Entertainment One acquires Paperny Entertainment 

July 18, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

eoneEntertainment One Ltd has agreed to acquire the Paperny Entertainment group of companies, an independent television producer operating across Canada and the United States, from the Paperny Sellers.

Paperny comprises:  Paperny Entertainment Inc. and Altamont Holdings Ltd.

The Paperny Sellers comprise:  David Paperny, Audrey Mehler, Cal Shumiatcher, Completion Investments Inc., Playtime Investments Ltd., 0865631 B.C. Ltd. and CS Family Trust.

Based in Vancouver, with operations in Toronto and New York, Paperny specialises in the development and production of non-scripted television programming, including a range of character-driven documentaries, reality shows and comedies.   Its roster of recent and returning programming includes: Chow Masters (Travel Channel (US)), Cold Water Cowboys (Discovery Channel (Canada)), Chopped Canada (Food Network (Canada)), and Yukon Gold (History Channel (Canada)).

papernyPaperny is being acquired for a total consideration of approximately C$29.2 million, satisfied by the issue of 2,571,803 common shares in Entertainment One Ltd. (the “Consideration Shares”) and approximately C$14.5 million in cash.

In the year to 31 December 2013, Paperny generated unaudited revenue of C$17.6 million and unaudited net income before income taxes of C$5.1 million.  As at 31 December 2013, Paperny had unaudited gross assets of C$20.3 million.

Paperny is led by David Paperny (Founder and President), Audrey Mehler (Founder and Executive Vice President), and Cal Shumiatcher (Executive Vice President).  Following completion, these three will remain with the business on new long term employment contracts.

It is expected that completion will take place on or around 31 July 2014.  In completing the acquisition of Paperny, in respect of the Consideration Shares, application will be made to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for 2,571,803 common shares in Entertainment One Ltd. to be admitted to the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange.  The shares shall rank pari passu with the existing common shares of the Company.

Darren Throop, Chief Executive Officer, commented: 

“We are delighted that the Paperny team is joining eOne.  Under the leadership of David, Audrey and Cal, Paperny has grown significantly and has developed an excellent reputation for producing high quality, non-scripted television content.  As part of our enlarged TV business, we look forward to continuing that development and realising further international distribution opportunities across the eOne Group.”

UK, London & Canada, Vancouver

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Euromoney acquires Investing in African Mining Indaba for £45.3M

July 16, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

investing in miningEuromoney has acquired the Mining Investment Events Division of US-based Summit Professional Networks for £45.3 million, funded from Euromoney’s existing committed borrowing facilities.

The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing for the financial year to September 30, 2015, the first year the event will be run under Euromoney’s ownership.   However, due to the timing of the conference, the acquisition is expected to reduce Euromoney’s adjusted operating profits for the year to September 30, 2014 by approximately £1 million. The business achieved an adjusted EBITDA (before allocation of Summit central costs) of £6.2 million for the year to June 30, 2014, and the gross assets were £1.7 million at June 30, 2014, according to the division’s pro-forma management accounts. The transaction gives the group access to an extended international customer base of upstream and downstream commodity providers, traders, asset managers, alternative investors and African government ministries.

Euromoney logoThe principal asset being acquired is the leading investment forum and trade event for African mining, the Investing in African Mining Indaba. Set up 20 years ago, Mining Indaba is an annual professional conference dedicated to the investment in, and development of, mining interests in Africa. It is the world’s largest mining investment forum and Africa’s largest mining event.  It takes place every February in Cape Town, South Africa, and attracts over 7000 of the most internationally-diversified and influential professionals in African mining. Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, Jonathan Moore, will join Euromoney and run the business from Euromoney’s New York office.

Euromoney already has a strong presence in the commodities markets and with investors, in particular through its Metal Bulletin and Institutional Investor brands. The acquisition provides Euromoney with an excellent opportunity to expand its position in these markets. The overlap with Euromoney’s existing portfolio of online publishing activities and investment conferences will allow Euromoney to develop and grow Mining Indaba as well as position it to capitalise on an upturn in the $1.2 trillion global metals and mining sector.

