MyHeritage.com has acquired BackupMyTree

September 20, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

MyHeritage.com has acquired BackupMyTree, a free and automatic backup service for family tree data. This is the sixth acquisition by MyHeritage.com. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The BackupMyTree backup service, which was only launched one year ago,  protects more than 9 TB of family tree data. MyHeritage.com will continue to maintain the service and keep it free.

“As the leading international destination for families to explore their history, share memories and keep in touch, we understand the enormous value users place on protecting their family tree data,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage.com. “We believe that BackupMyTree’s cutting edge client-to-cloud technology has massive potential and share its mission of preserving family history, making this a natural and synergistic move for us. We look forward to continuing to provide an excellent free backup service and exploring ways for BackupMyTree to benefit existing MyHeritage.com users and vice versa.”

BackupMyTree is the second company that MyHeritage.com has purchased from serial entrepreneur Cliff Shaw, having acquired Pearl Street Software, makers of GenCircles.com and Family Tree Legends, in 2007. MyHeritage.com continues to run both GenCircles.com and Family Tree Legends, and has made the Family Tree Legends software and record collection free.

USA, Boulder, CO & UK, London & Israel, Tel Aviv

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Google acquires German daily-deals company DailyDeal

September 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Google has acquired German daily-deals company DailyDeal. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“As more and more people go online to find the latest, most relevant deals, we’re exploring new ways to help consumers get the best local deals out there” said a Google spokes person. “The DailyDeal team has an incredible track record in this space, and we look forward to working with them.”

DailyDeal was only started in 2009. Based in Berlin, DailyDeal provides its service to people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In an announcement on their website, the founders of DailyDeal said, “we’re excited to announce that we’ve been acquired by Google! What began as a two-person startup less than two years ago has transformed into a trusted platform to connect businesses with consumers. By combining our expertise with the Offers team at Google, we hope to expand our efforts to provide even greater deals to consumers.”

USA, Mountain View, CA & Germany, Berlin

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Yahoo! for sale?

September 19, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The New York Times DealBook is reporting that Yahoo! is preparing to sell and has attracted the attention of several buyout shops and strategic investors.

Private equity firm Silverlake, Microsoft and Alibaba Group are all mentioned as potential bidders. Yahoo’s board discussed Silver Lake’s approach during its meeting on Wednesday and hired Allen & Company as its investment bank for a continuing review of Yahoo’s business.

Yahoo! latest quarterly results report is for the period ending June 30, 2011. As follows:

Revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs (“revenue ex-TAC”) was $1,076 million for the second quarter of 2011, a 5 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2010, primarily due to the revenue share related to the Search Agreement with Microsoft. Excluding this item and other special items, revenue ex-TAC for the second quarter of 2011 increased 1 percent year over year. Special items include the impact of the divestiture of HotJobs, broadband deferred revenue amortization, and certain fee rate reductions.

GAAP revenue was $1,229 million for the second quarter of 2011, a 23 percent decrease from the second quarter of 2010, primarily due to the required change in revenue presentation related to the Search Agreement and the associated revenue share with Microsoft. Excluding the impact of these two items and the impact of the divestiture of HotJobs, broadband deferred revenue amortization, and certain fee rate reductions, revenue for the second quarter of 2011 decreased 9 percent compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Income from operations increased 9 percent to $191 million in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $175 million in the second quarter of 2010.

Net earnings per diluted share increased 18 percent to $0.18 in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $0.15 in the second quarter of 2010.

Second Quarter 2011 Revenue Results

  • Display revenue ex-TAC increased 5 percent to $467 million, compared to $445 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • GAAP display revenue increased 2 percent to $524 million, compared to $514 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • Search revenue ex-TAC was $371 million, a 15 percent decrease compared to $438 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • GAAP search revenue was $467 million, a 45 percent decrease compared to $842 million for the second quarter of 2010.
  • Cash Flow and Cash Balance
  • Cash flow from operating activities for the second quarter of 2011 was $331 million, a 5 percent decrease compared to $347 million for the same period of 2010.
  • Free cash flow was $96 million for the second quarter of 2011, a 25 percent decrease compared to $127 million for the same period of 2010.
  • Cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable debt securities were $3,255 million at June 30, 2011 compared to $3,629 million at December 31, 2010, a decrease of $374 million. During the second quarter of 2011, Yahoo! repurchased 30 million shares for $472 million.

Read the Quarterly earning announcement

USA, Sunnyvale, CA

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Cellfish has acquired Facebook ap publisher Bandsintown

September 18, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Cellfish, a mobile and social application publisher, has acquired Bandsintown, the concert tracking and discovery application on Facebook..

