AOL to acquire TechCrunch network of sites

September 29, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

AOL has agreed to acquire TechCrunch, the company that owns and operates TechCrunch and its network of websites dedicated to technology news, information and analysis. TechCrunch and its associated properties and conferences will join the AOL Technology Network while retaining their editorial independence, further bolstering AOL’s position as one of the world’s leading providers of high-quality, tech-oriented content. The announcement will be made on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, CA.

“Michael and his colleagues have made the TechCrunch network a byword for breaking tech news and insight into the innovative world of start-ups, and their reputation for top-class journalism precisely matches AOL’s commitment to delivering the expert content critical to this audience”
.Founded by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch operates a global network of dedicated properties from Europe to Japan, as well as vertically-oriented websites, including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, TechCrunchIT, GreenTech, TechCrunchTV and CrunchBase. The TechMeme Leaderboard ranks TechCrunch as the No. 1 source of breaking tech news online, followed by AOL’s Engadget.*

“Michael and his colleagues have made the TechCrunch network a byword for breaking tech news and insight into the innovative world of start-ups, and their reputation for top-class journalism precisely matches AOL’s commitment to delivering the expert content critical to this audience,” said Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL. “TechCrunch and its team will be an outstanding addition to the high-quality content on the AOL Technology Network, which is now a must-buy for advertisers seeking to associate their brands with leading technology content and its audience.”

Heather Harde, Chief Executive Officer of TechCrunch, said: “TechCrunch and AOL share a motivating passion for quality technology news and information, and we’re delighted about becoming part of the AOL family. This represents a compelling opportunity to extend the TechCrunch brand while complementing the great work of sites like Engadget and Switched. Our contributors, and our audiences, can look to the future with excitement about what we can build when we have the significant resources of AOL behind us.”

Michael Arrington, Founder and Co-Editor of TechCrunch, said: “Tim Armstrong and his team have an exciting vision for the future of AOL as a global leader in creating and delivering world-class content to consumers, be it through original content creation, partnerships or acquisitions. I look forward to working with everyone at AOL as we build on our reputation for independent tech journalism and continue to set the agenda for insight, reviews and collaborative discussion about the future of the technology industry.”

TechCrunch also hosts industry-leading conferences and events, including The Disrupt series, The Crunchies Awards and various meet-ups worldwide. These conferences bring together industry innovators, entrepreneurs and financing sources to exchange ideas, forge new relationships and discuss the current and future industry trends.

“Engagement with thought leaders is as important to AOL as our engagement with our contributors, audiences, publishers and advertisers, and TechCrunch’s conferences and websites will give us a promising, additional springboard to join and amplify these conversations. We’re committed to quality in everything we do at AOL, and look forward to working with Heather, Michael and the TechCrunch team to extend the brand,” said David Eun, President of AOL Media and Studios.

The AOL Technology Network consists of AOL’s tech-oriented properties including Engadget, the Web magazine about everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics; Switched, which covers the intersection of the digital world with entertainment, sports, art, fashion and lifestyle; TUAW, the unofficial Apple weblog; and DownloadSquad, the weblog about downloadable software and other computer subjects. The AOL Technology Network ranks in the top five for tech news according to comScore Media Metrix, August 2010 data, and leads the top five in average time spent and average visits per user.

This acquisition will further AOL’s strategy to become the global leader in sourcing, creating, producing and delivering high-quality, trusted, original content to consumers. TechCrunch will remain headquartered in San Francisco, CA, as a wholly owned AOL unit. Deal terms were not disclosed.

USA, New York, NY & San Francisco, CA

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AOL acquires social software start-up Thing Labs

September 29, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

AOL has acquired Thing Labs, whose Brizzly family of web-based social software makes it easy and fun for users to create, share, explore and enjoy content. The Brizzly team will play a key role in helping AOL provide consumers with the best possible venues to discover and share content with each other. Over time, AOL expects to integrate aspects of the Brizzly service into its popular Lifestream product, its social aggregator and publisher, and AIM, AOL’s flagship messaging platform. The Brizzly team will join AOL’s Consumer Applications Group, where Thing Labs Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jason Shellen and Christopher Wetherell, Vice President of Product and Engineering, will lead the AIM product suite, including Lifestream.

