Zynga acquires Beijing-based XPD Media

May 21, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Zynga has acquired Beijing-based social gaming company XPD Media. It is Zynga’s first Asian acquisition.

“As the largest Internet market in the world, China is at the vanguard for virtual goods based gaming innovation,” said Robert Goldberg, VP of Corporate Development. “We expect our new office in Beijing and the incredible talent in the local market to play a strategic role in our mission to create the best social gaming experiences worldwide.”

XPD Media’s CEO, Robin Chan, will become Zynga’s GM of Asian business development. Co-Founder Andy Tian will lead the Zynga Beijing studio. The XPD team of 40 employees will be immediately integrated into Zynga’s global workforce and focus on engineering and product development.

XPD Media, backed by True Ventures and Pilot Group, launched in early 2008 focusing on social game development for Asian and international social networks.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Location: China, Beijing & USA, San Francisco, CA

Ref: F231109-458

Previous reports about Zynga on FusionDigiNet

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Rakuten to acquire Buy.com

May 21, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Japanese internet shopping company Rakuten is acquiring Buy.com. The acquisition is valued at approximately $250 million and will be carried out by Rakuten’s U.S. subsidiary, Rakuten USA.

In March this year Buy.com reported 146% year-over-year sales growth and said it had 11.5 million product listings. Buy.com’s Marketplace represented 46 percent of the company’s site orders in the fourth quarter of 2009 and more than 50 percent of Q1 2010 site orders to date. The growth of the Marketplace also helped contribute to Q4 2009 being Buy.com’s 13th consecutive profitable quarter.

Combined, the Rakuten and Buy.com represent one of the world’s largest online retail marketplaces, offering consumers more than 60 million products from close to 35,000 merchants around the globe.

Location: Japan, Tokyo and USA, Aliso Viejo, CA

Ref: F231109-457

Posted in Content Media, e-Commerce, Internet Media, ~Asia, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Brightsource Energy raises an additional $150 million of equity financing

May 21, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

BrightSource Energy, developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, has raised an additional $150 million in its most recent equity financing. The Series D round brings BrightSource’s total equity financing to more than $300 million.

New investors including Alstom and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) joined existing investors in this round, led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. As part of the financing, global power-generation leader Alstom has committed to invest up to $55 million.

The additional financing will be used to support BrightSource’s 2,610 megawatts in contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison to build 14 solar power plants in the US southwest by 2016. The funds will also be used by BrightSource to further its international expansion plans.

BrightSource Energy’s proprietary LPT 550 energy system is based on proven power tower technology. The system uses thousands of small mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a boiler atop a tower to produce high temperature steam. The steam is then piped to a conventional turbine, which generates electricity. In order to conserve precious desert water, the steam is air-cooled and piped back into the system in a closed-loop, environmentally friendly process.

In February 2010, BrightSource received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project – the first of its US-based power projects. Once constructed, Ivanpah will be the world’s largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US today. The project will also create more than 1,000 local jobs at the peak of construction and generate $250 million in construction wages. The power plant will be constructed by Bechtel, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Ivanpah project. BrightSource expects to commence construction later this year.

Location: USA, Oakland, CA

Ref: F231109-456

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Cyberplex acquires online media publisher Tsavo Media for $75 million

May 20, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Online advertising firm Cyberplex has acquired online media publisher, Tsavo Media, in a transaction valued at approximately $75 million.

Tsavo Media’s portfolio includes over 300 unique consumer websites, informational properties and social media blogs which generate over 30 million unique visitors per month. In 2009 Tsavo Media generated revenue of approximately $110 million and EBITDA of approximately $16.7 million, excluding management fees paid to its owners.

Ted Hastings, President and CEO of Tsavo Media, will take on the role of President in the combined organization and all other senior executives of Tsavo Media will remain with the organization.

“This is the largest and most impactful acquisition in the history of Cyberplex. We believe that it represents the next phase of growth in building a dominant Internet media company that will create significant value for our clients, shareholders and employees,” said Vernon Lobo, Chairman and co-founder of Cyberplex.

The total purchase price payable is $75,000,000, subject to post-closing adjustments. That is $37,800,000 in cash, US$2,200,000 in exchangeable shares and US$35,000,000 by way of vendor take-back notes. There is also an inducement for three of Tsavo’s existing key management personnel to enter into contracts of full time employment with Cyberplex. Full details are given in the release.

Location: Canada, Waterloo, Ontario

Ref: F231109-453

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Digital publishing business LibreDigital raises $8.1 million

May 20, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Digital publishing business LibreDigital has closed an $8.1 million Series C funding round led by new investor S3 Ventures with participation from existing investors Adams Capital Management and Triangle Peak Partners. The company’s other key investors include HarperCollins Publishers, The New York Times Company and Noro-Moseley Partners.

“This year, sales of e-books are expected to double to more than $700 million in the U.S. alone,” said Russell P. Reeder, President and CEO of LibreDigital, Inc. “This funding will be used to accelerate the delivery of e-books, and expand our technology offerings to include new solutions that help publishers better promote and sell books to digital consumers.”

LibreDigital enables publishers, distributors and device manufacturers to securely market and deliver content across an expanding number of digital channels, including e-readers, tablets, smart phones, social networks and online stores. The company offers solutions designed to deliver digital books, newspapers and magazines in the highest quality format possible.

Location: USA, Austin, TX

Ref: F231109-452

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Playdom acquires Acclaim Games

May 20, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Another acquisition by Playdom.

Social gaming company Playdom has acquired Acclaim Games, a developer of social networking and downloadable casual games. Acclaim was privately held and is based in Los Angeles, California. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Acclaim has built a name for itself in the casual and MMORPG gaming space by developing and publishing free-to-play titles available on the Acclaim website. With more than 15 million registered online users already playing Acclaim’s games, the company launched RockFree, a Facebook guitar game, in March 2010, which now has tens of thousands of daily active users. Acclaim is currently working its latest Facebook game due to launch this summer.

