, CA

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BlackBerry maker RIM acquires DataViz in a deal worth $50m in cash

September 8, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Crackberry is reporting that BlackBerry maker RIM has acquired DataViz in a deal worth $50m in cash.

Rim’s statement reads, “RIM has acquired some of the assets of DataViz and hired the majority of its employees to focus on supporting the BlackBerry platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the transaction was not material to RIM in the context of RIM’s financial results.” Most news sources are reporting that the deal is thought to be worth $50 million dollars in cash.

DataViz is best known for its mobile Office suite, Documents To Go. Other products include wireless Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync client and RoadSync.

Canada, Ontario & USA, Milford, CT

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PricewaterhouseCoopers to acquire Diamond Management & Technology Consultants for $378 Million

September 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

PricewaterhouseCoopers and Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, (Nasdaq: DTPI), a strategic management consulting firm, have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby PricewaterhouseCoopers will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Diamond for $12.50 per share in cash. The transaction represents a premium of 31% to Diamond’s closing stock price of $9.54 on August 23, 2010, and values Diamond at $378 million. Diamond will join the PwC Advisory practice, which ranks among the largest providers of consulting services globally.

Robert Moritz, US Chairman and Senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said, “We are pleased to bring to PwC a group of highly talented professionals with a proven track record of consistently delivering world class service.  The acquisition reflects our long-standing commitment to provide the expertise and experience necessary to assist our clients in addressing their highest priority issues.”

Adam Gutstein, President and CEO of Diamond, said, “This is an attractive all cash opportunity for our stockholders, creates exciting prospects for our people, and will provide us new and enhanced capabilities to bring to our clients as we help to address their most critical challenges and important opportunities. There’s a clear strategic fit between PwC’s assets and aspirations and Diamond’s positioning. We have complementary cultures and very similar values, driven by a shared commitment to the highest levels of client service, objectivity, innovation, and impact.”

Diamond Management & Technology Consultants provides strategic management consulting services to help companies grow, improve margins, and increase the productivity of their investments.  Diamond’s consultants are experienced in helping clients attract and retain customers, increase the value of their information, and plan and execute projects that turn strategy into measurable results.  Diamond employs more than 500 consultants worldwide and has offices in Chicago, Hartford, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Mumbai.

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2010, subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Diamond’s stockholders and antitrust clearance.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was advised by Perella Weinberg Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell. Diamond was advised by Morgan Stanley and Winston & Strawn.

USA, New York, NY & Chicago, IL

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Idle Media completes the acquisitions of Prison Block, Chixrus and Tweetvibe

September 2, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Idle Media, (OTCBB: IDLM) has closed on the previously announced acquisitions of the assets of three online properties: www.prisonblock.com, www.chixr.us, and www.tweetvibe.com.

The acquisitions were transacted in cash, and are therefore non-dilutive to the company’s shareholders. More information will be available in an upcoming 8K filing which will be able to be viewed here: http://www.sec.gov

According to Mr. Marcus Frasier, Idle Media Inc.’s President and CEO, “These three acquisitions will allow us to expand our offerings and address new demographic groups.”

He continued, “With Prison Block we have acquired an online gaming property that already has almost 50,000 users. We plan to increase the games membership base and capitalize on the growing popularity of virtual currency transactions, whereby a player can transact within the game using a ‘virtual’ currency that they purchase with real dollars.”

Earlier this summer Idle Media acquired the source code for Backyard Buddies, a Facebook game. Facebook boasts well over 400,000,000 users worldwide. Recently, Google announced a $200 million investment in Zynga, billed as the world’s largest social gaming developer.

“Social media gaming is absolutely blowing up,” continued Mr. Frasier. “I spoke previously about games like NightClub City, which launched on Facebook in April of this year and already has 4.5 million users. These types of applications have massive revenue potential if exploited correctly, and we are working quickly to position ourselves solidly within this genre. We think it is inevitable that the social media platforms will take over online gaming at some point, it’s just a natural synergy.”

Mr. Frasier added, “And with our new applications for mobile devices, like our award-winning DatPiff Mobile, we are also positioning to capture a piece of the forecasted (VisionGain) $60 billion in revenue from mobile social networking.”

Inside Network estimates the US virtual goods market will reach US $1.6 billion in 2010 and the social gaming market will contribute $835 million of that total. And, according to research and asset management company Think Equity, the U.S. market for social network games will reach over US $2 billion by 2012. There are over 45 million social gamers in the U.S., with 25% saying their social network is their primary gaming destination.

USA, Leesport, PA

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comScore acquires Nedstat, global analytics and online optimization provider

September 1, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR) has acquired Nedstat, a leading provider of web analytics and innovative video measurement solutions for approximately $36.7 million. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nedstat offers technology that helps organizations optimize customer experiences and maximize the return on digital media investments. With the Nedstat technology installed on thousands of sites, the acquisition helps comScore accelerate its global expansion strategy, particularly in European markets, and strengthens comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement™ (UDM) platform, which combines panel-based audience measurement with census-level data collection to provide a holistic view of digital consumer behavior.

