Groupon’s IPO – what the commentators say

November 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

On Friday Groupon raised $700 million after offering 35 million shares at $20 per share, the largest IPO by an Internet company since Google raised $1.7 billion in 2004. The company’s share prices closed at $26.11, up 30.55 percent.

Here is what is being said about the IPO.

USA, Chicago, IL

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, e-Commerce, Internet Media, Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Yahoo! to acquire interclick

November 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Yahoo! is to acquire interclick. Yahoo! will acquire data targeting capabilities, optimisation technologies and new premium supply, as well as a team experienced in selling audiences across disparate sources of pooled supply. Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! will commence an all cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of interclick at $9.00 per share. The transaction has an estimated total equity value of approximately $270 million. The companies expect the tender offer to close by early 2012.

interclick, headquartered in New York, was founded in 2006 and became a NASDAQ-listed company in 2009. Powered by OSM, interclick offers proprietary data-valuation capabilities combining analytical expertise and media fulfilment to help marketers navigate the complex data ecosystem to drive successful online display and video campaigns. OSM is a powerful solution which aggregates and organises billions of data points from 3rd party providers – delivering actionable consumer insights, scalable audiences and the most effective campaign execution.

“This investment underscores our focus on enhancing the performance of both our guaranteed and non-guaranteed display business across Yahoo and our partner sites and, combined with Yahoo!’s reach and advertising leadership, will deliver a powerful solution for marketers,” said Ross Levinsohn, EVP, Americas region. “interclick’s innovative platform will allow Yahoo! to expand its targeting and data capabilities to deliver campaigns with stronger performance metrics.”

“We believe that this is a great outcome for our shareholders,” said Michael Brauser, interclick Co-Chairman of the Board. “Michael Katz and his team have done a tremendous job over the past few years and I’m proud to have helped make this outcome a reality.”

GCA Savvian Advisors, LLC acted as the lead financial advisor to interclick in connection with the transaction.

USA, Sunnydale, CA & New York, NY

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Matchbin acquires NAVTEQ Broadcast Media Division to Form Radiate Media

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Matchbin has closed its first institutional equity financing led by New York-based growth equity investor Level Equity. Greycroft Partners and vSpring Capital are co-investors in the $10 million round.

Simultaneously, the business acquired NAVTEQ Media Solution’s Radio and Television Group, closing a $12 million credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank. The combined company, which will be named Radiate Media. provides localised content, digital content management solutions and an advertising platform to over 6,000 local and national advertisers through its network of over 2,000 media partners.

Chris Rothey, who founded and took Traffic.com public before being acquired by NAVTEQ in 2007, has joined Radiate Media as CEO. “Technology and evolving content distribution models continue to rapidly change the way advertisers, large and small, promote themselves in a quantifiable fashion,” said Rothey. “Our collective offering will help our media partners leverage their strong and enduring relationships with local businesses to provide both today’s and tomorrow’s performance advertising solutions.”

“We are excited to back Chris Rothey in the creation of Radiate Media. Their business model, scale and deep technology is unique in the local advertising space,” said Ben Levin, partner at Level Equity. “We are attracted to businesses that are changing the way business is done in large and evolving markets. Radiate has cracked the code on how to enable the massive base of incumbent media properties to access the shift in spend to measurable and locally delivered advertising solutions. Chris is a world-class executive who has over a decade of experience providing local and mobile products. The opportunity to sponsor the acquisition of a highly valuable asset he founded over a decade ago and integrate it with a technologically innovative and rapidly growing local advertising business is compelling.”

USA, Salt Lake City, UT & Malvern, PA

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

HarperCollins Publishers to acquire Thomas Nelson

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

HarperCollins Publishers has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Thomas Nelson. for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the calendar year.

Thomas Nelson is one of the leading trade publishers in the United States. The Company provides multiple forms of inspirational content including: books, Bibles, e-books, journals, audio, video, curriculum and digital applications available for download on “smart” electronic devices. It has published some of the bestselling books in the industry, including the current #1 bestseller Heaven Is For Real, and the books of many popular authors, such as Billy Graham, Max Lucado, and Dave Ramsey.

“Founded in 1798 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Thomas Nelson shares a long and rich heritage with both New York’s Harper Brothers and Scotland’s William Collins & Sons. It is thus with great pleasure that I look forward to welcoming Thomas Nelson to the HarperCollins family,” said Brian Murray, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. “HarperCollins’ global print and digital publishing platform, which includes e-book distribution into more than 175 markets, Print-on-Demand, Digital-to-Print at Retail, and worldwide marketing reach, provides an opportunity to further expand the readership of Thomas Nelson’s distinguished authors.”

“Additionally, Thomas Nelson adds further balance to our existing publishing programs. Its broad inspirational appeal is a good complement to Zondervan, which will continue to publish books consistent with its mission,” added Murray.

“We are excited to be joining HarperCollins Publishers,” said Mark Schoenwald, President and CEO of Thomas Nelson. “We believe this transaction represents an attractive strategic fit for our company. With HarperCollins’ resources and capabilities to draw on, we will capitalize on the many opportunities in this rapidly changing world of publishing.”

