Evolve Media Corp acquires Crowd Ignite

June 14, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Evolve Media Corp., an integrated digital media company, has acquired Crowd Ignite, a premium content exchange engine with proprietary technology that contextually connects audiences of similar interests, thereby growing a publisher’s audience base of valuable engaged users.

Crowd Ignite enables premium publishers within defined audience verticals to share their content within a closed network, thereby exposing their content to quality, relevant users on other sites and allowing them to acquire new, engaged users and grow their audience. The Crowd Ignite technology is able to track which pieces of content within a site are the most popular, present it to users on sites within the network and then dynamically optimize the landing page in a way that presents the content they are most likely to want to consume. Crowd Ignite has over 300 publishers participating across such verticals as women, fashion, parenting, movies, gaming, and male-lifestyle.

“Evolve Media Corp. focuses, as a company, on tapping into and activating engagement and conversations around popular, passionate points of interest or affinities among Internet users,” said David Denton, Vice President of Product Management for Evolve Media Corp. “With Crowd Ignite we are able to expose users to additional high-quality, relatable content; therefore they consume more content, stay longer, and are generally more engaged.”

The Crowd Ignite team, which consists of account managers, business development, sales and engineering, will continue to run day-to-day operations post acquisition. Crowd Ignites’ founder and creator, Jake Moilanen, will continue with the company acting as Managing Director of Crowd Ignite.

USA, Los Angeles, CA

 

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IHS makes five acquisitions – CMAI, ODS-Petrodata, Dyadem International, EIATrack & CSM South America

June 14, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

IHS has made its fifth acquisition this year, Chemical Market Associates (CMAI), a provider of market & business advisory services for the worldwide petrochemical, specialty chemicals, fertilizer, plastics, fibers and chlor-alkali industries.

“CMAI is a natural complement to our ever-expanding capabilities in the chemical industry’s information, analysis and consulting market,” said IHS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerre Stead. “The company’s comprehensive information and analysis adds to our event-driven supply-chain information strategy and the company’s price discovery and analysis business will broaden IHS commodities and cost information capabilities. CMAI’s unique and proprietary chemical information can be used throughout IHS to deliver additional high-value analytical services to our global customers.”

CMAI clients include chemical companies, oil and gas companies, technology and engineering companies, financial institutions, plastic converters, industrial and consumer manufacturers, retailers, government agencies, trading companies, financials and shipping companies. The company is headquartered in Houston, with offices in Bangkok, Dubai, Dusseldorf, London, New York, Shanghai and Singapore.

The IHS acquisition of CMAI follows a string of strategic transactions that bolster the company’s broad base of capabilities in energy and power, environmental health and safety (EHS) and sustainability, petrochemicals and automotive industry forecasting.

During the first four months of 2011, IHS also acquired:

ODS-Petrodata – A premier provider of data, information and market intelligence to the offshore energy industry.

Dyadem International – The market leader in Operational Risk Management and Quality Risk Management solutions.

EIATrack – A subscription-based, online tool for quickly and cost-effectively navigating and managing global environmental regulations and legislation, EIATrack tracks more than 6,000 pieces of legislation from proposal to implementation, analyzing environmental regulatory activity in North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific. The acquisition represents continued investment in the electronics supply chain, for which IHS has already established a strategic position through the company’s REACH and Compliance Suite offerings, as well as the recent iSuppli acquisition.

CSM South America – CSM South America compiles and maintains automotive forecast information for all South American countries. The company also sells IHS Automotive products and manages the resulting customer relationships in the region. The acquisition will give IHS more direct access to this critical, rapidly growing market, while providing a platform to enhance the company’s automotive forecasting business with localized insight.

“With these five transactions completed so far in 2011, IHS has completed more than 30 strategic acquisitions since 2007, deploying more than $1.3 billion in capital,” added Stead. “Each of these acquisitions affords our company the opportunity to expand the information and insight offerings we provide to our customers to help them make critical business decisions every day.”

