UBM sells its Daltons business

February 7, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM has sold its Daltons business to Innovare Media Limited. Daltons provides a web-based marketplace for the sale and purchase of UK small and medium enterprises. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

UK, London

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Founders of Briefing Media to acquire UBM’s UK agriculture and medical general practitioner portfolios

February 7, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Neil Thackray and Rory Brown, the founders of Briefing Media Ltd, are to acquire UBM‘s UK agriculture and medical general practitioner portfolios – including the Farmers Guardian and Pulse titles – for a total cash consideration of £10 million (subject to a working capital adjustment at completion). The new business will be known as Briefing Media Group. It is funded by GCP Capital Partners, a mid-market private equity fund.

The agriculture portfolio – comprising the Farmers Guardian and Dairy Farmer titles and their associated online offerings – is based primarily in Preston and employs 57 staff.

The London-based general practitioner portfolio employs 33 staff and includes the Pulse and Practical Commissioning magazines and their digital and event products NAPC, the Mental Health Forum, Pulse Seminars, as well as Pulse Learning.

Commenting on the deal, Neil Thackray said, “When we founded Briefing Media we had a vision for creating a vibrant new business to business media company. This acquisition gives us both the scale and market opportunity to accelerate that ambition. We are delighted to be acquiring assets with such excellent pedigrees and reputations in important business markets and to be working with GCP Capital Partners. This will be the first but not the last acquisition we plan to make.”

The transaction is expected to close in the next four to six weeks. In total, these assets generated revenues of £12.1 million in 2011.

UBM has retained ownership of the Cropworld conference and the Chemist & Druggist magazine and data product portfolio.

Briefing Media article – A new chapter begins today for Briefing Media

UK, London

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Parsons acquires environmental consultancy firm O’Connor Associates

February 3, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Parsons, an engineering, construction, technical, and management services firm has acquired O’Connor Associates, a environmental consultancy firm in Canada. O’Connor Associates will be integrated into Parsons Environment & Infrastructure. O’Connor Associates was founded in 1979 and reported revenues of CAN$34.9 million in 2010. It around 200 employees and maintains six offices across Canada with its headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. O’Connor Associates customers include Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy Products, 7-Eleven, and Hydro One.

“O’Connor Associates will accelerate our growth strategy and expand our environmental service offerings. We look forward to joining forces with O’Connor Associates’ exceptional employees, and we welcome them to our team,” said Chuck Harrington, Parsons’ Chairman and CEO. “Because there is little overlap in our customer bases, this acquisition provides a framework to leverage both Parsons’ and O’Connor Associates’ talent and customer relationships into untapped geographies and/or service offerings.”

USA, Pasadena, CA & Canada, Calgary, Alberta

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The Jim Pattison Group acquires magazine distributor Comag Marketing Group

February 3, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

 The Jim Pattison Group, a privately owned, Vancouver, BC-based conglomerate which owns The News Group, has acquired the national magazine distributor Comag Marketing Group, LLC (CMG) from Hearst Magazines and Condé Nast. Terms were not disclosed. Jay Felts will continue as president of CMG and the firm’s headquarters will remain in Princeton, New Jersey.

CMG U.K. is not part of the transaction and will continue to be owned by National Magazine Company Ltd. and Condé Nast U.K.

Michael Korenberg, deputy chairman of The Jim Pattison Group and a member of its Board of Directors, said, “This transaction will strengthen the newsstand channel and, at the same time, enable Hearst and Condé Nast, as publishers, to focus on their core competencies — editorial development, retail marketing and consumer promotion. We believe that with the strength of its management team and systems, CMG can consolidate and improve publisher services as well as add stability for all stakeholders in the single-copy marketplace.”

Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia & USA, Princeton, New Jersey

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UBM plc and Roularta Media Group form Belgian medical print journal joint venture business

February 3, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM plc thas contributed its Belgian medical print activities to a joint venture with Roularta Media Group (ROU), the Euronext Brussels-listed media group.

UBM Medica and Roularta have merged their respective Belgian professional medical print businesses into ActuaMedica, a 50:50 joint venture company.  The staff and assets relating to UBM Medica’s print and digital titles (Journal du Medecin / Arksenkrant, Belgium Oncology News and Le Magazine du Pharmacien / Apothekers magazine) and Roularta’s print and digital titles (De Huisarts / Le Generaliste, De Specialisten / Les Specialistes, De Apotheker / Le Pharmacien and De Tandards / Le Denttiste) will be combined.  The Prescription pads business of both companies will also be combined and the joint venture company will retain the rights to publish the Medex directory under licence. It will be headquartered in Roularta’s offices in Brussels.

ActuaMedica will be the market-leading provider of media-based marketing services for Belgian healthcare professionals.  UBM says it remains committed to the Belgium medical market through its continued 100% ownership of its digital data businesses in Belgium (Medibridge and drug information systems), as well as its 50% equity interest in ActuaMedica.

Henry Elkington, CEO of UBM Medica said, “By merging our Belgian media assets with Roularta we are creating the leading marketing services player in the local market and will be able to offer our clients unparalleled access and reach to healthcare professionals.  ActuaMedica is well placed to prosper in both print and digital as the media market evolves.  In parallel we will continue to to build our wholly-owned Belgian data business as part of our UBM Medica EMEA operations.”

Belgium, Brussel

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Meredith to acquire Allrecipes.com

February 3, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Meredith Corporation is to acquire digital food site Allrecipes.com.

The transaction is valued at $175 million and is expected to close later this quarter.  Meredith plans to invest in Allrecipes.com to optimise the site for today’s growing online and mobile audiences. This investment spending, along with normal business seasonality, is expected to make the acquisition slightly dilutive – approximately $0.10 per share, or less than 4 percent – to Meredith’s fiscal 2012 full year financial performance.  Meredith expects the acquisition will be modestly accretive to earnings per share and free cash flow in fiscal 2013.

