RALLY Marketing Group acquiring PassionFruit Games

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

RALLY Marketing Group, an integrated marketing and promotions agency, is acquiring PassionFruit Games, a developer of casual video games designed for the female market. PassionFruit Games recently released Tiger Eye Part 1: Curse of the Riddle Box, which has become one of the top-selling, novel-based casual games released to date. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Given the importance of the female shopper to our clients, we’ve built an incredible knowledge base and put great effort into understanding how their behavior is changing,” said RALLY CEO Lisa Clarke. “The acquisition of PassionFruit Games is an example of how RALLY, as an integrated agency, can help our clients capitalize on the evolution of marketing regardless of the platform or media.”

For Melissa Heidrich, Co-founder and Studio Director at PassionFruit Games, finding the right organizational fit was key. “There are many reasons on paper why this union makes sense,” she added. “However my decision is validated daily when we come in, sit in the same offices as one company, and work together to move this exciting new partnership forward.”

USA, Seattle, WA

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Nexamp acquires SolVera Energy

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Nexamp has acquired SolVera Energy. The company also formed into two new business units, Renewable Energy Solutions and Clean Energy Advisory Services, which is focused on energy efficiency consulting services for commercial and industrial customers.

“The acquisition of SolVera Energy and realignment of Nexamp will enable us to address major growth opportunities in the energy marketplace by leveraging our core capabilities in renewable power and energy efficiency solutions,” stated Nexamp board chairman and co-founder Henri- Claude Bailly. According to fellow co-founder and board member, Daniel P. Leary, “This is an exciting next step for Nexamp that will build on our momentum in the two strategic businesses that will have the greatest impact on our success.”

Nexamp co-CEO and board member, Stuart R. Patterson, will head up the Clean Energy Advisory Services group. “The new business unit will allow us to build on the success of dozens of energy efficiency projects in Massachusetts and expand our efforts in the Northeast and beyond,” said Patterson.

With the SolVera Energy acquisition, Nexamp named John R. Malloy, Jr., former CEO of SolVera Energy, as co-CEO of Nexamp and a member of the board of directors. Mr. Malloy will head up Renewable Energy Solutions. Former SolVera Energy Executive Vice President and CFO, Patrick A.

Daly, has joined Nexamp as CFO of Renewable Energy Solutions. SolVera Energy brings to Nexamp broad expertise in energy project and technology developments, project and structured financing, marketing and trading, and asset management.“Nexamp is a highly respected brand in the renewable energy industry and I am excited to lead our expansion in the North American market,” said Malloy. “To make this happen, I am committed to working closely with an array of trusted development partners to deliver high-caliber renewable energy projects.”

Prior to founding SolVera Energy, Mr. Malloy was Executive Vice President at Verenium, a pioneering cellulosic ethanol clean-tech company. He also has served in executive leadership roles at Predictive Power, Edison Mission Energy, Citizens Power, Beacon Energy, and Wheelabrator Technologies. Mr. Malloy is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and holds a SMME degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Daly was a Managing Director at Alouette Capital in Boston, Managing Director in investment banking at Deutsche Bank in New York, and prior to that worked for Lehman Brothers, Kidder Peabody, Merrill Lynch, and Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Daly is a graduate of Harvard University and holds an M.B.A. degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

USA, North Andover, MA

 

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Lansons takes a 25% stake in social media agency cubaka

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Lansons Communications has bought a 25 per cent stake in a social media agency cubaka. The agency was founded in 2009 by Simon Rutherford, former Toyota head of digital. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As part of the deal Tony Langham, Lansons chief executive, will join the cubaka board. The agency will relocate to Lansons offices but maintain its independent branding.

Langham explained: ‘All of our campaigns include social media, but there are also social media only briefs and we weren’t in the market to win those and neither are most of the other top 25 PR agencies under their own identities.’

He added that the investment allows the agency to attract a higher quality of social media strategist than creating a social media function in-house.

Rutherford said the tie-up would ‘offer clients the chance to plan effective social media strategy, web development, community management and crisis comms management together so that they work cohesively.’

Cubaka will continue to service its own clients as well as offer specialist digital consulting to Lansons’ clients and help drive new business.

Clients at the six-strong agency include Toyota, Lexus and Davina Peace.

The news comes four months after Lansons bought public affairs consultancy Foresight Consulting.

Langham said that the agency remained interested in making another tactical acquisition in the digital space.

Read more on Simon’s Rutherford’s blog

UK, London


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Econsultancy – profits up and membership hits 100,000

March 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Econsultancy, the community website for digital marketing and e-commerce professionals has reached the major milestone of 100,000 members globally. Earlier this month Meera Shah, Director at Red Apple Delivery became the 100,000th person to sign up.

