Expedia Completes Acquisition Of Majority Interest In trivago

expediaExpedia has completed its acquisition of 61.6% of the fully-diluted equity of trivago, a German hotel metasearch company, paying approximately €434 million in cash (approximately US$564 million based on March 8, 2013 exchange rates) and agreeing to issue a total of 875,200 shares of Expedia, Inc. common stock over five years. trivago will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Previous DigiNet reporting

“Metasearch is an incredibly popular product because it enables consumers to find their ideal hotel at the lowest possible rate. The trivago team built one of the best hotel search user experiences and gained tremendous brand recognition in Europe. We are thrilled to officially welcome them to the Expedia, Inc. family,” said Dara Khosrowshahi , Expedia, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Our focus remains on rapidly growing revenue as we expand globally,” said Rolf Schromgens, trivago co-founder and Managing Director. “The ability to leverage Expedia’s knowledge of and experience with global scale operations will be invaluable to profitably achieve this goal,” added Schromgens.

USA, Bellevue, WA & Germany, Dusseldorf

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Middle Eastern daily deal site Cobone.com acquired by Tiger Global Management

Cobone LogoCobone.com, a daily deal company in the Middle East, has been acquired by investment firm Tiger Global Management. Irish entrepreneur Paul Kenny , founder and current CEO of Cobone.com, along other members of Cobone’s management team including Warrick Godfrey , Pieter Sleeboom, Tahira Khan and Loai Ayoub will remain with Cobone. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dubai based Cobone was founded in August 2010 by Kenny with backing from the Jabbar Internet Group. Cobone.com is the largest deal site in the Middle East region, and has grown its registered user base to more than 2 million customers.

“This deal represents a very exciting future for Cobone as it reaffirms its commitment to the Middle Eastern market and e-commerce industry,” said Paul Kenny . “Tiger Global gives us the international clout and the financial resources to expand regionally and surpass already high customer expectations. Loyal Cobone users can look forward to many exciting developments and innovative offerings in the very near future.”

USA, New York & UAE, Dubai

Health Media Network acquires WAMG TV

hmnHealth Media Network, the digital point-of-care media company has acquired WAMG TV’s (Waiting Area Media Group) digital screens. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Launched in 2007, Health Media Network, provides education and health content in physician waiting rooms through 23 specialty health television networks. The content is customised by medical specialty providing physicians with programming tailored to their practice and relevant to their patient-base. HMN currently reaches around 30,000 physicians in medical offices, hospitals and healthcare systems in the USA.

“This investment represents an important opportunity for HMN by increasing our presence in Diabetes, Cardiology and Primary Care where WAMG had focused their growth ” says Christopher Culver, President and CEO of HMN. “We look forward to offering existing and new advertisers an increased opportunity to reach more consumers at a critical time — at the point-of-care.”

USA, Stamford, CN

WPP acquires john st. a creative agency in Canada

wppWPP has acquired john st., one of Canada’s top creative agencies.

Founded in 2001 and based in Toronto, john st. employs approximately 100 people and has unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012 of approximately $14.0 million, with gross assets at the same date of $5.5 million. Clients include AstraZeneca, Kruger, ING Direct, Maple Leaf Foods and Tata.

Over the last 12 years, john st. has built an international reputation as one of Canada’s leading innovative johnstcreative agencies. It was recently named Silver Agency of the Year as well as Silver Digital Agency of the Year by Strategy, a leading Canadian marketing publication.

The acquisition of john st. strengthens WPP’s presence in Canada. “We see enormous value in being part of WPP,” says Arthur Fleischmann President of john st. “We’ll now be able to augment our current services in areas that clients are asking for, such as media, direct and public relations.”

UK, London & Canada, Toronto

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Pearson VUE acquires Exam Design

Pearson2Pearson VUE, the assessment services business of Pearson, has acquired Exam Design Inc, a provider of examination development software used in high-stakes testing. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The purchase includes ownership of Exam Design’s flagship product, ExamDeveloper, a web-based suite of tools that helps users examdesigndevelop rigorous and defensible assessments for credentialing purposes while reducing the reliance on in-person meetings.