Howard Marks, CEO of Acclaim, (a former Activision 2.0 co-founder and Chairman of the Activision Studios), will run the Acclaim studio for Playdom and serve in a senior strategic role for the parent company focused on Playdom’s business development activities. Acclaim’s Chief Technology Officer, Neil Malhotra, a longtime Marks colleague, will now act as the studio’s senior technical officer.

“Bringing Howard and Neil into Playdom strengthens our leadership and bolsters our position as an innovative games developer for the future,” said John Pleasants, CEO of Playdom. “Howard and Neil have worked together building and operating games for many years, and their pipeline of new games is strong.  We are also excited about opening our first Los Angeles based social game development studio which gives us access to all of the game development talent in Southern California.  We look forward to big things from this team.”

Location: USA, Mountain View, CA & Los Angeles, CA

Ref: F231109-450

Other Playdom articles

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Zuckerman to bid for Newsweek

May 19, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

According to Keith Kelly at the NY Post, Mort Zuckerman may be making a bid for Newsweek. If correct, he will be competing with Politico, Thomson Reuters, Steve Rattner, and Haim Saban all who have also been reported as preparing bids to buy Newsweek from the Washington Post Company. Bids are due to Allen & Company, which will oversee the auction, by June 4.

Zuckerman has been the publisher/owner of the New York Daily News since 1993 and has been  Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report since 2007. He converted US News to a monthly from a weekly, and made large scale staff cuts. Keith Kelly reports that sources said Zuckerman believes he could extract major savings from Newsweek if he combined it with the mag (US News) he already owns.

After a loss of $28 million last year, News week has lost $2.3 million in the first quarter, with revenue falling 36 percent to $29.4 million.

Ref: F231109-446

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Yahoo! to acquire Associated Content

May 19, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Yahoo! is to acquire Associated Content. The acquisition is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2010. Financial terms were not disclosed. Paid Content have reported that they hear the price is between $90 million and $100 million.

Associated Content was founded by Luke Beatty in Denver, Colorado, in 2004. Associated Content receives more than 16 million unique users per month (comScore) and the editorial staff reviews more than 50,000 pieces of content per month, including articles, images, audio and video. Associated Content has 380,000 contributors.

“Together, we’ll create more content around what we know our users care about, and open up new and creative avenues for advertisers to engage with consumers across our network.” said Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo!

Associated Content content is currently U.S.-centric, Yahoo! expects to scale the platform globally.

Location: USA, Sunnyvale, CA

Ref: F231109-445

Links: Read the press release here and Associated Content FAQs here and Luke Beatty’s blog post here!

Related articles:

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  • Monster Worldwide acquires the assets of Yahoo! HotJobs for $225 million Posted on February 4, 2010
  • The Yahoo!/Maktoob acquisition deal has officially closed Posted on November 12, 2009
    • Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

    Titan Gaming raises $1 million

    May 18, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

    Titan Gaming has raised $1 million in funding from prominent angel investors, including Clearstone Venture Partners principals William Quigley and Jim Armstrong, virtual goods pioneer Brock Pierce, MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, PriceGrabber co-founder and Bestcovery.com founder Kamran Pourzanjani, Vonage co-founder and www.kikin.com founder and CEO Carlos Bhola, SOA Software founder and ServiceMesh founder and CEO Eric Pulier, MyLife founder and CEO Jeffrey Tinsley, Hydra and W4 co-founder Adam “Wicks” Walker, ooma founder Andrew Frame, GigaMedia executive John Lee, PatentVest CEO Andy Mazzarella, former Korn Ferry Chairman Global Technology Markets Richard Spitz, iWin founder and TLDH.org founder and CEO Fred Kreuger, Ramprate founder and Chairman and myTASTE co-founder and CEO Tony Greenberg, New Motion founder and Revenue APEX co-founder and CEO Scott Walker, SAM Venture Partners and Tomorrow Ventures.

    With this seed round of funding, the new executive team, including CEO John Maffei and COO Lisa Serwin, will finalize the technology of the Titan Platform, as well as secure mass distribution deals. The original Titan founders, Francisco Diaz-Mitoma and Mark Donovan, will lead Titan’s technical and game developer evangelism efforts. Titan’s first customers are set to go live in July of 2010. Game developers and publishers seeking to join the Titan beta should visit www.titanplatform.com.

    “As the former head of one of the Internet’s largest gaming sites, I am very familiar with the challenges of effectively monetizing gamers with subscription and advertising models,” commented John Maffei, CEO, Titan Gaming. “Titan offers gaming companies and content sites a white labeled solution that helps them monetize their audiences more effectively while retaining complete control of their brand. We have been extremely pleased with the positive reaction of the gaming companies we have engaged.”

    Location: USA, Los Angeles, CA

    Ref: F231109-443

    Posted in Content Media, Games, Internet Media, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

    Booyah raises $20 million from Accel Partners

    May 18, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

    Booyah has received $20 million in additional funding from venture capital firm Accel Partners.

    In addition to the funding, Jim Breyer, an investor and board member in Facebook, Etsy, Walmart, Dell, and Marvel Entertainment, among others, will be joining Booyah’s Board of Directors.

    According to the Booyah Blog, ” It’s to hire the top talent and best people in the industry to make the most epic gaming experiences out there.  We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with MyTown, and we plan to continue innovating and creating new forms of real-world entertainment for you.”
    Location: USA, Palo Alto, CA

    Ref: F231109-441

    Posted in Content Media, Games, Internet Media, ~North America. Leave a Comment »
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