“AOL is a different company than it was even a year ago. We have to fundamentally change the way we think about the consumer experience and the team at Thing Labs has a vision and a track record of success that we think will help truly transform the messaging space,” said Brad Garlinghouse, President of AOL’s Consumer Applications Group. “The team represents a great combination of vision, product knowledge and experience building innovative social products and we believe their contribution will further complement the exciting work that the Lifestream and AIM teams at AOL are doing.”

Founded in June 2008 and based in San Francisco, CA, Thing Labs creates web-based software that encourages and inspires users to share great content. Its applications include Brizzly, which allows users to view and post updates to Twitter and Facebook; Brizzly Picnic, a group chat site; Brizzly Guide, a site dedicated to explaining social media trending topics in real time, and Brizzly for iPhone. Prior to founding Thing Labs, Shellen and Wetherell were instrumental in creating Google Reader, which allows users to aggregate their most important content.

“AIM, Lifestream and Brizzly are really complementary and we can’t wait to begin exploring how we can combine and enhance them to improve AIM and Lifestream,” said Shellen. “AOL and Thing Labs share a creative vision that the Web should be fun, effortless, inspiring and trusted.”

Lifestream enables users to view status messages and posts from their friends on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Delicious, Digg, Flickr, YouTube and much more — all in one place, from anywhere. Launched within AIM in 2009 and now also available as a standalone desktop product and on mobile platforms, it is one of the largest social aggregators on the Web, with more than four million unique visitors.*

This acquisition supports the AOL Consumer Applications Group’s mission to redefine the way people share and connect on the Web. Deal terms were not disclosed.

USA, New York, NY & San Francisco, CA

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Wilmington Group plc to acquire Axco Insurance Information Services for upto £22 million

September 28, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Wilmington Group plc is to acquire Axco Insurance Information Services Limited, the leading provider of international compliance and regulatory information for the global insurance industry.

AXCO provides comprehensive information on the markets, regulation and taxation environment for the insurance industry within 165 countries worldwide. AXCO’s customers include international insurers, reinsurers and brokers with a particular strength in North America. The business is based in London and employs 40 staff. 96% of AXCO’s customers are subscribers to products delivered electronically. Their renewal rate in recent years has been in excess of 95%.

The acquisition of AXCO has been effected by Wilmington’s wholly owned subsidiary Waterlow Legal & Regulatory Limited which has acquired 100% of the fully diluted share capital for an initial cash consideration of £21.325m and a deferred payment, capped at £675k, which will be calculated by reference to the net current assets of AXCO at 30th September 2010. Wilmington will fund the consideration from existing debt facilities. AXCO is expected to have approximately £2m of net cash at completion. The transaction is expected to be earnings enhancing in the current financial year.

During the year ended 31 December 2009, the period of the latest audited accounts, AXCO made statutory profits before interest and tax of £1.23m on turnover of £5.6m. Pro forma unaudited revenues and EBITDA for the twelve months to 30 June 2010 were £5.8m and £1.93m respectively. At 31 December 2009 AXCO had gross assets of £5.34m.

Charles Brady, CEO of Wilmington, commented, “AXCO is an information business of the highest quality and a clear international market leader. It provides its customers with ‘must have’ intelligence and has demonstrated an ability to maintain continued growth irrespective of the challenging environment in recent years. It is highly complementary to Pendragon, our pensions law and regulation information business, as well as to the compliance and regulatory training divisions within Wilmington. This acquisition is the latest step in our plan to build a world class, international, compliance and regulatory information and training business. We are confident of AXCO achieving enhanced growth within Wilmington.”

UK, London

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Wood Group acquires stake in leading renewable energy services consultancy SgurrEnergy

September 27, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

International energy services company Wood Group has acquired a significant equity stake in leading renewable energy services consultancy SgurrEnergy Ltd.

