NewTravelco acquires hotel information site TravelPost

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-371
 
According to Tnooz, NewTravelco has acquired Kayak’s TravelPost from Kayak. Kayak also becomes an investor in NewTravelco.

Kayak acquired TravelPost when they bought SideStep in late 2007.  NewTravelco raised $9.8 million in a funding round earlier this month.  

Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Acquirer:  NewTravelco
ACQ Web:  http://www.newtravelco.com
Other Web Links: Blog
Location:  USA, Seattle, WA
Region:  North America
Description:  Travel start-up
Category:  Travel
Contact 1:  Greg Slyngstad, President
Contact 2:  Sunil Shah, CTO
Contact 3:  Rich Barton, Chairman 
 
Vendor:  Kayak
Vendor Web:  http://www/kayak.com
Business Sold: TravelPost
Other Web Links: http://www.travelpost.com
Location:  USA, Concord, MA
Region:  North America
Description:  TravelPost is a hotel information site. KAYAK is a travel search site.
Category: Travel
Contact 1:  Steve Hafner, CEO, Kayak
Contact 2:  Paul English, CTO, Kayak
 
Link: Tnooz report

Yellow Pages Group to Acquire Canpages

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-369
 
Yellow Media Inc. (TSX: YLO.UN) (“YPG”) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian Phone Directories Holdings Inc. (“Canpages”) from an investor group led by private equity firm HM Capital Partners for a purchase price consideration of approximately $225M. Canpages is a local search and directories publisher in Canada.
 
The purchase price consideration of $225M is subject to working capital and other adjustments. It will be comprised of $75M payable in cash at closing to settle third party debt obligations and the issuance of $150M of Mandatory Exchangeable Promissory Notes (“Exchangeable Notes”) of Yellow Media Inc. The Exchangeable Notes will rank subordinate to the senior debt of Yellow Media Inc. and bear interest at a fixed initial rate of 5%, payable quarterly in cash, subject to step up provisions over time.
 
Starting in the first quarter of 2011, the Exchangeable Notes will be exchangeable into common shares of Yellow Media Inc., the surviving entity following the conversion to a traditional corporate structure. Each quarter, HM Capital Partners will have the right to exchange $37.5M of the Exchangeable Notes, representing 25% of the principal amount. At any time following closing and until December 31, 2014, YPG may redeem all or a portion of the Exchangeable Notes for cash together with accrued and unpaid interest. The Exchangeable Notes will have a final maturity of December 31, 2014. Any remaining Exchangeable Notes will be automatically exchanged into common shares of Yellow Media Inc. on December 31, 2014.

Acquirer:  Yellow Pages Group
ACQ Web:  http://www.ypg.com
Other Web Links: YellowPages.ca, Canada411.ca, Auto Trader, Home Trader and LesPAC.com
Location:  Canada, Montreal, Quebec
Region:  North America
Description:  Yellow Pages Group publishes more than 340 Yellow Pages and residential print directories in Canada. YPG also owns and operates Canada’s most visited online directories – YellowPages.ca and Canada411.ca, along with CanadaPlus.ca, a network of seven local city sites. Yellow Pages Group is indirectly held by Yellow Pages Income Fund (TSX:YLO.UN).
Category:  Directory, Search
Contact 1:  Marc P. Tellier, President and Chief Executive Officer
Contact 2:   Christian M. Paupe, Executive Vice President – Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer
Contact 3:  Stephane Marceau, Chief Marketing Officer  
 
Vendor:  Investor group led by private equity firm HM Capital Partners
Business Sold: Canadian Phone Directories Holdings Inc. (“Canpages”)
Website:  http://corporate.canpages.ca
Location:  Canada, Vancouver
Region:  North America
Descriptions:  

  • Canpages – Canpages publishes 84 directories for a total circulation of approximately 8 million copies. The company’s website, Canpages.ca, attracts more than 3.5 million unique visitors each month. Canpages generates annualized revenues of $110M with an online contribution of approximately 23%. The Company employs about 700 people.
  • HM Capital Partners– Based in Dallas, HM Capital Partners LLC has completed over 100 transactions in the media space, the Firm has owned approximately 500 radio stations, 30 television stations, 600 directories and cable television systems serving more than 2.5 million subscribers.
    Category: Directory, Search

Contact 1:  Peter Brodsky, a Partner at HM Capital Partners
Contact 2:  Oliver Vincent, Chief Executive Officer, Canpages

Links: 

Advisers: Scotia Capital and TD Securities acted as financial advisors to YPG for the proposed transaction. Signal Hill acted as advisor to Canpages.