USA, New York, NY

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Publishers, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Publicis Groupe acquires Chinese digital agency Wangfan

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Wangfan, an innovative digital agency based in Shanghai that focuses on piloting interactive campaigns, web branding, and the conception and design of websites.

Founded in 1997, Wangfan was among the first digital agencies in China, and has won numerous creative awards. The agency has seen rapid revenue growth in recent years, with a 19% increase in 2010 over 2009 and a projected 16% increase in 2011. Its clients include Puma and Shanghai General Motors, alongside a broad range of other international and Chinese companies.

Wangfan will be rebranded to become part of Publicis Modem Shanghai, the digital arm of Publicis Shanghai, and Wangfan CEO Bill Wang will become Managing Director of Publicis Modem Shanghai. Wangfan’s 61-person team will provide a fresh boost to Publicis’ local skill-set in the surging digital market. According to ZenithOptimedia, ad expenditure rose by 25.3% in China in 2010. Further double-digit growth is expected through 2013, driven specifically by Internet advertising, whose share of total spend will rise from around 18% in 2010 to 25% by the end of 2013.

The acquisition of Wangfan, which remains subject to the approval of the relevant authorities, is another step towards Publicis Groupe’s objective of doubling its size in the fast-growing Chinese market between 2010 and 2012. This goal is part of an overall strategy of strongly boosting revenue derived from emerging economies and from the digital sector. In the past twelve months the Groupe has acquired Chinese agencies Genedigi (June 2011), Dreams (May 2011), Interactive Communications Ltd (ICL) (February 2011), and Eastwei Relations (November 2010). In terms of organic growth (not including acquisitions and foreign exchange movements), China was one of eleven countries where the Groupe’s growth hit double digits in the first half of 2011.

Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and Chairman of China Publicis Groupe, commented, “China is a core priority for us. It’s a market where we aim to be perceived as essential interlocutors. Wangfan is a superb agency with a talented and fast-moving team. They began as pioneers and they have kept moving ahead of the creative and technological wave in the ongoing digital boom. We’re pleased to welcome them to our team in Shanghai.”

“Through this acquisition, Publicis Shanghai is able to integrate more talents and resources, and to offer our clients more services,” added Chenghua Yang, Managing Director of Publicis Shanghai.

France, Paris & China, Shanghai

Related articles:

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~Asia, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

World Energy Solutions acquires energy management and procurement company GSE Consulting

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

World Energy Solutions, a energy management services firm, has acquired GSE Consulting, a Texas based energy management and procurement company, for approximately $8.6 million at closing plus a potential earn-out. The acquisition provides World Energy a major foothold in Texas, the largest de-regulated electricity market in the U.S., and a significant presence in the fast-growing small and medium-sized market. World Energy expects the transaction to positively impact top-line revenue, EBITDA and backlog in 2012.

“With GSE, we gain a proven winner in the competitive Texas marketplace with a large pool of customers and a top flight sales team,” said Richard Domaleski, CEO of World Energy Solutions. “This transaction caps off a series of strategic acquisitions we have made over the last several weeks that we believe are ‘game-changing’ for us. Together these moves advance our consolidation of the energy procurement space, broaden our customer target set and geographical reach, and increase our energy management capabilities. Consolidating these companies will accelerate our growth and enhance our EBITDA margins.”

Added Brian Dafferner, President, GSE: “We see tremendous upside for our customers and employees in joining forces with a national leader like World Energy. The Company’s vision for lowering total energy costs, and its ability to execute that vision, will be well received by the hundreds of businesses we serve. Not only do we see an opportunity to cross-sell new services into our existing customer base, but we believe our knowledge and relationships will help World Energy penetrate additional Texas-based and national accounts.”

GSE  was formed in 2002 following the inception of electricity deregulation in Texas. World Energy will retain the services of more than 20 GSE employees across three offices: Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston.

Today’s deal is the third deal World Energy deal reported by Fusion DigiNet in seven weeks. See also the acquisitions of energy procurement business Co-eXprise and energy efficiency firm Northeast Energy Solutions.

USA, Dallas, TX & Worcester, MA

Related articles:

Posted in B2B Services, Consultancy, Energy & Environmental Services, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

mergermarket Q3 Monthly M&A Insider report

November 2, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

According to the mergermarket Q3 Monthly M&A Insider report (October 2011), global m&a in the first three quarters of 2011 totalled us$1,718bn – a 21.5% increase from the us$1,414.4bn worth of deals registered in the first three quarters of 2010 – and the financial services sector saw an even steeper 37.4% increase during this nine-month window. The first three quarters of 2011 brought us$208.5bn in financial services deals to market, up from us$151.7bn in the same period last year,

Sectors covered by Fusion DigiNet

The largest sector by market share was Energy, Mining and Utilities at 23.1% (835 deals) down 10% (-125 by volume), in 7th place is Business Services at 4.4% (1,159 deals) -17% (+62 by volume), media is in 8th place at 1.9% (279 deals) +23% (no change by volume).