SgurrEnergy provides a range of consultancy, engineering and measurement services to the developers and funders of wind farms and other renewable energy projects. The company employs around 100 people mainly based in its Glasgow office and also in Canada, China, India, Ireland and France and the USA. SgurrEnergy will join the Wood Group Kenny business unit, and will work closely on a number of projects with J P Kenny’s Offshore Renewables group, whose offshore renewable projects include the design and project management of an innovative Wave Hub project for the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) in Cornwall.

Wood Group is an international energy services company with approximately $5.0bn sales, employing approximately 29,000 people worldwide and operating in 50 countries. 

“I am very pleased that SgurrEnergy is joining Wood Group as part of our ongoing strategy to expand and enhance our renewable energy capability, delivering proven design and management services to customers’ wind, wave, tidal and solar projects,” said Steve Wayman, CEO, Wood Group Kenny .  “The combination of Wood Group Kenny’s extensive offshore project experience, together with SgurrEnergy’s specific renewable energy expertise and proprietary technology, will create a leading player in the renewable energy services sector.”

“We are delighted to be joining forces with Wood Group,” said Ian Irvine, director of SgurrEnergy. “This transaction brings together a strong set of complementary skills for our customers, covering the full project lifecycle, and presents exciting development opportunities for the business and our people. We aim to leverage Wood Group’s global footprint and, with their strength and backing, will be able to accelerate our plans for expansion of our services and products.”

UK, Scotland, Glasgow & Aberdeen

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VideoEgg to acquire Six Apart and create SAY Media

September 27, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

VideoEgg, a privately held advertising network, has agreed to acquire blogging and conversational media company Six Apart, to form SAY Media.

The new entity combines VideoEgg’s engagement technologies with Six Apart’s social publishing platform to power advertising campaigns that are more conversational and interactive, with the combined company reaching 345 million global unique visitors.

Mena Trott, Six Apart co-founder: “SAY Media continues Six Apart’s mission to make passionate creators successful. Whether on TypePad or another platform, developing a game or an application, the company will empower people to create great content and make money doing it. This acquisition marks a new beginning as we launch a modern media company centered on the creators, the content, and the audiences that are redefining media.”

Link to the Launch Video

USA, San Francisco, CA

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Cash acquisition of Spice plc recommended

September 27, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Summary of the announcement by Cilantro Acquisitions Limited (a company formed at the direction of funds managed and advised by Cinven Limited and being “Cilantro Acquisitions”) and the Independent Directors of Spice plc (“Spice”)

Summary

  • The board of directors of Cilantro Acquisitions Limited (a company formed at the direction of funds managed and advised by Cinven Limited and being “Cilantro Acquisitions”) and the Independent Directors of Spice plc (“Spice”) are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition by Cilantro Acquisitions of the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Spice. It is intended that the Acquisition is implemented by way of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Act.
  • Under the terms of the Acquisition, Spice Shareholders will receive 70 pence in cash for each Spice Share, valuing Spice’s existing issued and to be issued ordinary share capital at approximately £251.1 million. The price of 70 pence for each Spice Share represents:

■ a premium of approximately 40.7 per cent. to the Closing Price of 49.75 pence per Spice Share on 14 June 2010, being the last business day before Spice’s announcement that it had received an approach from Cinven;

■ a premium of approximately 10.7 per cent. to the Closing Price of 63.25 pence per Spice Share on 1 September 2010, being the last business day before Spice’s announcement that it had received a possible offer from Cinven; and

■ a premium of approximately 5.3 per cent. to the Closing Price of 66.5 pence per Spice Share on 24 September 2010, being the last business day before this announcement.

