HelloWallet raises $3.6 million in Series A funding

May 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Personal finance website HelloWallet has secured $3.6 million in Series A funding, led by Grotech Ventures along with an investment by Jean and Steve Case.

HelloWallet helps users track and proactively manage their personal finances by looking forward to proactively uncover savings opportunities and potential threats for its members. Unlike many financial management sites, HelloWallet does not allow banks to advertise or promote products, so its trusted recommendations are not influenced by any business interests.

“This round of funding reaffirms the value and potential of our service and will allow us to accelerate the accessibility of HelloWallet across a broad spectrum of the US population,” says Matt Fellowes, CEO and Founder of HelloWallet.

Location: USA, Washington,
Ref: F231109-424

Other Grotech investment deals reported on Fusion DigiNet

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Criteo secures $7M investment From Bessemer Venture Partners

May 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Criteo, a company that offes display ad retargeting to eRetailers that are frustrated with spending vast amounts of money to acquire traffic only to have visitors leave their site without making a purchase, has raised $7 million in a Series C round of funding from Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), bringing Criteo’s total funding to $24 million.

“As a global investor, we have been actively monitoring the technology landscape in Europe and following Criteo for a long time. Their breakthrough retargeting technology, ability to execute and world class management team are very impressive,” said Byron Deeter, partner at Bessemer, who also joins Criteo’s board of directors with the announcement. “We believe Criteo is in a unique position to play a major role in reshaping the rapidly evolving online advertising landscape.”

“Adding proven investors that understand our market and can support our hyper growth, gives us a strong competitive advantage as we build momentum in the U.S. market,” said JB Rudelle, CEO and founder of Criteo. “Bessemer has a history of identifying revolutionary companies. Furthermore, from the very start of our discussions, they have been extremely proactive to bring value to our business.”

Location: Criteo’s corporate headquarters were recently relocated from from Paris, France to Palo Alto, CA, USA
Sectors: eRetail, Internet
Ref: F231109-423

Other Bessemer Venture Partner deals reported on Fusion DigiNet:

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Groupon acquires mob.ly

May 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Online local deal discounter Groupon, who closed funding in April at a huge $1.2 billion valuation, has acquired mob.ly, a mobile-development firm led by former Yahoo! Senior Director of Product Management Mihir Shah and Yishai Lerner, former Director of Engineering at Carrier IQ. Mob.ly launched Goodrec, the mobile recommendation service, in September 2008. They have built mobile applications for several leading brands, such as OpenTable and Yahoo!

Details of the deal were not disclosed. The announcement said that the core of Groupon’s mobile team comes through the acquisition.

Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Sectors: Internet
Ref: F231109-422

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GfK invests in research for digital media – SirValUse Consulting and nurago

May 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

GfK Group is further expanding its digital strategy With an investment in SirValUse Con-sulting, the user experience consultancy and nurago suppliers of technology for digital brand, media and usability research worldwide,

SirValUse Consulting was founded in May 2000 and specialises in the area of user experience and usability. SirValUse investigates and optimizes the user friendliness, utility value and design of websites, software, consumer electronics, mobile applications, mobile devices and industrial manufacturing technology.

GfK saus it now has a share of 40% in SirValUse Consulting and nurago, effective as of May 4. Together, SirValUse Consulting and nurago employ around 120 members of staff in Hamburg, Hanover, Berlin, Munich, London and Beijing. In 2009, the total sales of the two companies amounted to approximately EUR 6.5 million. Clients include numerous international companies from the service, retail and industrial sectors, including Google, Deutsche Telekom, OTTO, eBay, LG and Samsung.

Announcing the deal Wilhelm R. Wessels, Member of the Management Board of GfK SE, said “The clear strategic direction of GfK in the area of digital media is further cemented through our cooperation with nurago and SirValUse. We are working on new joint projects in order to link our comprehensive data on consumer behavior even more strongly with findings from online research.”

Location: Germany, Nuremberg
Ref: F231109-421

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Kayak acquires German flight search engine Swoodo

May 7, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

US flight search engine Kayak is acquiring German flight search engine Swoodoo.  Christian Saller, CEO of Swoodoo, will become Managing Director of Kayak’s German operations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The story was first reported on TechCrunch.

Locations: Germany, Munich
Ref: F231109-420

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UBM Global Trade acquires selected Centradex assets

May 6, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM Global Trade today announced the acquisition of selected Centradex assets to complement its PIERS global trade information services.

