Cello Group acquires Worldwide Promedica

December 9, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

cello-logoCello Group plc, the healthcare and consumer strategic marketing group, has acquired Worldwide Promedica Inc. 

Promedica is a San Francisco based market research firm serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Promedica had revenues of $1.9m in the year to December 2013.

Promedica will form part of Cello Health, and will work closely with Cello Health Insight in London, New York and Chicago to continue the development of the offer to the global clients of Cello Health.

The initial consideration is $700,000 payable in cash, with a maximum of $1.8m payable as deferred consideration dependent on financial performance in the period to 31 December 2017. Up to 50% of the deferred consideration is potentially payable in shares at the sole option of Cello. 

Stephen Highley, Chairman of Cello Health commented:

“We’re delighted to warmly welcome Promedica into Cello Health. This experienced and talented team will now open up capacity on the West Coast of America where we are seeing significant activity from both pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients”.

UK, London & USA, San Francisco

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WPP’s POSSIBLE acquires digital agency Swift in the US

December 3, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP’s wholly-owned company POSSIBLE, a creative digital agency, has acquired The Swift Collective, Inc. in the United States.

Swift is a digital agency that specializes in creative and strategy, branded content creation and social media.

Swift’s revenues for 2014 will be over US$13 million and its clients include HTC Corporation, Starbucks, Nestle USA and REI. Based in Portland, Oregon, Swift employs over 70 people.

UK, London & USA, Portland, OR

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M&C Saatchi take a minority stake in Shepardson Stern + Kaminsky

November 18, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

M&C Saatchi plc is to acquire a 33% stake in Shepardson Stern + Kaminsky LLC, a New York creative agency with clients including Wells Fargo, HBO and Starbucks. The Agency won five Cannes Lions in 2014 and created the most-watched video of the Obama presidential campaign.

The estimated consideration for the initial 33% stake in SS+K is $8.0 million, based upon a PBT multiple of 8 applied to 2014 and 2015 performance. The members of SS+K will be able to elect that M&C Saatchi purchase 50% of the remaining equity from 2016 and the remaining balance from 2018 for considerations based on future profits.

SS+K had unaudited gross assets of USD13.4m as at 30 September 2014 and an unaudited operating profit of USD1.8m for the twelve months ended 30 September 2014. There will be no change to key management at SS+K as a result of the transaction.

UK, London & USA, New York, NY

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Yahoo to acquire BrightRoll for $640M

November 13, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

YahooYahoo! Inc. is to acquire BrightRoll, a programmatic video advertising platform for approximately $640 million in cash. BrightRoll’s net revenues are expected to exceed $100 million this year. Yahoo expects the transaction to enhance its EBITDA. Acquiring BrightRoll will make Yahoo’s video advertising platform the largest in the US.

brightroll“Video, along with mobile, social, and native, is driving a surge in digital advertising. Here at Yahoo, video is one of the largest growth opportunities, and BrightRoll is a terrific, strategic and financially compelling fit for our video advertising business,” said Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO. “As with every acquisition, we have been extremely thoughtful about our approach to the video advertising space. This acquisition will accelerate the growth of both companies – we can help BrightRoll scale to even more advertisers globally and they can bring their tremendous platform offering to Yahoo’s advertisers. The combination builds positive momentum for Yahoo’s broader display advertising business in 2015.”

The acquisition is expected to complete in Q1 2015. BrightRoll will retain their team of approximately 400 employees.

USA, Sunnyvale, CA & San Francisco, CA

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Tarsus Group plc acquires South Beach Symposium

November 11, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

TarsusTarsus Group plc, the business-to-business media group, is to acquire 100% of the assets of the South Beach Symposium from SBS Medical Education LLC for $6.4 million. $5.5 million is payable on completion and deferred payments made to be made through to 2018 of US$0.9 million. For the year ended 31 December 2013, the SBS assets recorded unaudited profit before tax of approximately US$0.8 million.

SBS is an educational event for Dermatologists, Plastic Surgeons and other physicians. It takes place annually in Miami and the next edition will be held in February 2015. Founder Mark Nestor, M.D., Ph.D. will continue to lead SBS after its acquisition and is contracted through to the 2017 event.

The Acquisition also includes the purchase of SBS’s planned online education business “Dermatology Education Online” which will take both the existing medical education content of the event as well as new educational and promotional material and make it available to a wider audience online. Consideration for the online education business is payable in 2018 with reference to the profits of that business in 2017. The maximum consideration for the SBS online education business is set at US$20 million.

Earlier this year Tarsus acquired the Cardiometabolic Health Congress, a cardiovascular-focused event which takes place annually in Boston.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said: “The acquisition of SBS is another key step in the transitioning of the Group’s medical business and the implementation of the “Quickening the Pace” strategy. As we focus on taking preventative medicine into the mainstream medical market, the acquisition of SBS compliments the launch of MMI and the earlier acquisition of CMHC. These initiatives will accelerate our progress and provide a strong platform for growth”.

UK, London & USA, Miami, FL

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Next Fifteen Communications Group acquires Story Worldwide

November 4, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

next15Next Fifteen Communications Group plc has completed the acquisition of Story Worldwide, a content advertising agency with offices in New York and Seattle for $6.6m.

The Group has acquired Story’s trade together with assets valued at $1 million, which comprise cash, receivables, trade payables and fixed assets. Consideration is $6.6 million payable in cash and the acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing for the Group. Story has clients that include Unilever, RCI (a division of Wyndham Worldwide), SEI, Beech-Nut and Lexus.