Related Fusion DigiNet articles

FUND RAISING: WEEKLY ROUND-UP week ending 28th March 2010

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1.       Avatar Reality raises $4.2 million

  • Details: Avatar Reality, creator of the massively multiplayer online virtual world platform Blue Mars, announced today has raised an additional $4.2 million. To date, more than $13 million has been invested in Avatar Reality.
  • Investors: Venture capitalists including Henk Rogers and Kolohala Ventures
  • Contacts: Henk Rogers, co-founder: Jim Sink, CEO
  • Location:  USA, Honolulu and San Francisco, CA
  • Category: Online games
  • Links: Press Release

2.       KidZui raises $4 Million

  • Details: Kidzui, an a safe search engine filter and online browser for kids, has raised $4 million.
  • Investors: Led by Mission Ventures led along with current investors First Round Capital, Emergence Capital Partners, and Maveron.
  • Location:  USA, San Diego, CA
  • Category: Search

3.       Made.com raises £2.5 million

  • Details: Made.com has raised £2.5 million to launch a new designer furniture company that cuts out the middle man using the internet to connect buyers directly with manufacturers.
  • Investors: Brent Hoberman, Founder of MyDeco and Lastminute.com, board director of the Guardian Media Group and Profounders Capital
  • Contacts: Ning Li, founder
  • Location:  UK, London
  • Category: Retail
  • Links: Made.com about us

4.       Placecast raises $3 million in series B funding

  • Details: Placecast raises $3 million in series B funding to expand their ShopAlerts location‐based marketing service.
  • Investors: From current investors, Quatrex Capital, ONSET Ventures and Voyager Capital.
  • Location:  USA, San Francisco, CA
  • Category: Advertising
  • Links: Press Release

Previous Fusion DigiNet article: 1020 Placecast has raised $5 million in a second round of funding November 19, 2009

5.       Wix Raises $10 Million

  • Details: Wix, which allows users to build free flash websites, has raised $10 million in Series C funding.
  • Investors: Benchmark Capital, plus existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners.
  • Location:  USA, New York, NY
  • Category: Technology
  • Links: TechCrunch

Funding News

Link: Atomico completes $165 million fundraising to invest in early-stage growth companies

Banijay Entertainment acquires reality TV hitmakers Bunim-Murray Productions

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-367
 
Banijay Entertainment of France has acquired US reality TV maker Bunim-Murray Productions.

Bunim-Murray’s founder Jonathan Murray will continue as chairman and lead creative development, while president Gil Goldschein will remain to tackle corporate initiatives. Banijay plan to help Bunim-Murray expand into the international marketplace.
 
Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Acquirer:  Banijay Entertainment
ACQ Web:  http://www.banijay.com
Location:  France, Paris
Region:  Europe
Description:  In less than 2 years Banijay has become a leading name in the global TV production industry. Founded by Stéphane Courbit with further backing from the De Agostini and D’Dgnelli families, Banijay has grown through acquisition.  
Category:  Media, TV Production
Contact 1:  Pascale Amiel
Contact 2:  Guillaume De Verges
Contact 3:  Francois De Brugada 
 
Vendor:  Bunim-Murray Productions
Vendor Web:  http://www.bunim-murray.com
Location:  USA, Van Noys, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Reality television production company best known for the The Real World, The Bad Girls Club, and Road Rules.
Category: Media, TV Production
Contact 1:  Mary-Ellis Bunim, co-founder
Contact 2:  Jonathan Murray, co-founder 
 
Link: Hollywood Reporter

Related link: Banijay Entertainment has acquired TV production company Zig Zag January 21, 2010

BMG Rights Management to buy Cherry Lane Music Publishing

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

 

AQUISITION NEWS

According to the FT, BMG Rights Management is negotiating to buy Cherry Lane Music Publishing. The deal is reportedly worth $85 to $100 million.