  • Cilantro Acquisitions has received irrevocable undertakings (including from all of the Spice Directors who are also Spice Shareholders) to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting (or otherwise be bound by the Scheme) and the Special Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting in respect of 89,419,260 Spice Shares representing approximately 25.40 per cent. of the existing issued ordinary share capital of Spice.
  • In addition, Cilantro Acquisitions has received a non-binding letter of intent from a Spice Shareholder indicating its current intention to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Special Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting in respect of 10,965,717 Spice Shares representing approximately 3.11 per cent. of the existing issued ordinary share capital of Spice.
  • The Independent Directors, who have been so advised by Hawkpoint, consider the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable.  In providing its advice, Hawkpoint has taken into account the commercial assessment of the Independent Directors.  Accordingly, the Independent Directors intend unanimously to recommend to Spice Shareholders to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Special Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting.  The Independent Directors (other than Martin Towers) who are also Spice Shareholders have given irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the Special Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting. Martin Towers has undertaken to be bound by the Scheme and has irrevocably undertaken to vote in favour of the Special Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting but he will not vote on the resolution to approve the Scheme at the Court Meeting for the reason set out in paragraph 10 below.
  • Further, the Executive Directors are fully supportive of the Acquisition and have irrevocably undertaken to vote in favour of the Special Resolution to be proposed at the General Meeting and to be bound by the Scheme.
  • In order to become effective, the Acquisition must, among other things, be approved by the requisite majorities of the Spice Shareholders present (in person or by proxy) and entitled to vote at the Court Meeting and the General Meeting.
  • It is expected that the Scheme Document will be posted on or around 11 October 2010 and that the Court Meeting and General Meeting will be held on or around 4 November 2010. Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the relevant Conditions, the Scheme will become effective in December 2010.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Pascal Heberling, a director of Cilantro Acquisitions, said:

“We are delighted to be backing Spice as it looks to build on its strong market position serving its customers in the utility and energy sectors. In addition to Cinven’s sector expertise, Spice will also benefit from significant additional funds which will enhance its ability to grow organically and through acquisitions, as well as accelerate the development of its international capabilities.”

Commenting on the Acquisition, Martin Towers, Chief Executive of Spice, said:

“This offer is good for customers, employees and shareholders. Cinven is a highly credible institution with substantial funds at its disposal. As an investor, Cinven will take a long term perspective on our business with a view to supporting continued delivery of excellent service levels to our customers and opportunities for our employees. At the same time, the offer represents an attractive combination of value and certainty for Spice Shareholders.”

UK, Morley, Leeds

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DeNA invests in social gaming developer Astro Ape

September 25, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

DeNA has invested an undisclosed amount in Astro Ape Studios an iPhone development studio focusing on next generation social gaming and best known for Office Heroes.

DeNA has a wide range of operations including social gaming, e-commerce, mobile phone related services and online advertising business. Its latest quarterly report puts it on track to create $1 billion in revenue this year. DeNA has been steadily increasing their American presence through strategic U.S. investments. They invested in mobile social gaming company, Aurora Feint; made a full acquisition of IceBreaker and most recently bought Mountain View-based developer Gameview Studios

USA, San Mateo, CA & Japan, Tokyo

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DeNA acquires Gameview, a leading developer of mobile social games

September 25, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

DeNA has acquired 100 percent of Gameview Studios, LLC, formally know as Bayview Labs, LLC

Based out of Mountain View, CA, Gameview creates social gaming applications on iDevices. Gameview has created the popular applications Tap Ranch, Tap Fish: Exotic, and Tap Birds, the last two which have been ranked No.1 among free apps in the App store.

Gameview has some new mobile apps in its pipeline and plans to provide new apps in the Android market. It aims to establish a firm position in the smartphone market going forward.

DeNA is aggressively investing in promising social application developers all over the world to promote their “X-device” “X-border” strategy of promoting game development across different mobile devices and borders

“Our acquisition of Gameview today is congruent with our goal of rapidly expanding our mobile footprint as a leading brand and platform in mobile social gaming,” says Tomoko Namba, CEO of DeNA. “We were impressed by the creativity and passion that the Gameview team has for creating addictive and engaging gaming experiences, we’re excited to welcome them into the DeNA family.”