Over 3.4 million music fans access Bandsintown to track their favorite artists so they never miss a concert date. Bandsintown also helps fans discover new touring artists, based on their musical preferences and location.  Bandsintown’s concert aggregation and tracking platform helps artists to promote their live concerts and sell tickets, not only through its Facebook app but also through plugins for websites.

“The team at Bandsintown accomplished an impressive feat in becoming one of the most popular music apps on Facebook in less than a year,” said Fabrice Sergent, Founder and CEO of Cellfish. “This acquisition takes Cellfish one step closer to fulfilling our vision to develop and distribute the most innovative mobile and social applications aimed at music, sports and entertainment fans. We will continue to invest in our development and distribution capabilities both through organic initiatives as well as further potential acquisitions.”

“Cellfish shares our passion for music and vision, and their resources and market-leading expertise will help us continue to grow Bandsintown,” said Todd Cronin, Founder and CEO of Bandsintown. “My co-founder Phil Sergi and I, along with our entire staff in, are looking forward to aggressively expanding Bandsintown and the capabilities of the  platform to better serve artists and thrill music fans.”

USA, New York, NY & San Diego, CA

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Publicis Groupe acquires Schwartz Communications

September 18, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Schwartz Communications, a leading independent public relations firm in the United States. The agency will become part of MSLGROUP, Publicis Groupe’s strategic communications, public relations and events network. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded by Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz in 1990, Schwartz Communications currently has 180 employees in four locations: Boston, San Francisco, Stockholm and London. Schwartz’ clients include companies such as Accuray (medical devices), E Ink (IT), ESET (IT), MicroStrategy (IT) and GE Healthcare-Americas. Over time, Schwartz developed expertise in two sectors: technology and healthcare, providing the full range of communications services, with emphasis on public relations, social media, digital content marketing, and public affairs.

This acquisition will add key assets to Publicis Groupe’s public relations capabilities, notably in the U.S. where MSLGROUP becomes the largest PR agency in the Boston region, with more than 100 employees. MSLGROUP is also now the second biggest tech agency in the San Francisco region and a major presence on the West Coast, with more than 160 employees in four offices. In the U.S., Schwartz will operate under the name Schwartz MSL. Bryan Scanlon, President of Schwartz, and Ari Milstein, Chief Operating Officer, will run Schwartz MSL, reporting to Jim Tsokanos, President of MSLGROUP Americas. European offices will be integrated immediately into existing MSL operations.

“This is an acquisition that will strengthen our network in a number of key fields,” said Olivier Fleurot, CEO of MSLGROUP. “The deal also adds to MSLGROUP’s existing technology and healthcare practice. Schwartz is a company that perfectly complements our existing skill-set and our geographical strengths.”

France, Paris & USA, Boston, MA

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Chegg is to acquire Zinch

September 17, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Chegg is to acquire Zinch, a business that connects prospective college and graduate students to scholarships, admissions officers and other students who have been through the same process. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The acquisition of Zinch, with over 3.5 million members, $1.9 billion in scholarships and over 5,000 school profiles, significantly expands Chegg’s customer base and its social education platform.

“Our mission has always been to save students time, money and help them get smarter,” said Dan Rosensweig, president and CEO of Chegg. “With our acquisition of Zinch, we’re extending our mission to high school students through the $7 billion college recruiting market, while continuing to break down the barriers of a college education, from the high cost of tuition and textbooks to helping students make money, pick their courses and get the academic help they need.”

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InMobi receives a massive £200M investment

September 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

InMobi, the independent mobile ad network, is to receive a massive $200 million investment from SOFTBANK Corp. The funding will take place in two tranches- $100 million in September 2011 followed by an equivalent tranche in April 2012.

Softbank joins existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. The $200 million investment, one of the largest to date in the mobile internet space , will help the company create value across the mobile ecosystem globally through advertising, mobile payments using SmartPay™, and HTML5 rich media production and distribution using the recently acquired Sprout™ platform.

Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO of InMobi, commented: “The size of the investment and quality of investor validate the enormous potential in mobile today and strengthen our role in helping the industry evolve. We have already established ourselves as a leader in mobile advertising on every continent. This is just the beginning. With a global leader like Softbank behind us, we are now well positioned to fully capitalize on the opportunity before us through substantially increased product innovation, deeper market penetration, and acquisitions across the mobile ad value chain.”