About BMG Rights Management

BMG Rights Management (Berlin) is a music rights management company and a joint venture between the international media company Bertelsmann and the global private equity firm KKR.

Contacts: Hartwig Masuch, Chief Executive Officer: Laurent Hubert, Chief Operating Officer – North America:   John Dobinson, Chief Operating Officer Europe. Management team

About Cherry Lane Music Publishing

Founded in 1960 by producer, arranger and orchestrator Milton Okun, Cherry Lane Music Publishing are independent music publishers. Headquartered in New York City with a staff of 70. The Cherry Lane roster of songwriters and composers includes The Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am, John Legend, Quincy Jones,  John Denver and Elvis Presley.

Counts: Milton T. Okun, Founder: Peter W. Primont, Chief Executive Officer: Dan Lieblein,  Chief Financial Officer Management team

Life360 acquires Foundog.com

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-366
  
Life360, a company that provides sevices to manage family safety, has bought lost property tagging service, Foundog.com.
 
Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Acquirer:  Life360
ACQ Web:  http://www.life360.com
Location:  USA, San Francisco, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Online service for managing family safety and security
Category:  Social Network 
 
Vendor:  Foundog.com
Vendor Web:  http://www.foundog.com 
Location:  USA, San Francisco, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Property retrieval service that provides rewards for people reporting found propert.
Category: Consumer service
  
Link: Press Release
  
Related articles: Life360 Locks Down $750k in Latest Funding Round Posted 25 November 2009

Vibes Media acquires Zeep Mobile

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-364
 
  
Vibes Media has acquired self-service mobile advertising company, http://www.zeepmobile.com. Under the terms of the agreement, Zeep’s mobile messaging technology will be integrated into the Vibes platform and all Zeep employees will become part of Vibes Media. Zeep’s network of over 10,000 developers will also be integrated into Vibes. Additionally, Zeep President and CEO Scott Robertson will relocate to Vibes’ headquarters in Chicago, as will the engineering team currently located in Vancouver, Canada, joining Head of Engineering Rishi Bhatia and the team he just brought to Vibes with him from AOL Third Screen Media.
 
Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Acquirer:  Vibes Media
ACQ Web:  http://www.vibes.com  
Location:  USA, Chicago, IL
Region:  North America
Description:  Mobile marketing company, Vibes delivers hundreds of millions of mobile messages for a wide range of clients in the marketer and publisher categories.
Category:  Advertising, Mobile
Contact 1:  Jack Philbin, co founder and president
Contact 2:  Alex Campbell, Vibes’ co-founder and CEO.

Vendor:  Zeep Mobile
Vendor Web:  http://www.zeepmobile.com 
Location:  Canada, Vancouver
Region:  North America
Description:  Enables developers to send and receive ad-supported SMS messages from any website.
Category: Advertising, Mobile
Contact:   Scott Robertson, President and CEO
 
Links: 

WebMediaBrands acquires Rotorblog.Com

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-363
 
  
WebMediaBrands Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBM)  has acquired the assets of Rotorblog.com. Rotorblog was created in 2006 to cover the social media space. It currently attracts approximately 200,000 unique visitors a month.

Rotorblog.com will be a terrific addition to our stable of blogs covering the social media space,” stated Alan M. Meckler, Chairman and CEO of WebMediaBrands. “In recent months we also acquired the blogs All Facebook and Social Times along with a variety of trade shows dealing with social gaming and media topics.”
 
Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Acquirer:  WebMediaBrands
ACQ Web:  http://www.webmediabrands.com 
Location:  USA, New York, NY
Region:  North America
Description:   Global provider of events, education, jobs, and content for business, media, and creative professionals
Category:  Media, Blog
Contact:  Alan M. Meckler, Chairman and CEO Twitter 
 
Vendor:  Rotorblog.com
Vendor Web:  http://www.rotorblog.com 
Location:  USA, Los Angeles, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Founded in May 2006 by Maris Dagis in order to provide latest Web 2.0 news and startup reviews, later focusing on social networks and online communications.
Category: Blog
Contact 1:  Maris Dagis Founder, Editor 
 
Link: Press Release

Related articles

The9 Limited acquires a majority interest in Red 5 Studios

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-362
 
 
The9 Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY), an online game developer and operator in China, is to invest a total amount of approximately US$20 million for a majority interest Red 5 Studios, Inc., an online game developer in the United States.
 