The membership milestone has been achieved eight years after Econsultancy first launched its paid-for subscription model, and follows on from a period of international expansion to the US, Middle East and Far East.

Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein says: “We’re all thrilled to have surpassed the 100,000-member mark. We’ve always believed in our professional community-focused business model and, in an era where many publishers are scrabbling to find a monetization model that works, it’s exciting to be growing so fast, particularly in the US, Middle East and Far East. We believe the internet is opening up huge opportunities internationally for UK businesses like ours: the growth in elearning and web-delivered professional qualifications alone is immense.”

The business is also growing financially. PaidContent reported today that Econsultancy’s profits for the current year are expected to be up by 50% to £1.5 million and revenues up by around £1 million to close to £6 million.

Read the full story on Econsultancy’s website – here

UK, London

 

 

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Lagardere and Hearst sign the share purchase agreement for the sale of Lagardere’s international magazine business

March 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Update

Previous article Hearst Corporation to buy the international magazine business of Lagardère posted onJanuary 31, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet | Edit

Lagardère SCA has today signed the share purchase agreement for the sale of its international magazine business to Hearst Corporation.

The closing of the transaction remains subject to approval by local partners in certain countries as well as to certain customary governmental approvals and antitrust clearances in certain jurisdictions.

The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the coming months.

France, Paris

 

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TechTarget to acquire Computer Weekly from Reed Business Information

March 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Technology media company TechTarget is to acquire the websites, product offerings, and events associated with Computer Weekly and its sister channel-targeted brand MicroScope from Reed Business Information. The transaction is expected to close by the end of April. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The print versions of both Computer Weekly and MicroScope will be discontinued when the deal concludes.

Founded in 1966, Computer Weekly is read by UK Managers, Directors and CIOs monitoring the technology landscape. ComputerWeekly.com receives an average of 425,000 visits and 1 million page views each month. It has an associated email database of more than 165,000 subscribers, 42% of which are senior level IT managers. MicroScope has a long history of helping advertisers to reach the value-added resellers (VARs) that influence the technology purchase decision-making process. This site receives more than 100,000 page views each month and maintains more than 15,000 email subscribers.

TechTarget owns more than 90 technology-specific websites with 9 million registered members. Computer Weekly and MicroScope will complement TechTarget’s established offerings in the region, including SearchDataManagement.co.uk, SearchNetworking.co.uk, SearchSecurity.co.uk, SearchStorage.co.uk, and SearchVirtualDataCentre.co.uk.

“ComputerWeekly.com and MicroScope.co.uk strengthens TechTarget’s already high quality audience and substantial reach into senior IT decision makers in the UK,” said Bill Crowley, senior vice president of international, TechTarget. “TechTarget brings significant new opportunities to these properties with our history of developing audiences, lead generation expertise and our operational ability to execute multi-country guaranteed programs,” continued Crowley.

Computer Weekly and MicroScope are brands that UK IT decision makers already trust, and they bring technology news and IT management focused content with deep understanding of UK market nuances. TechTarget brings detailed technical content that all IT pros and managers need to make informed purchase decisions. Advertisers on these sites will gain a broader range of lead generation tools and branding products, along with greater functionality for interacting with IT buyers as they actively research technology solutions.

With the addition of Computer Weekly, TechTarget will also pursue new events in the IT space in addition to its existing Storage and Virtual Desktop events, and will expand on custom events already run by Computer Weekly.

USA, Newton, MA & UK, Sutton, Surrey

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RR Donnelley acquires Journalism Online

March 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

R. R. Donnelley has acquired Journalism Online and its Press+ offering which enables publishers to seamlessly integrate a paid content engine with their websites. Journalism Online is managed by two of the company’s co-founders, veteran digital-media leaders Steven Brill, founder of The American Lawyer magazine and Court TV, and L. Gordon Crovitz, a former Wall Street Journal publisher. They will sty with the business.

“Our publishing customers continue to develop multi-channel advertising and editorial strategies and Press+ provides a valuable tool for monetizing content,” said Thomas J. Quinlan III, RR Donnelley’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We provide solutions across the entire breadth of the publishing supply chain, from content creation and digital asset management through subscription solicitations, processing and renewals. Press+ enhances our offering and opens new avenues for publishers to generate incremental subscription and advertising revenue.”

Steven Brill said, “We are delighted to bring Press+’s innovative capabilities to RR Donnelley and look forward to engaging with the broad array of consumer and b-to-b publishers with whom RR Donnelley has relationships. For nearly 150 years, RR Donnelley has been enabling publishers to reach their customers with a viable, cost effective business model. We are excited to be working with them as they continue that tradition and that mission in the digital age.”