Through this acquisition, DeNA will promote an alliance between Gameview and MiniNation, DeNA’s strategic subsidiary in the smartphone market. By leading Gameview’s socially-active users to the MiniNation platform, DeNA aims to energize activities on MiniNation platform and further increase the platform’s value.

“The overwhelmingly wide range of games and active users in the community are the formula for success DeNA has utilized on Mobage-town in Japan,” says Namba. “This acquisition will enable DeNA to replicate this success in the smartphone market and MiniNation platform, further expanding DeNA in the global market.”

DeNA has a wide range of operations including social gaming, e-commerce, mobile phone related services and online advertising business. Its latest quarterly report puts it on track to create $1 billion in revenue this year. DeNA has been steadily increasing their American presence through strategic U.S. investments. They invested in mobile social gaming company, Aurora Feint, and made a full acquisition of IceBreaker, DeNA.

This latest acquisition follows a series of moves by DeNA including a strategic partnership with Yahoo!, called Yahoo Mobage, and the creation of a $27.5 million incubation fund to promote social gaming.

USA, San Mateo, CA & Japan, Tokyo

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WebMediaBrands acquires the Semantic Technology Conference and Semantic Universe Blog

September 24, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

WebMediaBrands has acquired all of the assets of the Semantic Technology Conference (SemTech) and the SemanticUniverse.com blog from Wilshire Conferences. SemTech is the largest conference in the world dedicated to the rapidly growing topic of the Semantic Web and Linked Data. Tony Shaw and Dave McComb, founders and operators of SemTech, will continue as consultants and will take an active role in expanding and operating SemTech for WebMediaBrands in coming years. SemTech 2011 is scheduled to take place in June 2011 in San Francisco, CA. SemanticUniverse is a blog and e-mail newsletter providing news and articles about the application of semantic technologies. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The Semantic Web is a rapidly growing technology that is affecting search marketing, retail marketing, and publishing and media markets,” stated Alan M. Meckler, Chairman and CEO of WebMediaBrands. “SemTech was founded in 2005 and has become the main trade show for those interested in the future of Semantic Web developments in technology as well as commercial applications. WebMediaBrands already has one of the leading blogs covering the field, SemanticWeb.com, and has operated the Semantic Web Summit conference. By combining forces with Semantic Universe and SemTech, WebMediaBrands has become the definitive source of information for what appears to be one of the next great revolutions in Web search and marketing. We expect that this acquisition will be accretive to our earnings and cash flows,” added Meckler.

”Semantic technologies are clearly going mainstream, both on the W eb and in the enterprise,”  stated Tony Shaw. “We felt we needed the resources and expertise of a larger, robust media organization to keep pace with these rapid developments. Dave and I are thrilled to continue the job we started – building a world-class educational organization focused on semantics – and now with the enthusiastic support of Alan Meckler and WebMediaBrands” added Shaw.

USA, New York, NY

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easyFairs acquires b2b exhibition organiser Fairtec

September 24, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

easyFairs has acquired the Belgian business-to-business exhibition organiser, Fairtec. The move brings together a portfolio of industrial technology shows in sectors such as measurement and control instrumentation, pumps and valves, subcontracting, welding, safety and security. Koen Damman, who has led Fairtec since November 2000, will stay on during the transition period until 2011.

Fairtec was founded in 1991. It successfully pioneered time-saving innovations such as the “one-day fair” formula, making it a good fit for easyFairs. “Customer friendliness, service orientation and excellent content for exhibitors and visitors are the hallmarks of a Fairtec event. easyFairs convinced us that they are well positioned to build on this tradition of qualitative contact and ‘exhibitions with character’ while making things even more time & cost-effective for our exhibitors and visitors,” commented Damman.

The Fairtec exhibitions, which attract a total 850 exhibitors and nearly 30,000 visitors, will be integrated under the direction of easyFairs Belgium’s Managing Director, Philippe Willegems. “Fairtec shows are already similar to our own. I am looking forward to working with Koen over the coming months and getting to know the Fairtec exhibitor, visitor and partner communities,” said Willegems.

Belgium, Brussels

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