As a result of the company’s 2011 acquisition activity, IHS is updating its full-year 2011 revenue and adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) guidance. For the year ending November 30, 2011, IHS expects:

  • All-in revenue between $1.275 and $1.305 billion; and
  • All-in adjusted EBITDA between $388 and $398 million.
USA, Englewood, CO
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Aegis Media’s iProspect acquires ICUC to support growing social media offerings

June 10, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis Group plc, one of the world’s leading marketing communications and market research groups, has acquired ICUC Moderation Services (“ICUC”), Canada, a provider of social media intelligence and moderation services. As at 31 December 2010, ICUC had gross assets of US $1.4m.

Aegis Group’s digital performance media business iProspect, will leverage ICUC’s community management platform and social media expertise to continue enhancing iProspect’s social media offerings. iProspect has more than 800 employees in 29 countries, and 39 offices worldwide.

Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Aegis Group plc, said: “ICUC’s market leadership and breadth of expertise in media intelligence and moderation services will boost iProspect’s leadership across the digital performance spectrum. Beyond social media moderation, ICUC brings nearly a decade of astute social media understanding and intelligence to verticals ranging from entertainment and media to CPG and retail which fits in every respect with the next generation of social media services.”

Robert Murray, iProspect Global CEO, said: “There is an ideal match between ICUC’s real-time social media services and our clients’ growing needs across the social media landscape. As consumers continue to lead the evolution of brand interaction, iProspect will be perfectly poised to offer our clients robust social media expertise, based on technology leadership as well as in-depth end customer understanding.”

UK, London & USA, Boston, MA & Canada, Winnipeg

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DMGT to sell GLM, the United States’ largest privately-held tradeshow management company

June 10, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The FT is reporting that The Daily Mail & General Trust is to sell George Little Management (GLM), the United States’ largest privately-held tradeshow management company.

An information memorandum has been sent to prospective trade and private equity bidders, with Reed Elsevier, UBM and Informa potentially interested parties.

GLM was founded by George F. Little, in 1924, and acquired by dmgt in 2007, and is part of the dmg::events portfolio. The company is forecast to tuenover $71 million and make $26 million of pre-tax profits. GLM employs some 100 people, with offices in White Plains, NY, Atlanta, GA and Naples, FL.

GLM currently produces 15 tradeshows. Alltogether, these events have around 11,000 exhibitors in 1.8 million net square feet of exhibit space, and attract approximately 345,000 attendees.

Outside of the trade arena, the company’s Soiffer Haskin division organizes private sales for luxury goods manufacturers and retailers. Established in 1982 and acquired by GLM in 1998, Soiffer Haskin currently conducts 40 private sales annually, for clients including Hermes, Mikimoto, Bulgari, Tourneau, Loro Piana, Pratesi, Valentino, Max Mara, Ralph Lauren Home, Hugo Boss and Hickey Freeman.

USA, White Plains, NY

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Research In Motion, acquires social mobile gaming business Scoreloop

June 9, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Research In Motion, makers of the Blackberry, has acquired social mobile gaming business Scoreloop.

Scoreloop was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany with offices in the US and Asia. The company was funded by European VCs Target Partners and Earlybird.

Tyler Lessard, VP Global Alliances & Developer Relations at RIM, said on the Blackberry blog, “We’re excited that the Scoreloop team is joining the BlackBerry® Developer team and bringing their expertise in creating social and collaborative gaming toolkits for mobile developers to the BlackBerry platform. We have recently enabled our developers to create social app experiences through our BBM™ Social Platform and have seen some very innovative applications result from that. We look forward to working with the team at Scoreloop to provide tools that will further enable our developer community to take gaming to a new level of social integration on the BlackBerry platform.”

Canada, Ontario & Germany Munich

 

 

 

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ITG acquires Ross Smith Energy Group

June 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Investment Technology Group (ITG), an agency research broker and financial technology firm, has acquired Ross Smith Energy Group (RESG) a Calgary-based independent provider of research on the oil and gas industry for $38.5 million in cash.

