Aegis Group acquires Qualitè Search Marketing

May 13, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis Group plc, the media communications and market research group, has acquired Qualitè Search Marketing, a performance marketing business based in Norway.

Qualitè, which specialises in search engine marketing and advertising, web analytics and social media, will be merged with iProspect’s existing business in Norway to create the market leader in performance marketing. As at 31 December 2010, Qualitè had gross assets of £0.1m.

Jerry Buhlmann CEO of Aegis Group Plc, said: “Aegis’s acquisition of Qualitè is further evidence of our strategic focus on bolt-on acquisitions which provide scale, infill and innovation. Qualitè’s client list, assets and expertise will complement iProspect’s performance marketing offering in Norway, ensuring the combined business has a market-leading presence there. This will support Aegis Media in providing an integrated service proposition to our clients in that market.”

Magne Uppman, CEO of Qualitè commented: “We are extremely proud to be joining iProspect’s leading digital search and performance network, with a presence in the world’s major digital economies. This transaction provides the opportunity to deliver market-leading solutions to our national and international clients.”

UK, London & Norway, Oslo

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Walmart Global eCommerce invests in Yihaodian, an eCommerce Business in China

May 13, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Wal-Mart Stores is to acquire a minority stake in the holding company of Yihaodian, a fast-growing eCommerce company in China. The transaction is expected to close within 60 days.

Launched in July 2008, Yihaodian offers more than 75,000 SKUs and has achieved a significant position in online grocery sales, as well as in categories such as baby/Mom, consumer electronics and apparel.  With 2,000 employees and an existing logistics network based in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, Yihaodian is serving a growing customer base with next-day delivery of essential daily items at competitive prices.

Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice chairman, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce and Global Sourcing, said, “We are excited about this investment.  Online sales in China are growing rapidly and are projected to match U.S. online sales in the next few years.  By investing in Yihaodian, we’re continuing to establish a presence in this important eCommerce market, and are moving forward on fulfilling our aspiration of being the leading global multichannel retailer.”

Wan Ling Martello, executive vice president, Global eCommerce, Emerging Markets, said, “We are very impressed with Yihaodian’s strong management team, solid competence in distribution and outstanding service to their customers.  We have been equally impressed by the fact that their values are consistent with ours.  We very much look forward to working closely with them going forward.”

Gang Yu, co-founder chairman of Yihaodian, said, “We are very excited about Walmart’s investment in Yihaodian.  Walmart brings its global vision into our business. In addition, its supply chain excellence will help us gain a competitive edge in the eCommerce industry in China.”

USA, Bentonville, AR and China, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou

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Centaur Media PLC – Interim Management Statement

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Centaur Media plc, the specialist business publishing and information Group, today issues an interim management statement for the period from 24th February 2011 to date.

Highlights

Advertising

  • In the four months to 30th April 2011, advertising revenues grew 10%, compared to 17% growth in the first six months of the financial year.
  • Growth was led by digital advertising revenues which were 26% ahead in the four months, whilst print advertising grew 4% in the same period. Centaur’s strategy is to increase digital revenues to 50% of advertising revenues.

Events

  • Revenues 4% ahead of last year for the four months to 30th April 2011.
  • Centaur’s largest exhibitions, ran in the period, Business Travel Show and National Homebuilding & Renovating, delivered aggregate 8% revenue growth.

Centaur also plan to expand their share of paid content revenues from last year’s 21% to a third; and to increase their share of revenues derived from international revenues to 25%.

Actual figures were not given as this is the Interim report.

Centaur’s Interim Management Statement

UK, London

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UBM plc acquires AMB exhibitions business in South East Asia

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM has acquired the business and assets of AMB Exhibitions Sdn Bhd and AMB Events Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, on behalf of UBM Asia.

Established in 1996, AMB operates five exhibitions in Malaysia and Vietnam, with four further new events planned for this year – three in the Philippines and one in Vietnam. The shows serve the water, livestock, energy, and mechanical/electrical industries.