UK, London & USA, New York & South Africa, Cape Town

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Scribble Technologies acquires CoveritLive from Demand Media

July 15, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

scribble-coveritScribble Technologies, a content engagement platform, has acquired CoveritLive from Demand Media. Used by brands like Marvel, Ford, NFL, NHL, BBC, and Fox, CoveritLive provides deep functionality around the design and production of interactive content. Demand Media acquired CoveritLive early in 2011.

“2014 has been a great year for Scribble and our company’s growth. We’ve expanded our international presence, released a new enterprise product, and powered more than 4 billion engagement minutes in the past 30 days alone,” said Vincent Mifsud, CEO at ScribbleLive. “CoveritLive will help us accelerate our growth rate even further and exponentially increase our influence in the market.”

In the immediate future ScribbleLive and CoveritLive will operate as separately branded solutions. Over time Scribble will integrate the two products.

ScribbleLive is the leading end-to-end content engagement platform that enables brands, sports organizations and media companies to drive engagement on their digital assets resulting in improved retention and acquisition of customers, fans and audiences. ScribbleLive has an international network of customers including world-class brands such as Samsung, Shell, PwC, CNN, The Football League, Mashable, Reuters, Fast Company, CNET and hundreds of others. The company was founded in 2008 and has offices in Toronto, New York, Nashville, London, Dubai, Melbourne, and Sao Paulo. ScribbleLive is a Twitter Certified Product. For more information, visit .

Canada, Toronto & USA, Santa Monica, CA

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LinkedIn acquires Newsle

July 14, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

linkedin-iconLinkedIn has acquired Newsle, a service that sends you notifications when people you know or care about are in the news. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The announcement follows:

We know LinkedIn is a place you visit to stay up-to-speed on your network, showcase and strengthen your professional identity and read content to glean professional insights that help you make more informed business decisions.

Over the past year or so, we’ve introduced several new ways for you to further access this exchange of information to be better informed, educated and inspired by the business knowledge that exists on LinkedIn. For example, we’ve given you the ability to publish long form posts and add photos, videos and presentations to your profile; integrated LinkedIn and Pulse; and launched the Influencer program. But there’s more work to be done. That’s why I’m so excited to welcome Jonah Varon, Axel Hansen and the rest of Newsle to the LinkedIn family.

LinkedIn and Newsle share a common goal: We both want to provide professional insights that make you better at what you do. For example, knowing more about the people in your network – like when they’re mentioned in the news – can surface relevant insights that help you hit your next meeting with them out of the park.

For the last three years, Newsle has leveraged its disambiguation, natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to build an extremely compelling product that finds blogs and articles that mention you or anyone you care about – colleagues, bosses, industry thought leaders, etc. – and notifies you seconds after they’ve published. We’re excited to work with Newsle’s team to combine this technology with our core assets and build experiences that continue to make you and millions of other professionals more productive and successful.

In the meantime, Newsle users will continue experiencing this great product as always. Newsle has done an amazing job creating a service that professionals rely on daily for insights, and we look forward to making the experience even better together. Please join me in welcoming Newsle to LinkedIn, and click here for Newsle’s take.

USA, Mountain View & San Francisco, CA

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Progressive Digital Media Group acquires CurrentAnalysis

July 8, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

progressiveProgressive Digital Media Group Plc has acquired CurrentAnalysis Inc., for a gross consideration of US $19.6 million in cash payable on completion. Completion, which is subject to the approval of CurrentAnalysis shareholders, is expected to occur within 30 days and will be funded from the Group’s existing cash resources.

currentanalysis-s2CurrentAnalysis provides subscription based business intelligence services to the ICT industry. The company has offices in Washington D.C, London and Singapore. For the financial year ended 31 December 2013, CurrentAnalysis reported revenues of approximately $13 million, with net liabilities of approximately $2.3 million.

It is expected that the acquisition will be earnings accretive within the first twelve months post acquisition, though the impact on the Group results to 31 December 2014 are expected to be broadly neutral.

Commenting on the acquisition Simon Pyper, Chief Executive of Progressive Digital Media, said: “The acquisition of CurrentAnalysis satisfies all of our acquisition criteria, providing subscription based business information services to blue chip companies operating in a global sector. Additionally, CurrentAnalysis augments our existing platform and significantly increases our footprint in the key North American market.”