USA, Chicago, IL & USA, New York, NY

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eBay to acquire GSI Commerce for $2.4BN

March 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

eBay is acquiring GSI Commerce, a provider of ecommerce and interactive marketing services, for $29.25 a share, or total consideration of approximately $2.4 billion. The acquisition, which will be financed with cash and debt, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.

The merger consideration represents a 51 percent premium over GSI’s March 25, 2011, closing price and a 47 percent premium over the average closing price of GSI Commerce common stock over the 30 trading days prior to March 28, 2011.

“We intend to lead the next generation of commerce innovation. The acquisition of GSI, which offers the most comprehensive integrated suite of online commerce and interactive marketing services available, will significantly strengthen our ability to connect buyers and sellers worldwide,” said John Donahoe, eBay Inc. President and CEO. “Combined with eBay Marketplaces and PayPal, we believe GSI will enhance our position as the leading strategic global commerce partner of choice for retailers and brands of all sizes. With more than 180 customers across 14 merchandise categories, GSI has long-term commerce services relationships with leading retailers and brands. We expect that GSI will benefit from eBay’s global platform and technology capabilities, and its clients will be able to leverage eBay Marketplaces and PayPal services.”

As part of the transaction, eBay will divest 100 percent of GSI’s licensed sports merchandise business and 70 percent of ShopRunner and Rue La La. eBay believes these businesses are not core to its long-term growth strategy. These assets will be sold to a newly formed holding company, which will be led by GSI founder and CEO Michael Rubin.

eBay expects the transaction to result in synergies of approximately $60 million by 2013; the company expects the transaction to be EPS neutral in 2011 and accretive in 2012. As part of the divestiture, eBay will loan the holding company $467 million and retain a 30 percent stake in Rue La La and ShopRunner. In addition, Michael Rubin will invest additional cash of $31 million in the holding company.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, GSI Commerce may solicit acquisition proposals from third parties for a 40-day “go-shop” period continuing through May 6, 2011. It is not anticipated that any developments will be disclosed with regard to this process unless GSI Commerce’s Board of Directors makes a decision with respect to a potential superior proposal. The merger agreement provides eBay with a customary right to match a superior proposal. There is no guarantee that this process will result in a superior proposal.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Peter J. Solomon Company are acting as financial advisers to eBay, while Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is acting as its legal adviser with regard to the transaction. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated is acting as financial adviser to GSI Commerce and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal adviser to the special committee of the GSI Commerce Board of Directors. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is acting as legal adviser to GSI Commerce.

Assuming its acquisition of GSI closes mid-third quarter, eBay said it expects the deal to be immaterial to its 2011 non-GAAP EPS guidance which it announced January 19, and have a negative impact of $0.30 – $0.34 to its 2011 GAAP EPS guidance, including a GAAP charge primarily related to the divested GSI businesses.

For more information on the transaction, including background information and factsheets, visit http://changingshopping.ebayinc.com.

USA, San Jose, CA & King of Prussia, PA

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Endemol UK buys a 50% stake in Holy Moly

March 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Media Guardian is reporting that former Big Brother producer Endemol UK has bought a 50% stake in Holy Moly in a deal which sees Jamie East’s secret identity as the celebrity gossip website’s founder formally unveiled for the first time.

Holy Moly employs six full-time staff. It, will move out of its existing offices in Charlotte Street, in central London, into the Endemol HQ in Shepherd’s Bush.

Read the full story

Uk, London

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Meltwater acquires social CRM software business JitterJam for $6M

March 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Social media and news monitoring company, The Meltwater Group, has acquired Social CRM software company JitterJam. Meltwater purchased JitterJam for $6 million, and all of JitterJam’s employees will join Meltwater.

Meltwater has revenues of around $100 million a year company. The company has 55 offices around the world serving more than 18,000 customers. JitterJam combines email, social media and mobile engagement with an intelligent contact database to provide businesses with an integrated consumer engagement and marketing platform. The JitterJam platform is built for consumer-facing companies who are looking to generate ROI from social, mobile and email engagement and marketing. The JitterJam platform will be integrated over time with the Meltwater Buzz product.

“Meltwater was bootstrapped with $15,000 ten years ago and has now grown to a $100 million leader without external funding in the online media monitoring space. Also, we have proven we have the expertise to achieve rapid success in emerging markets,” said Jorn Lyseggen, chief executive officer and founder of Meltwater Group. “The Social CRM space is clearly experiencing fast growth and within three years we aim to generate $100 million a year in Social CRM solutions alone. The JitterJam technology and talent will help us achieve this goal.”

Meltwater acquired BuzzGain last year and says it intends to acquire more businesses and technologies to help the company further expand its product suite.

USA, San Francisco, CA & Bedford, NH

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