AMB’s two largest shows are AsiaWater and ASEAN M&E Expo, which together account for approximately two thirds of 2010 revenue. AsiaWater is a biennial exhibition focused on environmental protection, soil erosion, flood control, sanitation, wastewater and resource management; its sixth edition was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia in April 2010, covering 4,000 net square metres. ASEAN M&E Expo is a biennial umbrella event encompassing security and fire protection, ventilation, air conditioning, energy and power; the 2010 show – also held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre – covered 4,500 net square metres.

In 2010 the business generated revenues of approximately $4m. AMB’s founder Andrew Siow Kwang Vian will remain with the business as a consultant following the acquisition, together with his team of 15 employees. The business is headquartered in Malaysia.

Jimé Essink, President & Chief Executive Officer of UBM Asia said:

“The acquisition of AMB accelerates the expansion of UBM’s exhibition business into South East Asia. UBM has existing interests in the core industries served by AMB’s shows and complementary footprints in three of the region’s fastest growing economies – the Philipines, Malaysia and Vietnam – as well as successful operations in Thailand and Singapore. I would like to welcome Andrew Siow Kwang Vian and his team into UBM Asia and I look forward to working with them to drive the business forward in close co-operation with M.Gandhi, Managing Director of UBM in Malaysia and Thailand.”

Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines

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Adconion Media Group raises £21M to support acquisition plans and general operations

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Adconion Media Group, one of the largest independent global audience and video content network, has secured nearly £21 million in financing from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the commercial banking division of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB) and financial partner to technology companies worldwide. The newly secured funds will be used to support both acquisition and working capital requirements to continue the global growth of the company.

Commenting on the deal Tyler Moebius, CEO of Adconion, said: “We have benefited from a great partnership with Silicon Valley Bank since early 2010 and we are pleased to have the opportunity to develop this relationship further. It is refreshing to work with a bank that understands how technology companies operate; a bank that is able to offer flexible financing solutions to service our international needs.”

USA, Santa Clara, CA & UK, London

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WebMediaBrands acquires Inside Network and its Social Media Research and Data Services, News Publications and Industry Conferences

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

WebMediaBrands has acquired Inside Network.

Inside Network publishes the well-known blogs Inside Facebook, Inside Social Games and Inside Mobile Apps; industry-leading research services focused on the Facebook platform and social gaming ecosystem including Inside Facebook Gold, Inside Virtual Goods and Facebook Marketing Bible; AppData, a service used by developers, investors, marketers, and analysts interested in tracking application, or app, traffic on social platforms; and trade shows such as Inside Social Apps.

Justin Smith, founder of the Inside Network, will continue to operate the business and will become WebMediaBrands’ Vice President, Social Media and a member of its board of directors. Terms for the transaction included payment of $7.5 million in cash and 4,183,130 shares of the common stock of WebMediaBrands.

“Inside Network Inc. is a leader in covering the Facebook and social gaming ecosystem through reporting, research, and events,” stated Alan M. Meckler, Chairman and CEO of WebMediaBrands. “When combined with our leading social media blogs such as AllFacebook, SocialTimes, and AllTwitter, I believe that WebMediaBrands is now the leading source of news and information about Facebook, social gaming, Twitter, and social media. We plan to move aggressively with initiatives designed to grow our combined editorial, research, and events operations, as well as dramatically augment our online education coverage of social media and our job board presence in the social media arena,” added Meckler.

“WebMediaBrands has created a powerful platform for delivering news, research, education, and events to the social media industry,” said Justin Smith, Founder and CEO of Inside Network. Since our founding, Inside Network has always focused on providing the highest quality information, research, data, and events for the social app ecosystem. Combining our efforts should naturally enable us to move even faster to deliver products and services to this rapidly growing industry in multiple areas, including industry news and research, conferences and events, and job listings for the social and mobile application ecosystems.”

