Gamevil acquires Com2uS

gamevil_logoKorean mobile video games publisher Gamevil has acquired the shares and control from the majority shareholders of Com2uS. It is being reported that Gamevil paid around KRW 70 billion ($65 million).

com2usBoth companies are amongst the earliest gaming companies in the world. Com2uS is the older of the two, being founded in 1998. Gamevil was founded in 2000. Last year Gamevil reported full-year revenues of KRW 70.2 billion ($65.5 million). Com2uS reported KRW 76.9 billion ($71.8 million). Both companies operate out of South Korea.

South Korea, Seoul

 

DG MediaMind acquires Republic Project

dglogoDigital Generation, Inc., a multi-screen advertising company, is to acquire Republic Project, a cloud-based ad platform that enables agencies and brands to create, deliver and measure social and mobile rich media campaigns. DG will acquire substantially all of the assets of Republic Project for $1.4 million in cash and an additional earn out tied to revenue and EBITDA performance targets in 2014 and 2015. Republic Project’s 11 employees, including CEO AJ Vernet, will join DG’s Los Angeles office.

republic project“Every channel offers advertisers a unique set of opportunities to engage with audiences,” said Ricky Liversidge, DG CMO. “Continuing to integrate and innovate within areas such as social and mobile, while making sure advertisers can move quickly within a data driven landscape, is critical. The addition of Republic Project’s technology and knowledge helps accelerate this process.”

USA, New York & Los Angeles, CA

 

Artemis Energy acquires of LinkMyFan.com

linkmyfanArtemis Energy Holdings, the owner of press release distribution site TransWorldNews, business social networking platform LinkMyStock.com, and recent acquirer of WooEB.com,  has acquired LinkMyFan.com. LinkMyFan.com is a Social Networking Content Management Platform.  According to a Artemis Energy Holdings statement, LinkMyFan.com is a website that is already generating revenues while it is still being developed.The terms of the deal were not  disclosed.

Company Director, Todd Davis stated, “The value of integrating Link My Fan’s current features and technology, with Link My Stock and WooEB, clearly provides lower development costs while expanding revenue streams and improving the user’s experience.”

USA, Atlanta, GA

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Nielsen completes the acquisition of Arbitron

nielsenNielsen Holdings N.V., a provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, has completed its acquisition of Arbitron Inc., an international media and marketing research firm.

“This is a great day for Nielsen and a natural step in our evolution,” said Nielsen Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun. “Arbitron will allow us to analyze and understand an additional two hours of the U.S. consumer’s day while bringing us another opportunity to provide advertisers with metrics on the effectiveness of the mediums that they advertise on.”

Arbitron is being rebranded Nielsen Audio and will be integrated into Nielsen’s U.S. Watch business segment, which provides information and insights primarily to the media and advertising industries across television, online, mobile and radio. With Arbitron, Nielsen now measures eight hours a day per person of dynamic media consumption.

“Our combined capabilities offer opportunities to measure unmeasured areas that are important to the industries and clients we serve, like streaming audio, out-of-home measurements for television consumption and deeper measurement of multicultural audiences in the U.S.,” said Calhoun. “Globally, this is an opportunity to expand our measurement of consumer behavior and introduce audio measurement capabilities in new markets.”

As previously reported on Fusion DigiNet, Nielsen entered into an agreement on December 17, 2012 to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Arbitron for $48 per share or a total of $1.3 billion purchase price, funded by cash on hand and recent debt financing. Nielsen expects $0.26 of accretion to adjusted net income per share during the first full year of operations, and $0.32 of accretion to adjusted net income per share during the second year, reflecting an incremental $0.06 in year two.

USA, New York. NY

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Experian acquires The 41st Parameter, Inc

experianExperian, a global information services company, is to acquire The 41st Parameter, Inc, a  provider of fraud detection services, based in the US. The aggregate purchase price for all outstanding stock, stock options and warrants of 41st Parameter is US$324m, of which US$14m is subject to limited, two-year earn-out provisions, and will be funded from Experian’s existing cash resources.  The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

41stFor the year ending 31 December 2013, Experian expects 41st Parameter to deliver approximately US$26m of revenue, of which over 95% is booked and contracted. Revenues are licence-based and are recognised over the life of the contract, which is typically 2-3 years in duration. Client renewal rates exceed 95%.

Since incorporation, 41st Parameter has experienced strong growth, with compound annual growth in revenue over the past two years of over 40%. The contracted nature of the business model provides good forward visibility, and Experian expects to sustain growth in line with historic rates over the next twelve months. The acquisition is expected to be broadly EPS neutral in the year ending 31 March 2014.

Incorporated in 2004, 41st Parameter products use device identification to prevent fraud. Clients use 41st Parameter’s products to enable consumers to complete transactions on the web quickly and securely, reducing fraud losses while simultaneously authenticating consumers with minimal intrusion. Clients also use 41st Parameter products to enhance internal operational efficiency by reducing the number of false detections of potential fraud.  Its clients include financial institutions, travel web sites, eCommerce merchants and customers in the digital media segment.

Ireland, Dublin & USA, San Jose, CA

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ACTIVE Network to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

activenetworkEvent management software maker ACTIVE Network is being acquired by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.