UK, London & USA, Washington, DC

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Beta Music Group acquires Digital Media Company, Viewpon

July 7, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

viewponDigital media holding company Beta Music Group has completed the acquisition of Viewpon Holdings. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Viewpon is a lifestyle entertainment, digital media and listing services website that features small businesses across San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

Jim Ennis, Chief Executive Officer of Beta Music Group, said, “Launched over four years ago, the Viewpon digital media platform and television show has created instant success for small and medium-sized local businesses along the west coast. We have worked closely over the past several months with Viewpon’s executive management and are excited to be working together regarding this expansion. Viewpon, with their extensive experience in television production and serving the small business sector, is a key strategic partner for our Company,”

USA, Miami, FL

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6 new WPP acquisitions

July 7, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wpp1. Kantar acquires majority stake in data visualisation and interactive specialist Guardian Digital Agency, in the UK

WPP’s wholly-owned data investment management arm, Kantar, has acquired the Guardian Digital Agency (“GDA”), a specialist data visualisation, site design and interactive development agency, previously part of Guardian News and Media Group. The company, which employs 13 people, will be rebranded under the new name Graphic. Many of Kantar’s 12 companies have already worked with GDA.

UK, London

 2. Grey to acquire a majority stake in Circus, Peru’s largest independent advertising agency

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Grey, is to acquire a majority stake in Circus Peru S.A., the largest independent adverting agency in Peru.

Founded in 2008, Circus is a full-service integrated marketing company. Its subsidiaries include Circus Interactive, Circus Retail, Circus Experience, Brand Lab, a design company, and Carne, a second advertising agency. Circus will be integrated into the existing Grey Peru and be renamed Circus Grey.

Circus’ unaudited revenues were PEN 34 million as of December 31, 2013 with net assets of PEN 9.0 million as of the same date. Clients include Grupo Credito, Grupo Falabella, Claro and San Fernando. Based in Lima, the agency employs nearly 200 people.

Other WPP companies active in Peru (including affiliates) are Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather, J. Walter Thompson, GroupM, Burson-Marsteller, IBOPE, Kantar Worldpanel, TNS and Geometry Global.

UK, London & Peru, Lima

3. Millward Brown acquires global brand strategy company EffectiveBrands

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Millward Brown, has acquired EffectiveBrands Holding B.V., a marketing strategy consulting firms.

Founded in 2001 by Marc de Swaan Arons and Frank van den Driest, the company’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 March 2014 were approximately EUR 14.1 million with gross assets at the same date of approximately EUR 6.5 million. Clients include Pernod Ricard, Virgin, Barclays, Unilever and PepsiCo. EffectiveBrands is headquartered in Amsterdam with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo and employs about 65 people.

Millward Brown will combine EffectiveBrands with Millward Brown Optimor, its strategy consulting unit, to form Millward Brown Vermeer. Millward Brown

UK, London & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

4. WT acquires majority stake in creative agency The Hardy Boys in South Africa

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company JWT, has acquired a majority stake in The Hardy Boys, a leading creative agency in South Africa.

Founded in 1994 in Durban, The Hardy Boys is a multi-disciplinary, brand building agency, with fully integrated activation capabilities. Clients include Unilever, Diageo, SA Home Loans, ADvTECH and RCL Foods amongst others.

The Hardy Boys’ revenues for the year ended 28 February 2014 were approximately ZAR 55 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately ZAR 32.2 million.

UK, London & South Africa, Durban

5. Kantar Media acquires media intelligence business Precise

WPP’s wholly-owned media research and analytics business Kantar Media, has acquired a majority stake in the issued share capital of Precise Media Group Holdings Limited, a provider of monitoring and evaluation services.

Founded in 1996 and based in London, with offices in New York, Precise employs 430 people servicing 2,500 customers including multinational corporations, PR agencies, public sector bodies and SME clients. For the year ending 30 September 2013, Precise’s revenues were £28.9 million, with gross assets as at the same date of £34.4 million.

UK, London & USA, New York, NY

6. XM Asia to acquire majority stake in Sofresh in Vietnam

WPP’s wholly owned operating company, XM Asia, a JWT company, is to acquire a majority stake in Sofresh, a leading digital creative agency in Vietnam.