Aprox. Value:  Approximately US$20 million for a majority
 
Acquirer:  The9 Limited
ACQ Web:  http://www.the9.com/en/ 
Location:  China, Shanghai
Region:  Asia
Description:  Online game operator and developer in China. The business is primarily focused on developing and operating games for the online game market. The9 Limited directly, or through affiliates, operates licensed MMORPGs and advanced casual games including Soul of The Ultimate Nation, Granado Espada, EA SPORTS FIFA Online 2 and Atlantica, as well as its proprietary games World of Fighter and Jiu Zhou Zhan Ji, in mainland China.
Category:  Online games
Contact:  Mr. Jun Zhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 
 
Vendor:  Red 5 Studios
Vendor Web:  http://www.red5studios.com/ 
Location:  USA, Irvine, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Online game developer located in California, formed in 2006 by former executives and developers from Blizzard Entertainment.
Category: Online games
Contact:  Mark Kern, Chief Executive Officer 
 
Link: Press Release

FUND RAISING: WEEKLY ROUND-UP week ending 21st March 2010 (part two)

 

 

We posted the Fusion DigiNet “Fund Raising Round-Up” early this week as we had thought that logistical plans would prevent us from creating the round-up on Sunday evening (our normal time). However, that is not the case and we can now add a few stories we missed from Friday night’s round-up.

Here is the original round-up

FUND RAISING: WEEKLY ROUND-UP week ending 19th March 

Additional stories

1. Nival Network has raises $7 million

  • Details: Social games business Nival Network has raised $7 million from DST, 1C Company and Nival Group founder & CEO Sergey Orlovskiy valuing the business at  $32 million. DST has invested $4 million for a 12.5% of Nival Network. Exisiting shareholders 1C Company also invested $1 million and will now own 26.56% and Nival CEO, Sergey Orlovskiy invested $2 million,and will now own 60.94%.
  • Location:  Russia, Moscow
  • Category: Online games
  • Links

2. Smartling raises $4 million in first funding round

  • Details: Smartling, Inc., a provider of real-time, crowdsourced translations for Internet based businesses, has secured a US$ 4 million Series A round of investment. The company will use the funding to expand its operations and support product development.
  • Investors: Led by Venrock. The round also included funding from US Venture Partners, First Round Capital and several angel investors.
  • Contacts: David Pakman, Partner at Venrock: Jack Welde, CEO of Smartling
  • Location:  USA, New York, NY
  • Category: Language services
  • Links: Press  Release

3. Videoplaza raises $5 million

  • Details: Videoplaza, the European ad serving technology provider for managing and monetising online video, has raised $5 million. The capital was raised to support the company’s commercial development as it continues on its expansion path into Europe. The funding will enable Videoplaza to accelerate the deployment of its Monetizer ad server platform technology for managing, displaying and tracking advertising in and around publishers’ online video content into more European territories.
  • Investors: led by the Nordic´s two leading Venture Capital firms Creandum and Northzone.
  • Contacts: Sorosh Tavakoli, Videoplaza Founder & CEO: Pär-Jörgen Pärson, General Partner at Northzone: Fredric Cassel, General Partner at Creandu.
  • Adviser: Frederic Laziou of Alta Venture
  • Location:  Sweden, Stockholm
  • Category: Advertising, Video
  • Links

4. Weedle raises $4 million

  • Details: Weedle, a social media business that connects people with skills to those who need them, has raised $4 million. The funds will enable the Ireland based company to expand into the U.S. and other global regions. The announcement was made during an Enterprise Ireland-supported Trade and Investment Mission to the U.S. led by Taoiseach (Ireland’s Prime Minister) Brian Cowen.  Enterprise Ireland is the Irish state agency responsible for the development and promotion of the indigenous Irish business sector.
  • Investors: Weedle’s investors include well-known Irish business entrepreneurs Dr. Michael Smurfit and Weedle co-founder and CEO, Iain MacDonald, as well as the Irish government agency, Enterprise Ireland.
  • Location: Ireland, Dublin
  • Category: Social Network, Search
  • Links:  Weedle Blog