USA, New York, NY

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Digital data collection business e-Rewards is to acquire Conversition Strategies

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Digital data collection business e-Rewards is to acquire Conversition Strategies.

Founded in February 2009 by former IPSOS executives, Conversition performs market research within the social media channel. The primary product offered by Conversition is EvoListen. A patent-pending technology, EvoListen collects data sourced from online social media outlets, cleans and filters the data collected, utilizes scientific sampling and weighting to report the results, and then formats it into quantitative data sets.

“With over half a billion consumers worldwide engaging in social media platforms today, we believe social media listening will continue to become an increasingly important way for businesses to collect valuable insights around the needs and wants of their customers,” said Chris Havemann, President and Chief Executive Officer of e-Rewards. “Our acquisition of Conversition will allow us to further accelerate our social media strategy while enhancing the research capabilities we offer. We remain committed to equipping our clients with innovative products that help with the collection and analysis of digital data.”

USA, Plano, TX

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Score Media acquires mobile app SportsTap

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Score Media, owner of ScoreMobile, a multi-sport apps, has acquired rival offering, SportsTap.

Launched in 2007, SportsTap, like ScoreMobile, was one of the early sports app innovators. Its ad-supported iPhone and Android apps have been widely adopted and enjoyed by sports fans across North America. SportsTap is currently the 3rd most popular free sports app on Android1, right behind the 2nd most popular free sports app, ScoreMobile.

“ScoreMobile’s acquisition of SportsTap brings together two innovative and popular services and positions us well to deliver even more exciting experiences for sports fans and creative solutions for our advertising partners,” says Benjie Levy, Executive Vice-President & COO, Score Media Inc.  “This deal further cements our position as a mobile sports leader among the world’s premier sports brands.”

Canada, Toronto

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Publicis Groupe acquires Beijing-based Dreams

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Dreams Communication, a Chinese agency which serves the healthcare and consumer industries.

Dreams will become part of Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG) and will be renamed Publicis Life Brands Dreams. The acquisition extends the PHCG China footprint and marks the network’s second acquisition in the Asia Pacific region this year, following Watermelon in India in March.

Founded in 2003, Dreams employs nearly 50 people and offers advertising and design, digital, medical education, and event planning services to mainly pharmaceutical and healthcare clients. Its clients include Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Xian-Janssen, Beijing FH Land, and the Ministry of Culture of China.

Bin (Simon) Sun will remain at the helm of Dreams and take the title of Managing Director, Publicis Life Brands Dreams, along with Kathy Zhao, who will become General Manager, Publicis Life Brands Dreams.

Nick Colucci, CEO and President of PHCG, said, “Adding Dreams to the PHCG portfolio further advances our key strategy to enhance our presence in emerging markets. We are especially excited to have expanded our offering in China-a market we see with tremendous potential for healthcare communications.” Bin (Simon) Sun, Managing Director of Publicis Life Brands Dreams, added, “I am pleased that Dreams will become part of the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group. This is an important step in our growth strategy. Working alongside PHCG agencies allows us to benefit from the global expertise of the leading healthcare communications network and will allow us to become a leading healthcare agency in China.”

France, Paris & China, Beijing

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Amerex Energy Services acquires Energy Choice Solutions

May 12, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Amerex Energy Services, the energy brokerage and consulting division of Amerex Brokers, has acquired the operations of Energy Choice Solutions, an independent energy broker & consultant. Steve Willett, former owner of Energy Choice Solutions, will continue to manage the business.

Amerex Energy Services will continue to operate and provide client services from its offices in Texas, as well as a new Philadelphia office. The new regional office will concentrate on Amerex’s existing and potential clients in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S.

“We are pleased to welcome Energy Choice Solutions to Amerex.  This acquisition furthers our commitment to remain the premier provider of energy consulting services in North America.  We look forward to expanding our business and being better suited to assist clients in the Northeast and Midwest,” said Amerex President Clay Davis.

USA, Houston, TX & Philadelphia, PA

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