Sofresh, co-founded in 2007 by Ly Viet Vu and Justin Cohen, develops digital strategy, digital creative ideas and marketing campaigns across multiple digital channels, including social media, mobile and the web. The company also designs and builds e-commerce platforms, customer relationship management systems and in-store digital installations.

Sofresh works with a range of local and global clients, including Diageo, GSK, Kinh Do, Techcombank and Unilever.

Sofresh had revenues of VND 35.7 billion for the year ending December 31, 2013, with gross assets of VND 30.1 billion, as at the same date. The company employs 85 people.

Sofresh marks WPP’s third acquisition in Vietnam in seven months. In Vietnam, WPP companies (including associates) generate revenues of about $80 million and employ approximately 1,000 people.

UK, London & Vietnam

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Landis+Gyr to acquire utility analytics company GRIDiant Corporation

June 17, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

landisand gyrLandis+Gyr is acquiring GRIDiant Corporation, a utility analytics company focused on the electric distribution grid.  Advanced grid analytics enable utilities to extract business value from large data sets, as smart meters and other grid devices to provide in-depth information about their distribution networks. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

gridiant_logo1“We understand that utilities around the world want to continually improve their business operations,” said Andreas Umbach, Landis+Gyr’s President and CEO. “We believe the insights gained from analytic tools are essential ingredients in leveraging the value from smart grid infrastructure investments, and that these insights can promote operational efficiency throughout the distribution grid.”

USA, Atlanta, GA & Los Altos, CA

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Elsevier acquires Amirsys, provider of healthcare information solutions

June 12, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

elsevierElsevier has acquired Amirsys. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Focused on visually oriented medical disciplines like radiology, pathology and anatomy, Amirsys provides healthcare providers with expert information and clinical decision support tools.

amirsys“This acquisition bolsters Elsevier’s comprehensive set of point-of-decision solutions, providing our customers around the world with a greater ability to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes,” said Jay Katzen, President, Elsevier Clinical Solutions. “In addition, because radiology, pathology, anatomy and their associated content and data-rich images are foundational elements of other disciplines, we believe Amirsys will improve our ability to better inform diagnostic and treatment decisions across a broad scope of other specialties.”

Amirsys also created sophisticated technology tools to develop and maintain current imaging content, and Elsevier expects to be able to adapt those tools to serve other visually rich specialties. Amirsys products include STATdx, RADPrimer, ImmunoQuery, AnatomyOne and Amirsys Imaging, Pathology, and Anatomy Reference Centers.

Amirsys will be integrated with the Elsevier Clinical Solutions suite, which includes clinical workflow and decision support, clinical reference and patient engagement, including ClinicalKey, CPM CarePoints, ExitCare, and InOrder by Elsevier.

USA, Philadelphia, PA &  Salt Lake City, UT.

 

 

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Wasserstein & Co. to by back ALM Media from Apax at a discount

June 5, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

ALM2Private equity and investment firm Wasserstein & Co has announced that it is buying back ALM Media, the publisher of American Lawyer and other titles, from its current owners, Apax Partners and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Ontario Pension Board, Pantheon, the Honeywell pension, and HighVista Strategies LLC are co-investing in the transaction alongside Wasserstein.

incisive_logo_newAccording to the New York Times, terms aren’t expected to be disclosed, but a person briefed on the matter said the price was about $417 million. In the summer of 2007, Wasserstein & Company sold ALM Media to Apax’s Incisive Media, the London-based trade magazine publisher, at the top of the market for $630 million.

Headquartered in New York City, ALM is an integrated media company and a provider of specialised business news, research and information, focused primarily on the legal and commercial real estate sectors. The company was created by the late Bruce Wasserstein. Later Wasserstein & Company was created as the investment vehicle of Bruce Wasserstein. ALM has nearly 700 employees across 16 offices worldwide. ALM’s portfolio of over 350 print and digital publications include The New York Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, Law.com, and The National Law Journal.

Michael Struble, Managing Director of Wasserstein & Co., added, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to own ALM again and look forward to working with ALM’s experienced management team to strengthen and unify its media brands and expand into value-added digital subscription products and services.”

Financing for the transaction will be provided by Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. Jones Day served as legal advisor to Wasserstein & Co. Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisor to the Company, the Apax Funds, and RBS. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to the Company and the Apax Funds. DLA Piper LLP (US) served as legal advisor to RBS.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014.

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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