PIERS, the business intelligence service for import and export waterborne and intermodal trade data will leverage the Centradex technologies to further develop product offerings for its clients.  Centradex’s three main products, Prospects, Trade Stats and Dashboard will be integrated.

“Centradex is a logical fit to our PIERS business due to their technology expertise, industry knowledge and advanced data analytics,” says John Day, Chief Executive Officer of UBM Global Trade.  “Centradex also represents the investment that UBM continues to make in the organization to propel the company to new levels of unprecedented growth.”

PIERS has recently introduced a number of technology upgrades including PIERS TI 3.0, a new version of iPIERS, the company’s flagship product and the PIERS Enterprise System.  According to Gavin Carter, Executive Vice President of PIERS and CIO of UBM Global Trade, “the acquisition of Centradex directly strengthens our Software as a Service (SaaS) strategy which we continue to develop and refine.  Clients are demanding greater capabilities to do more with their trade data and Centradex provides an immediate platform for our clients to begin extracting more value out of their current and future services.”

Locations: USA, Newark, NJ
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-419

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Newsy raises $2 million

May 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Newsy, a division of Media Convergence Group, has raised its second round of funding of $2 million. Newsy is a multisource video news service that analyzes the world’s news coverage – highlighting the key differences in reporting. Newsy operates Newsy.com – its mobile offerings include an iPad app, as well as apps for Android-based smart phones and Intel Atom-powered netbooks.

The funding, raised from angel investors, “will allows us to build revenue, distribution and marketing partnerships; grow our news operations; and deliver a remarkable product for our viewers and our customers,” said Newsy President Jim Spencer.

Locations: USA, Columbia, MO
Sectors: Internet
Ref: F231109-418

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Cox Enterprises sells 25% of AutoTrader.com to Providence Equity Partners

May 5, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Providence Equity Partners is taking a 25-percent equity interest in Cox Enterprises owned AutoTrader.com. Cox made the announcement today. They will maintain majority ownership and operating control of AutoTrader.com, and Providence’s ownership will have no impact on day-to-day operations.  Providence will assume two seats on AutoTrader.com’s Board of Directors.

“All of us at AutoTrader.com are excited to see Providence Equity invest in our company,” said Chip Perry, CEO and president, AutoTrader.com. “Their support will enable us to pursue the many organic growth opportunities, as well as strategic acquisitions, that will help improve the products and services we offer our customers.”

The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised Cox in this transaction. 

Locations: USA, Atlanta, GA
Sectors: Internet : eRetail
Ref: F231109-417

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Interactive Data is to be acquired by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a transaction valued at $3.4 Billion

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by investment funds managed by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus in a transaction with a total value of $3.4 billion.

Under the agreement, Interactive Data’s stockholders will receive $33.86 in cash for each share of Interactive Data common stock they own. This represents a premium of approximately 32.9 percent over the closing share price on Thursday, January 14, 2010, the last trading day before the Company announced that its Board of Directors was conducting a review of strategic alternatives. Completion of the transaction is expected to occur by the end of the third quarter of 2010, following regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Following the completion of the transaction, Interactive Data will remain headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts and maintain its offices around the world. The Company will continue to be led by its senior management team and expects to continue expanding its workforce over time.

The transaction has fully committed financing, consisting of a combination of equity to be invested by Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus and debt financing to be provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank PLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and UBS Investment Bank. Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus are equal equity partners in this transaction.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Company, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisor to the Company.

Foros acted as financial advisor to the Special Committee of the Board, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP acted as legal advisor to the Special Committee.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as lead financial advisor, Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus.

Location: USA, Bedford, MA
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-413

Previously reported

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Morningstar acquires Realpoint

May 4, 2010 — Fusion DigiNet

Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research, has acquired Realpoint, a Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organization (NRSRO) that specializes in structured finance. The purchase price consists of approximately $42 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments, and approximately 199,000 shares of restricted stock valued at approximately $10 million at the time the acquisition was announced March 19, 2010. Realpoint had revenue of approximately $12 million in 2009.

Realpoint currently offers securities ratings, research, surveillance services, and data to help institutional investors identify credit risk in commercial mortgage-backed securities. More than 225 institutional investment firms subscribe to Realpoint’s trusted ratings and analytics, including the majority of investment managers who invest in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Realpoint has about 40 employees in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Realpoint will become a business unit within Morningstar’s Equity and Credit Research business. Over time, the company will be rebranded under Morningstar.

Location: USA, Horsham, PA
Sectors: Market Data
Ref: F231109-414

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