Pearson VUE has been working with Exam Design for over a year and currently publishes exams created through ExamDeveloper for a variety of clients. Headquartered in North Carolina, the Exam Design business and its employees will remain in their current locations, further supporting a seamless acquisition.

Robert Whelan, CEO and President of Pearson VUE, said: “Exam Design brings to Pearson VUE leading-edge test development technology that’s built on principles of psychometric integrity. Its expertise and services complement our own and fit perfectly with our future plans. This acquisition underscores our commitment to providing next-generation test development tools and services that support and protect the value of our clients’ credentials.

USA, Bloomington, MN & Durham, NC

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Oil Price Information Service acquires mobile app and website GasBuddy

opisPetroleum pricing and news information business Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) has acquired mobile app and website GasBuddy. OPIS is a wholly owned subsidiary of UCG. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

OPIS and GasBuddy are long-term data partners, together producing the a real-time database of retail fuel prices at over 130,000 gasstations and convenience stores in the US and Canada. gasbuddy_logo

“Through our combined resources, consumers will have the very best retail fuel prices, tools and information to save money at the pump,” said OPIS CEO Brian Crotty. “I look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder with Dustin Coupal and Jason Toews, co-founders of GasBuddy, and their talented staff,” he added.

OPIS say they will accelerate investment in GasBuddy’s “OpenStore” software, which enables convenience stores to reach their customers with highly targeted value offerings.

USA, Gaithersburg, MD & Brooklyn Park, MN

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SIIA acquires the Specialist Media Show

SIIAThe Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) the trade association for the software and digital content industries, based in Washington DC, has bought the Specialist Media Show, a UK-based organiser of live and online events and resources for consumer and B2B publishers.

The Specialist Media Show has showcased digital media innovation at events for niche publishers since 2010. The next event, the specialistmediashowSpecialist Media Conference, will take place 24 April 2013 at the British Library. SIIA’s acquisition will take effect after the event.

“Digital media innovation is at the heart of publishing and content strategy, and it’s happening on a global scale,” said SIIA President Ken Wasch. “Companies from New York to London are seeing many of the same opportunities and challenges with their digital strategies. The Specialist Media Show will help us strengthen the collective power of our communities to serve the information industry.”

USA, Washington DC & UK, Lincolnshire

Merger update: US Department of Justice clears Penguin Random House combination

Previous reporting

random-house-penguinPearson and Bertelsmann have been notified by the US Department of Justice that it has closed its investigation into the proposed merger of Penguin and Random House, without conditions.

The two companies announced their agreement to combine Penguin and Random House in October 2012. The proposed merger is currently under review by the European Commission, the Canadian Competition Bureau and various other antitrust authorities around the world. Pearson and Bertelsmann continue to expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2013, after all necessary approvals have been received.

Following completion, Bertelsmann will own 53% and Pearson 47% of Penguin Random House. It will encompass all of Random House and Penguin Group’s publishing units in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, as well as Penguin’s operations in China and Random House’s publishers in Spain and Latin America.

UK, London & Germany, Gütersloh & USA, New York, NY

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Wargaming to acquire Gas Powered Games

wargaming

Wargaming, the free-to-play MMO developer and publisher, is to acquire Seattle-based developer Gas Powered Games, the maker of memorable and critically acclaimed franchises such as Dungeon Siege, Supreme Commander and Demigod.

gaspowered

“Gas Powered Games’ heritage and development pedigree shows us just how valuable an addition Chris (Chris Taylor , CEO) and his company will make to the Wargaming family,” said Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming. “Gas Powered Games has a long track record of providing incredibly engaging AAA gaming experiences and we can’t wait to start working with them.”

USA, Emeryville, CA & Seattle, WA

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lynda.com acquires Austrian online learning company video2brain

lyndalynda.com, an online learning company, has acquired video2brain, GmbH, a European-based online video training company that specialises in German-, French-, Spanish- and English-language courses.

“This acquisition is an investment in our future as we see a huge growth opportunity in new and emerging markets that demand multi-lingual educational content,” said Eric Robison, lynda.com president and CEO.

USA, Carpinteria, CA & Austria, Graz