“I am delighted at this opportunity to partner with InMobi, one the world’s largest mobile ad networks”, said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of Softbank. “I hope the partnership with InMobi, a fast-growing startup with significant mobile expertise and an outstanding technology platform; will further accelerate the pace of development in the mobile Internet space globally. We believe this partnership will help Softbank become the No. 1 Internet company in Asia and I look forward to working with the InMobi team.”

This partnership will provide Softbank and InMobi with opportunities to further explore global scale collaboration in the fast growing mobile ad market. It is also expected to generate further synergies between InMobi and Softbank, given the significant number of prominent Asian Internet companies in Softbank’s investment portfolio.

USA, San Mateo, CA & Japan, Tokyo

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Pearson acquires Connections Education

September 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Pearson has acquired Connections Education from an investor group led by Apollo Management, L.P. Connections Education has produced revenue growth of more than 30% in each of the past three years. The transaction is subject to a Hart-Scott-Rodino review. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Connections Education is headed by co-founder Barbara Dreyer. She will stay on as CEO of Connections Education and as a senior executive at Pearson.

Through its Connections Academy business, the company operates online or ‘virtual’ public schools in 21 states in the US—serving more than 40,000 students in the current school year. These virtual charter schools are accredited and funded by the relevant state and are free to parents and students who choose a virtual school in place of a traditional public institution or other schooling options.

Since its founding in 2001, Connections Academy has built a complete virtual school system to support personalized learning for each student. This includes high-quality teachers, training for learning coaches (who are often parents), digital and print curriculum materials (already often from Pearson), provision of computers, assessment and reporting tools, social events and learning technologies. Connections Academy has developed proprietary technologies including education management system Connexus which provides on-demand access to schedules, lessons, gradebooks, resources and teachers; teaching tool LiveLesson which allows teachers to lead real-time interactive and adaptive classes over the internet; and a wide range of multimedia curriculum tools and games.

For Pearson, the acquisition provides a leading position in the fast-growing virtual school segment and the opportunity to apply Connections Education’s skills and technologies in new segments and geographic markets. It extends Pearson’s investment in education services and technologies that have both a direct connection with the learner and a strong record of enhancing student achievement.

Will Ethridge, CEO of Pearson North America, said, “We see Connections Education as highly complementary to our own business, and it provides an opportunity for developing new models of instruction and increasing the effectiveness of Pearson’s global educational programs. Our joint goal is to ensure that every student is college and career-ready when they graduate.”

USA, New York, NY & Baltimore, MD

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Mountain News Corporation acquires SkiReport.com

September 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Mountain News Corporation, publisher of OnTheSnow, has acquired North American ski report website SkiReport.com.

The SkiReport website will be merged with the OnTheSnow website for the winter 2011-2012 season, which will augment OnTheSnow’s 9.6 million annual unique visitors to more than 12 million. The acquisition increases Mountain News Corporation’s installed mobile application base in North America from 85,000 to 945,000, a 10- times increase.

The SkiReport mobile platform consists of an iPhone and Android application that has generated 860,000 downloads and an estimated 54 million in screen impressions for last ski and snowboard season.

“This acquisition positions us well to take advantage of the strong growth we are seeing in mobile platforms around the world,” said Dyer. “The SkiReport mobile user base coupled with our powerful online portal instantly makes OnTheSnow the market share leader in reaching skiers and snowboarders through all channels in North America, creating both a terrific user experience and an excellent opportunity for our advertising partners.”

The SkiReport mobile app will become the default application for OnTheSnow and Dyer plans to integrate user-generated snow reports into OnTheSnow’s web site for this winter season. Going forward Mountain News will be providing the snow reports for the SkiReport mobile app, replacing the reports provided by SnoCountry Mountain Reports.

USA, Broomfield, CO

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Genpact to Acquire EmPower Research

September 15, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Genpact is to acquire EmPower Research, an integrated media and business research company with strong capabilities in social media research, media monitoring and measurement. Closing is expected by the end of the month. Terms of the deal are not disclosed.

EmPower Research provides a range of services including social and traditional media monitoring and measurement, event impact research, brand tracking, and data management. The services of EmPower Research are used by some of the largest pharmaceutical companies, PR agencies, technology firms, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies in the world.

“EmPower Research is a fantastic fit for our business, with numerous cross-sell opportunities particularly in the pharmaceutical and CPG industries,” said Tiger Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact.

EmPower Research has approximately 360 employees based in New York, Bangalore, Cincinnati, New Jersey, San Francisco, and London.

EmPower Research was jointly represented by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI) and India based Veda Corporate Advisors Pvt. Ltd.

USA, New York, NY

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