Vista will commence a tender offer to acquire all of Active Network’s common stock for $14.50 a share. That represents a 27.2% premium to Active Network’s Friday closing, the most recent trading day. Active’s board endorsed the offer, recommending that all stockholders tender their shares. This values the deal at $904 million. Any shares not tendered will be acquired in a second-step merger at the same cash price as the original offer.

vistaep“ACTIVE Network’s leadership position in cloud-based Activity and Participant Management™ (APM) solutions make it a highly attractive investment for us,” said Robert F. Smith, CEO and founder of Vista Equity Partners.  “We are looking forward to working with the ACTIVE team and continuing to drive the next phase of ACTIVE’s growth.”

  • Citi is serving as financial advisor to ACTIVE. 
  • BofA Merrill Lynch is serving as financial advisor to Vista.  
  • DLA Piper LLP (US) is acting as ACTIVE’s legal advisor. 
  • Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as Vista’s legal advisor. 
  • BofA Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, and BMO Capital Markets Corp. have agreed to provide debt financing in connection with the transaction.

ACTIVE Network plans to release its third quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday, October 30, 2013.

USA, San Francisco, CA & San Diego, CA 

UBM plc sells Property Week to Metropolis and UBM Channel to The Channel Company

UBM

UBM has agreed to sell its Property Week print magazine and related products to Metropolis International. Property Week’s 35 staff will transfer to Metropolis International following completion. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

metropolisUBM has also sold its North American IT channel business to a management-led investment group. The new company, called The Channel Company, will own and operate all of the businesses and products formerly owned by UBM Tech (Channel) in North America. The Comdex brand and UBM India’s CRN business are excluded from this transaction. UBM has retained a 30% minority equity interest in the business.

These disposals constitute the bulk of the operations treated as discontinued in UBM’s H1 2013 results and classified as held for sale at 30 June 2013. The combined cash proceeds from these disposals are approximately £8.5m, subject to working capital adjustments on completion.

UK, London & USA, San Francisco, CA

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Artemis Energy Holdings acquires WooEB.com

Artemis Energy Holdings has acquired WooEB.com. WooEB.com is an online social networking platform that provides members with one place to post their content. In addition to posting content, WooEB.com also offers press release distribution and SEO services. With an active member base that utilizes the websites free and paid for services. The member can post content inside their individual hub and then share the content to other social networking sites to increase awareness. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Todd Davis stated, “With the closing of WooEB.com, Artemis Energy Holdings has an additional revenue stream that will help grow our business and increase shareholder value. With WooEB.com, TransWorldNews.com and LinkMyStock.com being a core platform of Artemis Energy Holdings, we are focusing our efforts on building our sales team along with improving opportunities for members to purchase ads, press releases and SEO content packages online.”

USA, Atlanta, GA

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WPP’s Kantar acquires Enprecis

wppWPP’s wholly-owned operating company Kantar, the data investment management group, has made a follow-on investment in Enprecis Inc., a company which uses a proprietary online platform to collect and analyse data about consumer experience for the automotive industry.

Founded in 2006 and based in Seattle, Enprecis has developed, ‘Continuous Quality Insight’ (CQI), a proprietary online platform to collect and analyse customer experience data for the automotive industry. The platform connects automobile manufacturers to the views of their customers with unprecedented speed and detail, informing improvements to vehicle quality and design, and identifying opportunities to strengthen loyalty. The company’s gross assets in 2012 were US$1.6 million. Enprecis clients are most of the world’s major automotive manufacturers.

Enprecis will be aligned with the automotive practice in TNS, the global market research company that is part of Kantar. It follows the acquisition of  Chinese company, Sinotrust Market Research earlier this year.

UK, London & USA, Seattle, WA

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Match.com increases its stake in Meetic SA from 80.8% to 87.5% and announces planned public offer for all outstanding shares

Match logoOnline dating business Match, an operating segment of IAC, has increased its ownership stake in French online dating company Meetic S.A. to 87.5% by acquiring all remaining shares held by Marc Simoncini, Meetic’s founder, which represent 6.7% of the capital.

meeticThe acquisition was completed today through an off-market transaction with Jaina Capital and Jaina Ventures, two investment vehicles controlled by Mr. Simoncini at a price per share of €18.75.  The aggregate purchase price was approximately €29.5 million.  Following the acquisition, Match now owns 87.5% of the capital and 88.6% of the voting rights of Meetic.  Mr. Simoncini, who no longer owns, directly or indirectly, any Meetic shares, has resigned from Meetic’s board of directors.

Match intends to launch a voluntary simplified public tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Meetic S.A. at a price of €18.75 per share in cash in the near term. The offer price represents a premium of approximately 51% on the closing price of Meetic shares on September 24, 2013.  It is Match’s intention to implement a squeeze-out if it holds at least 95% of the capital and voting rights upon completion of the offer. If a squeeze-out cannot be implemented, Match intends to apply with Euronext Paris for a delisting of the Meetic shares.

The public offer will be filed with the French Securities Regulator (Autorite des marches financiers) in due course.

“As the founder of Meetic, Marc has made invaluable contributions to the company,” said Greg Blatt, CEO of IAC.  “We appreciate what a great partner he has been since we first joined with Meetic in 2009, and are looking forward to our next stage of stewardship of the company.”

Meetic is in 15 European countries, and  available in 11 languages. In 2012, Meetic posted sales of €164,8m and an EBITDA margin of 22.3%.  Meetic is listed in Compartment B of Euronext Paris of the NYSE Euronext (MEET.PA).

USA, New York, NY & France, Paris

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