~North America | Fusion Corporate Partners

News Corporation acquires a stake in Rotana Group

February 23, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

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: F231109-337

Acquirer: News Corporation
ACQ Web: http://www.newscorp.com
Location:  USA, New York, NY
Region: North America
Description:  News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of December 31, 2009 of approximately US$56 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$30 billion. News Corporation is a diversified global media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; integrated marketing services; newspapers and information services; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and Latin America.
Category: Media Owner
Contact: James Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive, Europe and Asia

Vendor: Rotana Group
Vendor Web: http://www.rotana.net
Location: Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
Region: Middle East and Africa
Description:  Rotana Group operates one of the largest TV networks and ad sales operations in the region and owns the largest Arabic film library. Additionally, it has built the leading record label in the Middle East, managing many of the most popular artists in the region and controlling the biggest Arabic music catalogue. Rotana Group also operates an expanding radio network and a wide array of digital services.
Category: Music, TV, Radio, Advertising
Contact: Owned by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal

Aprox. Value: Undisclosed

Details:  News Corporation today announced that it has reached an agreement to buy a 9.09 per cent stake in Rotana Group, the Middle East media group. Under the terms of the agreement, News Corporation will acquire newly-issued shares in Rotana for $70 million. The company has an option to increase its stake to 18.18 per cent in the 18 months following completion.

Link: Press Release

Additional Note: HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the principal shareholder of the Rotana Group, is the beneficial owner of approximately 7 percent of News Corporation’s Class B Common Stock as reported on a Schedule 13G, as amended, filed on February 4, 2010

Posted in ~Middle East & Africa, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Dow Jones may buy the 50% it doesn’t own of finance magazine SmartMoney

February 23, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

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 NEWS FLASH

According to the WSJ, Dow Jones is in talks to buy the 50% stake it doesn’t own of personal-finance magazine SmartMoney from partner Hearst Corporation. Currently Hearst is responsible for business operations such as circulation and marketing, and Dow Jones takes care of editorial operations.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquires majority stake in Rocksteady Studios

February 23, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

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: F231109-336

Acquirer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group
ACQ Web: http://www.warnerbros.com
Location: USA, Burbank, CA
Region: North America
Description 1: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group (WBHEG) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment’s home video, digital distribution, interactive entertainment, technical operations and anti-piracy businesses. WBHEG oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHEG distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com.
Description 2: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group an is a worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.
Category: Entertainment, Media
Contact 1: Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group
Contact 2: Martin Tremblay, president, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Contact 3: Josh Berger, president and managing director, Warner Bros. UK

Vendor: Rocksteady Studios Ltd
Vendor Web:
Other Web Links: Twitter
Location: UK, London
Region: Europe
Description: Founded in 2004 in London, England, Rocksteady Studios specialises in developing action-adventure video games, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2009. The title has enjoyed robust sales, shipping over three million units worldwide, and has garnered numerous industry awards.
Category: Games
Contact 1: Jamie Walker, studio director, co-owner
Contact 2: Sefton Hill, games director, co-owner

Aprox. Value: Undisclosed.

Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner’s home entertainment group in an interview in the FT said that they have acquired a 68.4% stake.

Details: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has acquired a majority stake in Rocksteady Studios, a privately held developer of interactive entertainment targeted at teens and adults. Their best known game is Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Link: Press Release

Warner Bros. acquisition history in the games space:

In 2007, Warner Bros. acquired TT Games, developer of the hit LEGO-based game franchises, including LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman. In early 2009, Warner Bros. acquired Snowblind Studios to develop its The Lord of the Rings games franchise, with the first title expected to be released in 2011. Most recently, Warner Bros. purchased the primary assets of Midway Games. Midway published the Mortal Kombat franchise, which has sold over 26 million units worldwide, and owned a robust IP catalog and broadly applicable game engine technology. As part of the transaction, Warner Bros. acquired two development studios to focus on the Mortal Kombat franchise as well as other key properties.

Posted in ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Visual and interactive platform for local search company EveryScrape raises £6M

February 23, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

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

FUND RAISING
Database Reference: F231109-353

Business: EveryScape
Web: http://www.everyscape.com
Location: USA, Waltham, MA
Region: North America
Business description: EveryScape lets businesses and organizations build relationships with consumers through three-dimensional, photo-realistic experiences of cities & towns, streets & sidewalks, and building exteriors & interiors.
Category: Search
Contact 1: Jim Schoonmaker – Chief Executive Officer, EveryScape
Contact 2: Mok Oh, Ph.D. – Founder and Chief Technology Officer, EveryScape
Contact 3: Richard Chin, president of SK Telecom Americas

Investors: Led by SK Telecom Americas, a division of South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom. Existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Dace Ventures also participated.

