Strong financial results for Moneysupermarket.com

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ms-logoMoneysupermarket.com has produced a strong set of financial results for the year ended 31 December 2012. Adjusted revenue for the year increased by 15% to £204.8m (2011: £178.5m), generating adjusted EBITDA which was 26% higher at £66.5m (2011: £52.5m). This included external revenues of £1.8m and EBITDA of £2.8m respectively, resulting from the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com which was acquired on 21 September 2012.

During 2012 the Group has continued to see good growth. Trading during the second half of the year improved relative to the comparable first half performance in the Insurance, Home Services and Travel verticals. Revenues in the Money vertical however were broadly flat in the second half of the year as savings revenues declined as a result of the introduction of the Bank of England’s ‘Funding for Lending’ scheme, which enables financial institutions to seek low cost funding centrally rather than through retail deposits from the consumer markets.

The Group acquired MoneySavingExpert.com on 21 September 2012 for a total consideration of up to £92.5m including deferred consideration of up to £27.0m. Trading since acquisition has been strong.

Financial highlights

  • Adjusted revenue increased by 15% to £204.8m (2011: £178.5m);
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 26% to £66.5m (2011: £52.5m);
  • Adjusted EBITDA margins increased by 3% to 32%;
  • Adjusted gross margin increased to 74.1% (2011: 71.9%);
  • 97% of EBITDA converted to cash;
  • Cash balance of £18.7m (2011: £35.0m) at the year-end reflecting the acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com; the Group is debt free;
  • Dividend increased by 27% to 5.74p;
    • Final dividend increased 30% to 3.94p per share (2011: 3.03p);
  • £10.6m (2011: £nil) net credit in statutory profit following agreement of new VAT recovery method with HMRC;
    • Credits of £4.5m and £1.9m recognised for 2012 and 2011 respectively, in lower irrecoverable VAT charge.

Full details of year end results

UK, Wales, Ewloe

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Wilmington Group acquires Spanish information and events Inese

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

wilmington-logoWilmington Group plc has acquired the trading assets of Inese, the provider of information and events to the insurance industry in Spain, from Reed Business Information for a net consideration of €1.4m in cash. The consideration will be financed out of the Group’s existing £65m multicurrency debt facility.

Inese was established in 1892 and was acquired by RBI in 2000. Inese is a leading provider of Spanish language subscription based inesepublications, online services for the Spanish Insurance Industry along with a number of annual events including the leading industry congress; “Insurance Week”. Inese also operates a digital news service in Latin America.

Approximately 40% of Inese’s revenue is derived from subscriptions, and a further 30% from annual awards and events. Throughout the last 3 years revenue has been stable and the business has enjoyed overall renewal rates on its subscription base of around 90%. Approximately 30% of total revenue is delivered digitally. In the year to 31stDecember 2012 Inese made a profit before taxation of €0.7m*1 and had gross assets of €0.8m.

The Business will form part of the Wilmington Pensions and Insurance Division and will work closely with the Axco insurance information business, providing Axco with access to Spanish language insurance markets.

UK, London & Spain, Madrid

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1. Wilmington

2. RBI

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Condé Nast invests $20m in farfetch

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

cni-logoCondé Nast International, a division of Advance Publications, has led a $20m investment in farfetch, the e-commerce marketplace for independent fashion boutiques. Existing investors Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures and e.ventures also participated in the fundraising.

“This investment will fuel our entry to new markets while assisting our growth in existing ones. Our goal to build a unique curated farfetchglobal franchise in online designer fashion is brought several steps closer through the exciting involvement of Condé Nast,” commented Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive of Condé Nast International.

James Bilefield, President of Condé Nast International Digital, adds “As the leading multimedia publisher connecting people to the fashion brands they love, this investment underlines our commitment to extend the scope of our activities and back great entrepreneurs. It follows the recent news of our involvement with the e-commerce businesses Monoqi and Renesim in Germany, plus the investment activity of our parent company Advance Publications in the USA.” As part of the investment, James Bilefield will join the farfetch board.

farfetch launched in 2008 and brings together luxury brands from over 250 of the world’s most respected independent fashion boutiques for men and women. With 82,000 highly curated products from over 2,000 of the world’s best brands, farfetch currently has 150,000 customers in over 140 countries. farfetch is backed by Advent Venture Partners, Index Ventures, e.ventures and Condé Nast International.

UK, London &

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UBM Asia to acquire NOVOMANIA in China

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

novomania2UBM Asia has signed a binding agreement with NOVO Mania Limited, the organiser of NOVOMANIA, to acquire the annual urban fashion event in Shanghai. Upon completion, UBM will own 60% of a joint venture company, with NOVO Mania Limited, called UBM Novomania, to organise NOVOMANIA from 2013 onwards.

NOVOMANIA was launched in 2010 as an annual urban fashion event by the NOVO group of companies, a retailing and fashion conglomerate based in Hong Kong that operates and distributes over 50 international brands and has stores across 45 cities in China, and one of its partners, Focus Workshop, an innovative full service agency in China with expertise in luxury brands in beauty and wellness, fashion, real estate and FMCG. By bringing together designers, brands, buyers, distributors, retailers, franchisees, department stores, mall operators, real estate developers and the media, it creates a platform for introducing retail concepts to international brands which are seeking to enter the China market and for providing new business opportunities for domestic brands.

Showcasing the latest trends in major areas of urban fashion such as Denim&Urban, Sports&Street, Shoes&Accessories, Fashion&Chic and Contemporary&Premium, NOVOMANIA held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Centre inMarch 2012 occupied 25,000 gross sqm of exhibition space and welcomed 117 exhibitors from 13 countries and over 13,000 visitors. This year, Novomania will be held from 17 – 19 July at Shanghai Mart.

Jime Essink , President & Chief Executive Officer of UBM Asia said, “China is already the second-largest apparel market in the world and is set to surpass the US to become the world’s largest market in a few years. We are very pleased to partner with NOVO Mania Limited in the development and growth of this cutting edge fashion event targeted at the very rapidly-growing urban youth segment of the market. This joint venture continues our strategy of focusing on sectors and markets with the most exciting growth potential.”

Mr Guilherme Faria , General Manager of NOVOMANIA, together with his team, will be incorporated into the UBM China (Shanghai) office, reporting to the board of UBM Novomania.

Hong Kong & China, Shanghai & UK, London

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Health Media Network acquires WAMG TV

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

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

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News Corporation to sell its stake in SKY New Zealand

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

newslimitedNews Corporation‘s News Limited subsidiary is going to divest its 44% stake in New Zealand’s largest subscription based broadcasting company SKY Network Television Limited.

News Limited has appointed Deutsche Bank to underwrite and, together with Craigs Investment Partners, tosky nz manage, the sales of its SKY shares. It is expected that the shares will be sold to a broad range of institutional and retail investors. Following the sales, News Limited will no longer have any holding in SKY Network Television Limited.

Chase Carey, President and Chief Operating Officer, News Corporation said: “SKY is a world class subscription television business and has been an outstanding investment for News Corporation. We and SKY have always enjoyed an excellent, arms-length working relationship and we expect this to continue unaffected by the sale. In particular, we do not anticipate any change to current arrangements regarding access to content and collaboration on technology.”

As a result of the sale, Michael Miller, Regional Director of News Limited, will resign from the board of SKY.

Australia, Sydney & New Zealand, Auckland

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WPP acquires john st. a creative agency in Canada

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

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

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

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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World Book, Inc. Acquires Incentive Publications

March 7, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

worldbookWorld Book, Inc., a publisher of print and online educational products, has acquired Incentive Publications.

“We are thrilled to add Incentive Publications (IP) to our family of educational products,” said World Book, incentivepubInc. President Don Keller . “IP’s record of creating excellent supplemental resources for the classroom and promoting effective teaching strategies is directly aligned with our own mission to publish superior reference and instructional products and enlarge our educational publishing product line. IP’s wealth of supplemental classroom products will add to World Book’s impressive existing collection of standards-aligned materials to support teachers.”

USA, Chicago, IL & Grapevine, TX

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Oil Price Information Service acquires mobile app and website GasBuddy

March 5, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

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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