The addition of Allrecipes.com fits with Meredith’s previously stated strategic acquisition criteria: (1) National media brands that provide access to new audiences and advertising categories; and (2) Digital platforms that significantly increase scale.

“The acquisition of Allrecipes.com significantly enhances our digital platform and reinforces our leadership position in the food category,” said Meredith National Media Group President Tom Harty. “It increases our relevance with new, younger audiences, and offers advertisers an unmatched ability to now connect with an audience of more than 100 million consumers.  We are excited to add Allrecipes.com, the world’s No. 1 food website, to our strong portfolio of digital media brands.”

Allrecipes.com currently has a database of over 500,000 recipes.  Its U.S. audience is 70 percent female with a mean household income of $73,000, and it reaches nine out of 10 primary grocery decision makers. Allrecipes.com mobile apps have been downloaded by over 11 million consumers, and they are the No. 1 download on Android, iPhone, and iPad recipe applications.  It is also the top food recipe channel on YouTube.

BDT & Company served as financial advisor to Meredith, and McDermott, Will & Emery served as its legal advisor.  Morgan Stanley and Evercore Partners acted as financial advisors to Reader’s Digest, and Weil, Gotshal and Manges acted as its legal advisor.

USA, Des Moines, IA

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Internet Brands acquires The Frugal Travel Guy

February 3, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Internet Brands has acquired The Frugal Travel Guy, a travel blog focused on helping consumers save money on travel around the world.

The Frugal Travel Guy was founded in 2007 by Rick Ingersoll, a retired mortgage banker and avid world traveler. Ingersoll is a noted expert in frequent flyer mile programs, customer service requests, and using good credit ratings to take advantage of bank promotions.

“Rick’s passion for travelling frugally is contagious. You can feel his energy and enthusiasm in The Frugal Travel Guy blog, which is constantly updated with new travel tips and informative personal anecdotes about saving money on travel,” said Brent Conver, General Manager, Travel and Leisure at Internet Brands. “The expertise Rick and the entire Frugal Travel Guy team offer make The Frugal Travel Guy a valuable asset to our growing portfolio of travel sites designed to make travel easier, cheaper and more efficient for consumers.”

The Frugal Travel Guy will join Internet Brands travel sites FlyerTalk, Wikitravel and CruiseMates. Ingersoll and his team of writers will continue producing the Frugal Travel Guy blog after the acquisition.

USA, Los Angeles, CA

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Isobar Acquires Digital Agency The Upper Storey

January 31, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Media and digital marketing group Aegis Group plc has acquired a minority share in The Upper Storey Pte Ltd (“TUS”), an award-winning digital creative agency based in Singapore. TUS will become part of Isobar in Asia Pacific and will be rebranded as TUS Isobar.  TUS’s gross assets as of 31 October 2011 were S$0.9 million.

Founded in Singapore in 2001, The Upper Storey is one of a new breed of digitally savvy agencies with through-the-line thinking. The agency specialises in engaging consumers through innovative digital campaigns, programs and platforms.

TUS has three divisions: The Upper Storey – strategy and creative focused digital marketing, Mofuro – motion graphics, 3D and experience design production, and Studio TUS – the group’s production and technology hub. Their clients include Microsoft, American Express, Intel, Daimler, Dell, Draeger, UOB, Mediacorp, NOL and Como Hotels and Resorts.

UK, London & Singapore

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Publicis Groupe acquires The Creative Factory for Saatchi & Saatchi Russia

January 25, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired The Creative Factory (TCF), a marketing and advertising agency in Moscow with a strong track record in specialty areas such as trade and shopper marketing, PR and event management, digital and digital production, and video production. TCF will be fully integrated into Saatchi & Saatchi Russia.

Founded in 2001, TCF and its 48 communication professionals work across standard mass media and innovative sectors — offering clients such as Burger King, IKEA, JTI (tobacco), John Deere, Nike, Rehau (plastics), Tele2 (telecommunications) and UNIQLO true “through-the-line” solutions. This offering is highly complementary to Saatchi & Saatchi Russia’s strength in traditional media and its work for clients such as The Coca-Cola Company, Dixy, Emirates Airlines, Friesland Campina, JTI, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Twinings Tea. In the last three years its revenue has grown by over 30%.

TCF’s founders, Alex Shifrin and Sam Rothman, will stay on with Saatchi & Saatchi as Managing Directors and will report toShannon Cullum, Saatchi & Saatchi Russia’s CEO.

“It‘s no secret that the global marketing landscape is changing dramatically, and Russia is changing faster than most,“ said Robert Senior, Saatchi & Saatchi CEO for EMEA. “We need to offer our clients the unreasonable power of creativity in all its forms, which means continuing to move out of traditional thinking and traditional media, and more and more into areas where The Creative Factory excels.“

France, Paris & Russia, Moscow

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Elsevier acquires The Ocular Surface

January 19, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Elsevier has acquired The Ocular Surface, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the external eye and vision.

The Ocular Surface delivers reviews of important work in laboratory science, clinical science, and clinical practice related to the external eye and vision, along with coverage of ongoing studies, patents pending, conference highlights, and more. The Ocular Surface has an Impact Factor of 3.103 and is ranked 7th out of 56 journals in the Ophthalmology category according to the 2011 Journal Citation Reports published by Thomson Reuters. The journal has remained in the top 10 ranking of Impact Factors for the last three years.

Nancy Axelrod, Executive Publisher at Elsevier said, “Elsevier is truly honored to publish The Ocular Surface. This premier journal represents innovative, high-quality content, and is an excellent addition to our leading ophthalmology journals program,”

The Netherlands, Amsterdam & USA, New York, NY

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