RSEG, a privately held firm, was founded in Calgary, Alberta in 1998.  RSEG revenues for the trailing twelve months ending in April 2011 were approximately US$15 million.  Adjusted pre-tax margins, excluding non-operating expenses that will not continue beyond the acquisition, were approximately 25% for the trailing twelve months.  Going forward, RSEG will be rebranded as ITG Investment Research and the research offering will be an integrated part of the ITG platform.

RSEG provides detailed technical and financial analysis of North American resource plays, public and private corporations, as well as coverage of international and macroeconomic energy issues, for more than 200 clients in North America and Europe, including more than 60 equity fund managers who are new clients for ITG.  RSEG’s team of approximately 40 staff includes professional engineers, technologists and financial analysts.  With the addition of RSEG, ITG Investment Research will provide differentiated views into the exploration and production activities of North American and international energy companies.

“This acquisition marks a significant expansion for the ITG Investment Research platform,” said Bob Gasser, CEO and President of ITG.  “With the addition of energy sector coverage, ITG is even better positioned to offer alpha-generating insights to our clients and to work towards our goal of being a leading partner in both research and execution on a global scale.”

Jim Jarrell, President of Ross Smith Energy Group, said, “ITG’s focus on providing differentiated research and building relationships within the institutional investment community make it a natural fit for us.  We share a vision.  My colleagues and I are excited about bringing the ITG platform to our existing clients and our collective expertise and service to a broader set of investors.”

USA, New York, NY & Canada, Calgary, Alberta

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Batanga is acquiring two Latin American online media companies, Adfunky and I-Network

June 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Batanga is acquiring two Latin American online media companies, Adfunky and I-Network. The new acquisitions will exponentially increase the company’s audience and publishing partners in the US, Mexico and Latin America as well as provide its existing sales organization with value-added product offerings for marketers looking to reach Hispanic consumers online. Headquartered in Miami, regional offices are located in Mexico City, Bogota and Buenos Aires as well as sales offices in nineteen cities throughout the globe. GroupArgent represented Adfunky and I-Network in the transaction and acted as their exclusive financial advisors.

Batanga, Inc. is now the largest independent digital media company serving U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. By leveraging investments in technology, product and content, Batanga, Inc. creates significant value for its advertisers and publishers in both markets. These acquisitions represent a major commitment by Batanga, Inc. to the Hispanic online market.

“For almost twelve years, Batanga has consistently delivered the U.S. Hispanic online audience to hundreds of advertisers. These acquisitions will allow us to grow our U.S. Hispanic business as well as deliver audiences in some of the fastest growing emerging online markets in the world,” said Rafael Urbina, Chairman and CEO, Batanga, Inc. “Our commitment to the U.S. Hispanic online market has never been stronger and we are now poised to offer the same quality products throughout Mexicoand Latin America.”

Based in Argentina, Adfunky is a fast growing ad network and digital media company founded by Internet veterans to boost the results of advertisers, agencies and publishers. “Uniting Adfunky’s audience and expertise, both in the U.S. and abroad, with Batanga’s sophisticated products will create impactful opportunities for advertisers,” said Mariano Burstein, Co-Founder, Adfunky. “We are thrilled to be part of such an innovative team,” echoed Matias Charas, Co-Founder, Adfunky. “Collectively, we have much more insight and understand Hispanics online better than anyone else.”

I-Network, a Bogota-based online marketing company, is a clear leader in the markets it operates in. “We are eager to join forces with Batanga and work alongside U.S. marketers looking to reach a Latin American audience,” said Juan Carlos Samper, CEO, I-Network. “As the marketplace continues to evolve, Batanga is ready to deliver the Latin consumer in the U.S. and abroad.”

USA, Miami, FL & Colombia, Bogata & Argentina

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eBay is to acquire Magento

June 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

eBay is to acquire Magento Inc., the creator of Magento, a leading open source ecommerce platform. The deal follows eBay’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company in 2010. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.

The Magento platform serves tens of thousands of merchants worldwide and is supported by a global community of solution partners and third-party developers. Magento is a feature-rich, open-source, enterprise-class commerce solution that offers merchants a high degree of flexibility and control over the user experience, catalog, content and functionality of their online store. Magento Go, the company’s hosted software-as-a-service solution, provides small and growing merchants with the tools to help them succeed online – from payments to inventory management. Magento is a Los Angeles-based company with more than 290 employees.

“Technology-driven innovation is blurring the lines between online and offline commerce, changing the way consumers shop, and enabling retailers of all sizes to benefit from the latest innovations from the developer community,” said John Donahoe, President and Chief Executive Officer, eBay Inc. “The feedback we’ve heard from external developers has been clear — they don’t just want payments or an ecommerce site; they want access to a full set of commerce capabilities to build complete shopping experiences for merchants. We believe the acquisition of Magento and creation of our X.Commerce group will enable us to meet developers’ needs and drive global commerce innovation for retailers and consumers.

USA, San Jose, CA & Culver City, CA

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Social media agency Big Fuel acquires digital marketing firm Apex Exposure

June 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Social media marketing and branded content agency Big Fuel Communications has acquired Apex Exposure, a Brooklyn-based digital marketing firm.

Founded by Ben Luntz and Josh Scheiner, Apex Exposure provided clients with innovative digital content for both traditional and social-media based outlets. Apex works with various clients including representatives from Warner Music, Nike, and Target.

Both Mr. Luntz and Mr. Scheiner join Big Fuel as Group Directors of the Distribution Group, and will manage 20 individuals from both Apex and Big Fuel. The six full-time employees at Apex have all taken positions with Big Fuel.

“By acquiring Apex, we can leverage its relationships and contacts in its distribution network, further cementing our status as the top social media agency,” said Mr. Bond. “Ben and Josh will play an integral role in Big Fuel’s continued success by providing the industry knowledge to help build a robust distribution network. The Big Fuel Network also aligns closely with the value proposition of earned media originating from Apex.”

USA, New York, NY

 

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Dentsu acquires Steak Group

June 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Beringea portfolio company, Steak Group, has been sold to media agency network Dentsu. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Steak will operate under the supervision of Dentsu Network West, reporting to its London office.

Steak is a digital media company, with offices in London, New York and Melbourne. Its reputation for consumer engagement and delivering measurable results is reflected in its diverse client roster, which includes such innovative brands as Virgin Holidays, AXA, Swiftcover, Debenhams and Comparethemarket.com.

Steak currently has 94 employees and is led by Oliver Bishop, Co-founder and CEO, and Duncan Parry, Co-founder and Head of Paid Search. Seb Bishop is non-executive Chairman.

Steak was Interactive Media Awards Agency of the Year after only three years trading in 2008, and has since maintained top fifteen status in Marketing and New Media Age league tables for digital search agencies in the UK.

Jim Kelly, CEO of Dentsu Europe said, “I have followed Steak’s progress since it started in 2005, and admire enormously what Ollie and his partners have achieved. Digital media is a cornerstone of Dentsu Network West’s growth strategy. This acquisition is a great step in offering class leading digital solutions to our clients in Europe”.

The partnership enables Steak to both work with Dentsu’s European offices, and to offer to its clients Dentsu’s media expertise throughout Asia. Steak is currently exploring opportunities for its clients in South East Asia.

The acquisition also doubles Dentsu’s size in the UK (alongside Dentsu London and Dentsu Sports), and follows on Dentsu’s acquisition in January of the Düsseldorf based digital creative agency, Social Thinkers, further substantiating Dentsu’s commitment to digital growth and success in Europe. Jim Kelly will join the Steak board of directors along with Tim Andree, CEO of Dentsu Network West, and Executive Officer, Dentsu Inc. Seb Bishop will remain as non-executive Chairman.

Steak’s operations will continue to be run from its headquarters in Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, London.

As part of the transaction, Beringea the private equity investor, which invested in Steak in 2007 will fully exit the business and Trevor Hope, Beringea’s Chief Investment officer will step down from Steak’s Board.

Dentsu was advised by Clarity Capital Partners and Steak by Green Square Partners.

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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