See the full report at mergermarket

Posted in B2B Services, Broadcasting, Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Consultancy, Content Media, e-Commerce, Energy & Environmental Services, Games, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Marketing/Advertising, Mobile Apps, Research Reports, ~Asia, ~Europe, ~Latin America and Caribbean, ~Middle East & Africa, ~North America, ~Oceana. Leave a Comment »

Energy efficiency business Enlighted raises $14M

October 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Enlighted, an energy efficiency and building monitoring company, has closed a $14 million round of funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Intel Capital. The funding will support growth plans for Enlighted’s project pipeline and its efforts to deploy its lighting and energy management platform.

“Buildings represent one of the single largest opportunities for energy savings and intelligent lighting is the best place to start,” said Trae Vassallo, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “Enlighted’s solution caught our attention because of its strong ROI and its simplicity. Installation is as easy as changing a light bulb and because Enlighted doesn’t change any existing wiring, there is no risk to mission critical infrastructure. Enlighted is the first step to making buildings smarter and more efficient.”

Enlighted was founded in 2009 by a team that includes Tanuj Mohan, CTO, and Premal Ashar, VP of Software Engineering. Tushar Dave is Chairman and CEO

USA, Sunnyvale, CA

Posted in B2B Services, Consultancy, Energy & Environmental Services, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Future PLC’s CEO & FD resign

October 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Future plc has announced today that Stevie Spring, CEO, and John Bowman, FD, have resigned with immediate effect.

The Board has appointed Mark Wood, the head of Future UK, and Graham Harding, the UK’s Finance Director, to replace them.

According to The Guardian, “The pair have fallen on their swords in order to help Future cut costs”. Spring, the highest-paid executive at Future, received £652,000 in total remuneration for the year to the end of September 2010. This included a £160,000 bonus. Spring’s pay packet was a 72% increase on 2009’s total remuneration of £378,000 when she did not receive a bonus. Bowman, the second-highest paid executive, received a total remuneration of £325,000 in the year to the end of September 2010. Bowman received a bonus of £39,000. This was a 14% rise over 2009’s pay packet, when Bowman also did not receive a bonus.

Peter Allen, Future’s recently appointed Chairman, said: “The Board would like to thank Stevie and John for their considerable contribution in leading Future through a period of unprecedented change. The recent restructuring which positions the company for its digital future has allowed the Board this opportunity to achieve substantial savings by eliminating an entire tier of corporate overhead.

The Board is confident that the market-leading progress in generating digital revenues will continue under Mark’s stewardship. He and Graham can now manage a more profitable business to the benefit of both shareholders and staff.”

Mark Wood said: “I’m delighted to be taking over from Stevie at such an exciting time in our development. We are making amazing progress on line and on mobile, demonstrated just this month by our success on the Apple newsstand.We have the pieces in place to achieve sustainable growth in all our core verticals.”

Group results for the year to 30 September 2011 will be announced on Thursday 24 November 2011.

Bios

Stevie Spring became CEO of Future in 2006 after six years as Chief Executive of Clear Channel, and 16 years in communications management. She chairs BBC Children in Need.

Mark Wood was appointed Chief Executive of Future’s UK business in September 2010. He was previously Chief Executive of ITN and before that Editor-in-Chief of Reuters and a member of Reuters PLC Board. He was a non-executive director of the Company (from 1 April 2009 until 23 August 2010 when he stepped down to lead the UK business).

John Bowman joined Future in November 2001 as Group Finance Director from Scottish Radio Holdings plc, where he was also Group Finance Director, having commenced his career at KPMG.

Graham Harding has been Finance Director of Future’s UK business for seven years and also Group Financial Controller since 2000. He started out his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

UK, London, UK

Future Publishing emerges as a contender for BBC Worldwide’s magazine division Posted on February 24, 2011

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, News, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Amazon.com Q3 results – sales up 44% to $10.88 Billion, Net income down 73% to $63 million

October 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Amazon.com has announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2011.

Highlights

  • Net sales increased 44% to $10.88 billion in the third quarter, compared with $7.56 billion in third quarter 2010. Excluding the $371 million favourable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 39% compared with third quarter 2010.
  • Operating income was $79 million in the third quarter, compared with $268 million in third quarter 2010. The favourable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $14 million.
  • Net income decreased 73% to $63 million in the third quarter, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared with net income of $231 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, in third quarter 2010.
  • Operating cash flow increased 19% to $3.11 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.62billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2010. 
  • Free cash flow decreased 17% to $1.53 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.83 billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2010.
  • Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 469 million on September 30, 2011, compared with 465 million a year ago.

“September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days – we introduced Kindle Fire for $199, Kindle Touch 3G for $149, Kindle Touch for $99, and our all new Kindle for only $79,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.”

 

Fourth quarter 2011 guidance from Amazon

The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of October 25, 2011. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce and the various factors detailed below.

  • Net sales are expected to be between $16.45 billion and $18.65 billion, or to grow between 27% and 44% compared with fourth quarter 2010.
  • Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(200) million and $250 million, or between 142% decline and 47% decline compared with fourth quarter 2010.
  • This guidance includes approximately $200 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

USA, Seattle, WA

Related articles:

Posted in Company Results, Content Media, e-Commerce, Internet Media, News, ~North America. Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »