Cengage Learning to acquire National Geographic’s digital and print school publishing unit

Cengage Learning has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the National Geographic Society (NGS) including the acquisition of the NGS school publishing unit and extended use of the NGS brand.

Specifically, under the terms of the agreement, Cengage Learning will acquire National Geographic’s digital and print school publishing unit, which includes the National Geographic Science series, an innovative core elementary science curriculum, National Geographic Explorer! Magazines, and Hampton Brown’s literacy and language programs – resulting in the formation of a global literacy, English language learning and content publishing brand.

“Cengage Learning is very proud to partner with the National Geographic Society, one of the most recognized and respected organizations in the world,” said Ron Dunn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cengage Learning.  “This expanded partnership teams Cengage Learning with the National Geographic global brand and content assets in a powerful way that further strengthens our existing English language learning business and enriches our full range of educational solutions.”

NGS assets include over 11 million images, 100,000 hours of NGS video, maps and illustrations and more than 120 years of articles from the Magazine and its other properties.  Building on Cengage Learning’s strong position in both the classroom and the library market, National Geographic’s brand and content will add tremendous value across new and existing products.

“Cengage Learning has been an extraordinary partner to date, and we are delighted to expand our relationship, making Cengage our premier partner in education.” said John Fahey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, National Geographic Society.

USA, Stamford, CT

 

UK: RBI’s Variety Group to acquire TVtracker

Variety Group, a division of Reed Business Information US,  has signed off a deal to buy online information provider, TVtracker. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

TVtracker is a premium entertainment research and data tracking service covering TV, film and the digital entertainment business for more than 250 leading brands in entertainment and media.

Variety Group president Neil Stiles said: “This is a major step forward for the organisation’s expansion, with research and data services a centrepiece of Variety’s online strategy.”

Neil added: “Variety aims to provide business information that is integrated into the desktop of industry executives.”

TVTracker’s founder Mark Hoebich will continue to oversee the operation, reporting into Neil.

Variety digital general manager Jennifer Collins said: “We anticipate being the market leader for not just TV, but also film data and information in the next year.”

USA, Los Angeles, CA

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bNET Communications acquires GoMo News

bNET Communications has acquired the mobile-industry online blog site, GoMo News. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of GoMo News brings together two well-known, respected brands in mobile to create a content powerhouse,” said Tony Sklar, COO and Host of bNET Communications. “Strategically growing the bNET brand required a daily mechanism to deliver content, which we have with GoMo News, and our goal now will be maximizing the value of both brands.”

GoMo News was founded in 2006 to provide news and analysis on the mobile industry, with an emphasis on mobile search and social networking, mobile advertising, and mobile barcodes. It has more than one million readers, a daily newsletter, and a mobile application.

USA, New York, NY

Energy Efficiency business Scientific Conservation to acquire Servidyne

Scientific Conservation, a leading provider of energy efficiency solutions for the commercial building market, is to acquire Servidyne, an energy management and demand response company, for a price of $3.50 per share in an all-cash transaction.

The transaction is expected to close on or before Q4 2011. The combined company will be renamed SCIenergy.

SCIenergy will combine Servidyne’s extensive experience in Energy Efficiency, Demand Response and Facilities Maintenance with SCI’s core competency in cloud-based energy management.  Servidyne also has deep domain knowledge in Retro Commissioning, LEED for Existing Buildings and is the nine-time recipient of EPA’s Energy Star Partner of the Year Award.

“We’re very impressed with the Servidyne team and reputation, and are excited about their customer base and long term relationships with commercial building owners and operators.  The new company will have solid customer contracts and partnerships with many Fortune 50 companies, and is well positioned to be a recognized leader in next generation cloud-based energy management,” said Russ McMeekin, CEO, SCI.

“We are delighted to become part of the SCI family. The newly formed company will have tremendous capabilities in serving global customers using a scalable platform,” said Todd Jarvis, President, Servidyne.

San Francisco, CA &  Atlanta, GA

 

LivingSocial acquires Ensogo, DealKeren and GoNabit

Social commerce site  LivingSocial has acquired Ensogo, a shopping deal site in Thailand and the Philippines; DealKeren, an Ensogo company based in Indonesia; and GoNabit, a daily another deal business with a presence in four Middle Eastern countries. Terms of the deals were not released.

These three acquisitions bring the total number of countries in which LivingSocial operates to 21. Ensogo, with members in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, marks the first LivingSocial acquisition in Asia.

“As with previous acquisitions, LivingSocial has again chosen to align with local companies that possess similar values and ways of doing business,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder, LivingSocial. “We are excited to enter the dynamic Asian market and our presence in the Middle East and the Netherlands further strengthens our strategic global efforts to bring LivingSocial values to members across the globe.”

Launched in June 2010, Ensogo is a social shopping website in Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia and currently serves more than 800,000 members. Ensogo is backed by Rebate Networks, an international VC specialising in the social commerce space.