“The acquisition of Nedstat is another important step towards fulfilling our vision of making the Unified Digital Measurement platform the global standard for digital measurement,” said Dr. Magid Abraham, comScore President & CEO. “In addition, our clients are asking for a new class of business applications to maximize the monetization of their audiences using the UDM data we already collect. The Nedstat platform helps us deliver substantial additional value to clients, expand existing customer relationships, and broaden the scope of our addressable market by adding new and unique digital business analytics to comScore’s offerings. Nedstat clients have benefited over the years from the platform’s detailed and flexible analytical tools and elegant user-experience. We are committed to using Nedstat’s technology to develop new applications, greater scalability, a more expansive data set, and a unified and consistent view of audience statistics, all of which we think will help generate actionable insights that can lead to improved business results for customers.”

“We are excited to join forces with comScore, a recognized global leader in digital measurement,” said Michael Kinsbergen, CEO of Nedstat. “comScore’s ‘Unified Digital Measurement’ platform presents a compelling vision of the future of digital measurement, and we are eager to play a vital role in helping to make that vision a reality. We believe that Nedstat web analytics can add substantial value for clients when combined with the existing comScore measurement platform.”

Upon the acquisition, Nedstat became a wholly owned subsidiary of comScore. Mr. Kinsbergen will be helping in the transition and will continue to be involved by joining comScore’s advisory board. In addition, Fred Appelman, Nedstat’s Chief Technology Officer, and Michiel Berger, Nedstat’s co-founder and Chief Innovations Officer, will join comScore in senior strategy and technology roles.

comScore believes that the Nedstat acquisition will contribute approximately $4 million of additional revenue for the remainder of 2010. comScore anticipates that due to transaction-related expenses and transaction-related accounting adjustments the transaction will be dilutive to 2010 GAAP and non-GAAP net income, but accretive to quarterly GAAP and non-GAAP net income within the first half of 2011.

USA, Reston, VA

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Thomson Reuters acquires Healthcare Data Management

September 1, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Thomson Reuters has acquired Healthcare Data Management. Effective immediately, the company will become part of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Healthcare Data Management brings unmatched expertise in health benefits auditing and expense management reporting solutions,” said Jon Newpol, executive vice president at the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. “Together, we’re poised to meet the increased demand for auditing and compliance due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the healthcare reform law, and an overall focus on eliminating waste from the healthcare system.

“Healthcare Data Management’s primary solutions, BenefitsAudit and BenefitsWatch, will play a key role in expanding our current solutions for employer and government markets,” Newpol said. “As a result, our new Audit & Compliance offering will support both retrospective and ongoing assessments of claims data.”

Healthcare Data Management was a pioneer in the establishment of modeling employee health benefit plans and using data-driven metrics to monitor plan performance. The company is currently one of the leading independent resources for maximizing the value and accountability of self-insured health benefit plans that are managed by plan administrators and pharmacy benefit managers.

USA, Ann Arbor, MI

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UBM Studios acquires virtual recruitment fairs business Astound

September 1, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM Studios it has acquired Astound LLC, the creator of Milicruit and Unicruit virtual career fairs targeted at placing veterans/military personnel and graduating college students in the workforce.  By adding Astound to its portfolio of virtual business solutions, UBM Studios adds Fortune 500 clients including GE, Raytheon, CSX, Walgreens, Stryker, Verizon, Booz Allen, Amazon, Target, 3M, Accenture and FedEx to its roster.
“The Astound business nicely complements our existing virtual business offerings.  By combining the strength of our two businesses, we now deliver a best in class solution for virtual career fairs.  This is the first step in our strategic initiative to significantly enhance our portfolio,” said Kate Spellman, SVP, Managing Director, UBM Studios.  “We are pleased to harness our technology expertise to offer virtual career solutions that will streamline the recruitment process for recruiters and individuals seeking employment.” 

“We are very excited to become a part of UBM today.  UBM is a forerunner in the virtual event marketplace and is poised for growth in the virtual events sector.  We are pleased to expand the UBM Studios virtual recruitment fairs portfolio with new offerings, industries and customers,” said Kevin O’Brien, Managing Partner of Astound.  “We have seen tremendous success with our niche events and we are very proud to help veterans as well as college graduates find employment.  The media coverage we have received surrounding our Milicruit events reinforces the critical importance of our virtual career fairs.”

USA, Chicago, IL

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Google acquires SocialDeck

September 1, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Google has acquired SocialDeck.

SocialDeck is a company that develops social-based mobile games. The company was founded in 2008 and has launched several titles for the iPhone, Facebook, and BlackBerry using its social gaming platform technology, which enables simultaneous game play across multiple mobile devices and social networks. SocialDeck raised its first financing round from the BlackBerry Partners Fund in March 2009. The company’s core team splits its time between Toronto and San Francisco.

The announcement on the SocualDeck website reads:

SocialDeck is joining Google!

Big news! We’re super excited to announce that someone found our social games as fun as you have — in this case, that “someone” is Google. SocialDeck has been acquired and we’ve joined the Google team.

We started this company with the goal of connecting friends through social games on all kinds of exciting mobile devices. We’ve been amazed and humbled by all the stories and experiences our customers (you!) have shared with us.

Thank you for all your support and for being part of SocialDeck’s success so far.

Happy Shaking!

– The SocialDeck Team

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA & Mountain View, CA

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