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15 commented: “Next 15 is focused on adding to its content and insight capabilities as the marketing industry moves towards digital channels. Story increases our content capabilities, adding significant paid and owned products as well as services to our mix. We are very excited to have them as a part of the Group.”

UK, London & USA, New York, NY

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MediaMath acquires social advertising platform Upcast

October 16, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

MediaMath has acquired Upcast, a social advertising technology platform. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in the U.K. and with presence in Singapore, Berlin, Dublin, and Warsaw, Upcast is a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) and Twitter Marketing Platform Partner serving clients worldwide. Through seamless integration with these social networks, Upcast enables marketers to create, manage, and optimise large-scale social advertising campaigns, and provides full visibility into campaign performance to help marketers improve ROI. The acquisition expands upon MediaMath’s current social offerings via the Facebook Exchange (FBX) and Twitter Tailored Audiences solutions.

“Our mission is to empower marketers with the tools to unify marketing efforts across all digital channels, and we felt it was critical to expand on our existing social offering with the acquisition of a leading platform in the space,” said Ari Buchalter, MediaMath’s Chief Operating Officer. “We evaluated dozens of companies in search of a market leader integrated with multiple platforms, with robust and flexible technology, a proven best-in-class product, a truly global presence, and a strong team with a proven track record. Upcast was far and away the clear choice. We’re excited to integrate their technology into the TerminalOne platform.”
USA, New York & UK, London

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Tribune Publishing Co. acquires Wrapports Chicago suburban publications;

October 16, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

Tribune Publishing Company has acquired six daily and 32 weekly suburban news and information brands from Wrapports, LLC. The acquired publications – which include the Aurora Beacon-News, The Elgin Courier-News, the Lake County News-Sun, The Naperville Sun, the Post-Tribune in Northwest Indiana, The SouthtownStar and the 32 Pioneer Press weekly newspapers – will become part of the diversified portfolio of the Chicago Tribune Media Group (CTMG), which operates the Chicago Tribune, RedEye, Chicago magazine, Hoy and other Chicago-based media brands. The acquired papers have collective circulations of 72,000 daily, 87,000 Sunday and 52,000 weekly. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This acquisition represents an important step forward for Tribune Publishing Company and the Chicago Tribune Media Group,” said Jack Griffin, CEO of Tribune Publishing. “It supports our stated strategy of leveraging our existing infrastructure, resources and management teams to drive growth for our Company. Additionally, the new print and distribution agreement for the Chicago Sun-Times continues an important commercial relationship that supports our stated strategy of revenue diversification.”

bob fleckTo oversee the newly acquired publications, Tribune Publishing has appointed a senior Chicago-based executive with deep local roots and expertise. Bob Fleck, who most recently served as EVP of Advertising, spent 22 years at the Chicago Tribune in numerous managerial capacities. He assumes his role as Publisher & General Manager immediately and will report to CTMG CEO Tony Hunter.

The acquisition of the suburban Chicago papers is the fourth in a series completed by Tribune Publishing this year. Previous acquisitions include:

  • Carroll County (Md.) Times and Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md. from Landmark Communications, and which are now part of the Baltimore Sun Media Group;
  • City Paper in Baltimore from Times-Shamrock Communications. The paper is operated as an independent weekly under The Baltimore Sun Media Group; and
  • Reminder Media’s 15 weekly news publications in Connecticut, the largest collection in the state, which are now part of the Hartford Courant Media Group.

USA, Chicago

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Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide acquires Element Marketing Group in the US.

October 7, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP’s wholly-owned operating company Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide has acquired Element Marketing Group in the United States. Element provides clients in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries with solutions that link them and their sales representatives with physicians to provide improved communication, marketing and reimbursement solutions on and off line.

Element’s revenues for the year ended 31 December 2013 were US$8.3 million with gross assets of US$2.4 million as of 31 August 2014. Element’s clients include a number of leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies. It employs 30 people and is based in Newtown, CT, with an office in Irvine, CA. The company was founded in 2007. Element will be rebranded Ogilvy CommonHealth Market Access.

UK, London & USA, Newtown, CT

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UBM agrees to acquire Advanstar for $972M

October 3, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM
UPDATE November 6, 2014: A copy of the prospectus dated 6 November 2014 relating to the Rights Issue associated with UBM’s proposed Acquisition of VSS-AHC Consolidated Holdings Corp. (Advanstar Communications) is available here. It can also be read at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE October 3, 2014: UBM has agreed to buy Advanstar Communications for $972 million (£599 million) in cash.

Advanstar’s CEO, Joe Loggia, will continue to manage the Advanstar business within UBM and will report directly to UBM CEO Tim Cobbold for a transitional period.

UBM will launch a new financing package to pay for the deal comprising of a $914 million (£563 million) Rights Issue and a new US$100 million UBM bridge facility.

advanstar“This is a great acquisition for UBM and its shareholders.” Commented Tim Cobbold, Chief Executive Officer of UBM, “In addition to being financially attractive, it strengthens UBM’s core events business while balancing and complementing UBM’s strong events portfolio in emerging markets. UBM will become the largest events organiser in the US – the biggest events market in the world. Advanstar gives UBM a portfolio of high quality, large scale `must-attend’ events which serve growing markets, particularly the US fashion industry, a new vertical for UBM.”

The Wall Street Journalist is reporting that some analysts have speculated UBM will sell its news release business PR Newswire, which would turn UBM into a company almost fully focused on events.

Previous Fusion DigiNet reporting

UK, London & USA, Santa Monica, CA

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