GoNabit was co-founded by Dan Stuart and Sohrab Jahanbani in January 2010 and is based in United Arab Emirates. The site also presents offers, suitable for children and parents alike, with Dubai Family, as well as travel-specific deals through GoNabit Getaways. In addition to being the first group-buying site in the Middle East/North Africa, GoNabit is the first company of its kind to offer deals in Arabic. It has members in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Dubai, Beirut, Cairo and Sharjah Ajman.

USA, Washington DC, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, & United Arab Emirates

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Facebook acquires the Sofa team

Facebook has acquired Sofa. Ot at least the Sofa team. Facebook is not acquiring Sofa’s Kaleidoscope and Versions software applications.

Sofa is Amsterdam-based software and design company, founded in 2006. They make web and Mac applications: and design icons and interfaces.

The Sofa team will be moving from Amsterdam to Palo Alto in the coming weeks – and according to the Sofa blog, they will “make sure to infuse some of our particular flavor of Dutch culture at Facebook.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

USA, Palo Alto, CA & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

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TechMediaNetwork acquires mobile technology magazine and website LAPTOP

TechMediaNetwork, a digital publisher and content provider of consumer technology and science news, is to purchase the assets of LAPTOP and LaptopMag.com, the mobile technology magazine and website, in a private sale. The deal is expected to close in July. LAPTOP’s management team and editorial staff will become part of TechMediaNetwork, and join it at its relocated offices in New York City.

“Mobile is the hottest area in technology, and with LAPTOP’s focus on mobility and quality content, we get to show off our strengths in distribution and advertiser ROI, making this union a perfect fit,” said Jerry Ropelato, CEO of TechMediaNetwork. “We are excited about the synergies of our businesses and the opportunities for growth.”

In October 2009, TechMediaNetwork purchased the consumer division of Imaginova that includes SPACE.com, LiveScience.com and Newsarama.com, and began executing a strategy of quality technology and science titles.

USA, New York, NY

Digital media services business DG to acquire MediaMind

DG, a provider of digital media services to the advertising, entertainment and broadcast industries, is to acquire and MediaMind Technologies, a global provider of integrated digital advertising solutions, in an all-cash transaction.

MediaMind is headquartered in New York, it has 37 sales and representation offices covering 64 countries. In 2010, MediaMind delivered campaigns for 9,000 brand owners using approximately 3,800 media and creative agencies across 8,200 global web publishers in 64 countries.

DG has offered to purchase all of MediaMind’s outstanding shares for $22.00 per share in cash. The total transaction value is $517 million equity value or $414 million enterprise value, taking into account over $100 million in cash on MediaMind’s balance sheet. The board of directors of MediaMind are recommending that MediaMind shareholders tender their shares in the tender offer.

Upon closing, Gal Trifon, President and CEO of MediaMind, will serve as DG’s Chief Digital Officer, leading DG’s online advertising business. Additionally, Ofer Zadikario, MediaMind’s Chief Solutions Officer, will join DG in the same position.

Scott Ginsburg, Chairman and CEO of DG said, “With its new global reach and enhanced product offerings, DG will gain critical mass and will have the unique ability to provide a suite of cross-platform advertising management and distribution services.”

Neil Nguyen, President and COO of DG said, “We are extremely pleased about this transaction, which greatly accelerates our international and digital growth strategy.

For the twelve months ending March 31, 2011 the companies had in excess of $100 million in digital advertising revenue on a pro forma basis. With the MediaMind acquisition, DG expects to realise approximately $15 million in cost synergies identified to date, with clear opportunities for enhanced revenue growth. The transaction will be funded by a combination of available cash and fully committed debt financing from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MediaMind shareholders holding approximately 8.2 million common shares outstanding and 1.8 million options, as well as certain officers and pre-IPO investors, have agreed to tender their shares in the offer.

Goldman Sachs & Co. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisors and Latham & Watkins provided legal advice to DG. Qatalyst Partners acted as financial advisor and Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP provided legal advice to MediaMind. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter 2011.

USA, Dallas, TX & New York, NY

Reply.com completes acquisition of MerchantCircle Acquisition

Reply! Inc., a marketplace for the acquisition of locally-targeted consumer traffic, has completed the acquisition of MerchantCircle, the largest online network of local business owners in the USA. Reply! has acquired MerchantCircle for about $60 million in cash and stock.

“We are pleased to have closed the MerchantCircle acquisition so quickly and we are excited to welcome MerchantCircle’s highly talented team into the Reply! family,” said Reply! founder and CEO Payam Zamani. “We believe the addition of MerchantCircle creates a perfect complement to our platform of locally-targeted online marketing solutions and will allow us to transform the way millions of merchants connect to consumers.”

Zamani is now the CEO of the combined company, called Reply! Inc.,

USA, San Ramon, CA

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Smart metering business PlotWatt secures $1 Million in seed funding

PlotWatt, a company helping individuals and businesses reduce energy bills through personalised smart meter data analysis has secured $1 million in a seed round of funding led by Felicis Ventures.  The funds will be used by PlotWatt to scale its platform for both the commercial and residential markets.

USA, Durham, NC