EveryScape is a venture backed, privately held company. Capital investors include:

Dace Ventures
Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson New England
Draper Atlantic
Launchpad Venture Group
SK Telecom Americas, a division of South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom

Round: C
Amount raised: $6,000,000

Details: EveryScape, Inc. has secured $6 million Series C financing in a strategic round led by SK Telecom Americas. The financing will be used for EveryScape’s Asian market strategy, as well as to build on the company’s U.S. growth.

Link: Press Release

Posted in ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Bloomberg acquires B2G Eagle Eye Publishers

February 22, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

This is the third acquisition by Bloomberg in the past few months. The other two were Business Week (reported in Oct 09) and New Energy Finance (reported in Dec 09).

Links:

Graphic.ly Acquires iFanboy to Bring Community to the Digital Comics Platform

February 19, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

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: F231109-331

Acquirer: Graphic.ly
ACQ Web: http://www.graphic.ly
Other Web Links: Twitter
Location: USA, Boulder, CO
Region: North America
Description: Digital content delivery system and community platform for the publishing world. Graphic.ly’s first product focuses on comic publishers, creators and enthusiasts, and provides an immersive social experience and marketplace around digital comics and associated merchandise. The company is looking to expand its community and content platform and become the de facto solution for print media.
Category: Consumer website
Contact 1: Kevin Mann Twitter
Contact 2: Micah Baldwin, CEO and co-founder Twitter

Vendor: iFanboy
Vendor Web: http://www.ifanboy.com
Business Sold:
Other Web Links: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Comic Space, Virb
Region: North America
Description: iFanboy is a community website for comic book and graphic novel enthusiasts. It began ten years ago as a site for fans to share information and knowledge on comic books.
Category: Consumer Website
Contact 1: Ron Richards, general manager, co-founder
Contact 2: Josh Flanagan, co-founder
Contact 3: Conor Kilpatrick, co-founder

Aprox. Value: Undisclosed

Details: Graphic.ly, the community and digital content delivery platform for comics and other forms of publishing, has acquired iFanboy, the communities, news and audio & video sites for the comics and graphic novel enthusiast. With the acquisition, iFanboy becomes a division of Graphic.ly, and will be integrated into the Graphic.ly Web site, as well as into the various platforms and applications Graphic.ly runs on, such as Windows 7, Adobe Air and the iPhone.

Link: Press Release

Posted in ~North America. Leave a Comment »

ReelzChannel acquires the online comedy and satire movie Site HollywoodPressTV

February 19, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Posted in ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Canon Communications acquires design engineering media properties from RBI-US

February 16, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Earlier story – Canon Communications may acquire several trade publications from RBI U.S. – 16th February 2010

Acquirer: Canon Communications
ACQ Web: http://www.cancom.com
Location: USA, Los Angeles, CA
Region: North America
Description:  Canon Communications is a portfolio company of Apprise Media LLC. the company produces trade events, publications, and electronic media for the $3 trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry, including medical device, packaging, design engineering, process technology, automated assembly, electronics, quality control, and plastics processing.
Category: B2B Media, Events
Contact 1: Charles G. McCurdy, Chairman and CEO
Contact 2: Ron Wall, Executive Vice President of Canon’s Publishing Division
Contact 3: Kevin O’Keefe, Executive Vice President of Canon’s Events Division

Vendor: Reed Business Information – US
Vendor Web: http://www.reedbusiness.com/us.html
Location: USA, New York, NY
Region: North America
Description: Business-to-business information provider, with more than 80 market-leading publications and Websites, as well as a range of services
Category: Media Owner
Contact: John Poulin, Chief Executive Officer

Aprox. Value: Undisclosed

Details:  Canon Communications has acquired four media brands serving the advanced design engineering sector in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Included in the purchase from Reed Business Information – US are the worldwide assets of Electronic Design News (EDN), Design News, Test & Measurement World, and Packaging Digest. This is the third RBI sale reported on Fusion DigiNet since December 2009.

Link: Cannon Communications Announcement

Advisors:  Reed Business Information-US and Reed Elsevier were represented by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., a New York City-based investment bank that specializes in the media and information industries.

Fusion DigiNet has reported on two RBI sales in the past few months: