RPS Group acquires Norwegian consultancy Metier for around £22.3M

April 30, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

RPSlogoRPS Group plc has acquired Metier Holding AS, a Norwegian based consultancy providing project management and training services, for a maximum consideration of NOK 267million (£22.3 million).

Metier operates across Norway from its headquarters in Oslo. The company, which employs approximately 160 staff, was founded in 1976 and works primarily on projects associated with delivering public and private sector infrastructure.

Metier trades within similar markets to OEC, the Norwegian project management consultancy acquired by RPS in October 2013, with less focus on the oil and gas sector. It has also developed an internet based project management training capability. The activities of the two businesses will be integrated. 

52% of the Metier shares are held by external investors.  The remaining 48% is held by 64 Metier staff, who are remaining with the business.

In the year to 31 December 2014, Metier had revenues of NOK390 million (£32.6 million), and profit before tax of NOK35.3 million (£3.0 million), after adjustment for non-recurring items. Net assets at 31 December 2014 were NOK45.1 million (£3.8 million). Gross assets at 31 December 2014 were NOK159.1 million (£13.3 million).

RPS is acquiring the entire share capital of Metier for a maximum total consideration of NOK267 million (£22.3 million), all payable in cash. Consideration paid to the vendors at completion was NOK166.8 million (£14.0 million). Subject to certain operational conditions being met, two further sums of NOK49.2 million (£4.1 million) and NOK50.6 million (£4.2 million) will be paid to the vendors on the first and second anniversaries of the transaction respectively.

UK, Abingdon, Oxfordshire & Norway, Oslo

Related articles:

Posted in B2B Services, Consultancy, ~Europe. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Kier Group to acquire Mouchel for £265M

April 28, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

kier-logoKier, the FTSE 250 property, residential, construction and services group, has announced that it has entered a conditional agreement to buy French repairs and maintenance business Mouchel.

Mouchel provides advisory, design, project delivery and managed services to the highways and transportation, local government, property, emergency services, health, education and utilities markets in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Australia.

Kier has agreed to acquire Mouchel for £265 million in cash, to be financed by a £340 million fully underwritten rights issue.

Mouchel reported group revenue (including share of JVs) of £616.6 million and underlying operating profit of £27.7 million for the year ended 30 September 2014. Revenues for the three months ended 31 December 2014 increased by 38 per cent. compared to the same period in the previous year. The Acquisition is anticipated to deliver pre-tax cost synergies of approximately £10 million in the financial year ending 30 June 2017, with integration costs of the Acquisition expected to be approximately £17 million.

The Acquisition creates an Enlarged Group with a pro forma combined order book of £9.3 billion (as at 31 March 2015), comprising Kier’s order book of £6.5 billion and Mouchel’s order book of £2.8 billion.

Haydn Mursell, Chief Executive of Kier, said: “Over the last three years, Mouchel has been transformed into a strong business with market leading positions. The combination of Kier and Mouchel, particularly in the provision of UK highways maintenance services, creates a leader in a growing marketplace. The Acquisition is consistent with and accelerates the delivery of our Vision 2020 strategy and will provide compelling value to shareholders.”

UK, Bedfordshire

Posted in B2B Services, Building Services, Facilities Management, ~Europe. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

BroadbandTV acquires YoBoHo

April 22, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

BBTV_Logo_black_writingMedia and technology business BroadbandTV (BBTV) has acquired kids content producer and publisher YoBoHo. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

YoBoHoYoBoHo owns and operates HooplaKidz, one of the largest YouTube Kids and Family networks, as well as 27 other channels. The company has a video library of over 8,000 videos mainly produced by the company. The vast majority of its content is original Intellectual Property. All 55 YoBoHo employees will join BBTV. RTL Group, the European entertainment network, provided funding for BroadbandTV’s acquisition of YoBoHo.

“We’re very pleased to conclude the acquisition of a top player in the kids space at a time when the kids content vertical is experiencing burgeoning growth,” said Shahrzad Rafati, BroadbandTV Founder and CEO. “BroadbandTV is also making a multi-million dollar investment in YoBoHo to further expand its library of original content, broaden its international footprint, and further diversify its revenue streams.”

Canada, Vancouver, British Colombia

Posted in Broadcasting, Content Media, ~North America. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

IRI acquires Chinese market research organisation Datasea

April 21, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

IRI_logoInformation Resources, Inc. (IRI) has acquired Datasea, a Chinese analytic services and market research company with deep knowledge and expertise in the retail and consumer packaged goods industries.

“We are building a Chinese company powered by the latest global insights, analytics and technology and bringing the latest tools and technology to this market,” said Andrew Appel, president and chief executive officer, IRI. The agreement represents the most recent execution of IRI’s strategic commitment to dramatically increase our geographic footprint to meet the global market research needs of our clients. It also complements other facets of IRI’s strategic direction, including expanding our data assets and leveraging this data with advanced analytics, plus consumer and shopper marketing services that enable our clients to achieve sustained levels of more rapid growth. We look forward to integrating IRI and Datasea’s strengths to bring enhanced offerings to our clients.”

In 2013, IRI completed the acquisition of Aztec, a provider of market measurement and related services in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the U.K. It also acquired FreshLook Marketing, which offers data and consulting services to the fresh food industry, in 2013.

Founded in 1996, Datasea clients include consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers, as well as companies in related industries, such as quick service restaurants and cosmetics. It maintains offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Jinan, supported by a nationwide service network.

USA, Chicago, IL & China, Beijing

Posted in Consultancy, Content Media, Market Data & Information, ~Asia, ~North America. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Utilitywise acquires t-mac Technologies for an initial £10M

April 21, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

utilitywiseUtilitywise PLC, an independent utility cost management consultancy, has acquired t-mac Technologies Ltd for an initial consideration of £10 million.

t-macThrough its own proprietary technology and software, t-mac provides business energy management systems (BeMS) which enable clients to monitor and reduce their utility consumption, make savings and helping them comply with Government legislation. Founded in 2004 and based in Chesterfield with 28 employees, t-mac services both SME and I&C (industrial and commercial) customers in the retail, education, manufacturing, transport, and leisure sectors. t-mac has significant market experience and a strong reputation across market segments where Utilitywise is already successful, and where demand for energy management solutions is buoyant.

The initial consideration payable is GBP £10m, £6.25m in cash and  1,782,319 new ordinary shares in Utilitywise at an issue price of 210.4p per new ordinary share, being the average closing mid-market price of a Utilitywise share in the 30 trading days to 17 April 2015. The Initial Consideration Shares are subject to a 24 month lock up, save that after 12 months up to 50% of the Initial Consideration Shares can be sold.

Up to a further GBP £12 million will become payable once earn out accounts have been finalised, in cash (70%) and new Utilitywise shares based upon six times EBITDA above a hurdle for the 12 month periods ending on the first and second anniversary of completion.  For the year to 31 March 2015 t-mac reported revenue of GBP £3.6m and EBITDA of GBP £0.3m.

The initial cash consideration is being funded by a new £25 million revolving credit facility with Royal Bank of Scotland plc of which £13 million will be immediately drawn to fund the Initial Cash Consideration and to refinance the Group’s existing facilities of £6 million.

t-mac is run by Lisa Gingell and Jonathan Wilkinson, who are taking a material proportion of their consideration in Utilitywise equity.

Utilitywise CEO, Geoff Thompson commented: “The market for BeMS is growing and modern cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, such as t-mac, provide significant cost advantages over traditional solutions which require intensive capital investment and offer long term ROIs.

“We know that our customers are increasingly looking for rapid impact, cost-effective services that provide them with more control over their electricity, gas and water usage, to help drive their business efficiency agenda as well as mitigate against future price volatility. This acquisition continues to expand our broad range of services that address the breadth of our customers’ energy needs.

“The acquisition of t-mac Technologies will play a major role in helping us to deliver significant added-value services and develop closer, more profitable relationships with existing customers, as well as supporting our new customer acquisition strategy”.

UK, North Tyneside & Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Related articles:

Posted in B2B Services, Consultancy, Energy & Environmental Services, Outsourcing, Procurement, ~Europe. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Utilitywise plc – interim results for the six months ended 31 January 2015

April 21, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

utilitywiseUtilitywise PLC, an independent utility cost management consultancy, has announced its financial results for the six months ended 31 January 2015.

Financial Highlights

  • Revenue increased 42% to £29.9m (H1 2014: £21.0m)
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 42% to £7.7m (H1 2014: £5.4m)
  • Adjusted Pre-tax profit increase of 49% to £7.3m ( H1 2014: £4.9m)
  • Adjusted fully diluted EPS increased 41% to 7.2p (H1 2014: 5.1p)
  • Proposed interim dividend increased 55% to 1.7p (H1 2014: 1.1p)
  • Net cash of £1.6m (H1 2014: (£0.1m))

Corporate Highlights

  • Successful move to new corporate headquarters
  • Energy consultants increased 29% to 449 (H1 2014: 347)
  • Total group headcount up 16% to 884 (H1 2014: 761)
  • New initiatives such as ESOS and water de-regulation in Scotland resourced to drive new revenue opportunities

Post period highlights

  • Energy consultants increased to 549 (22% increase post period end)
  • Total group headcount up 14% to 1,011
  • Secured revenue as at 31 March 2015 at £26m
  • Group customer numbers at 23,109 at 31 March 2015
  • Acquisition of t-mac Technologies Ltd

 Geoff Thompson, Chief Executive of Utilitywise, commented:

“The Group has continued to make progress with impressive growth in both revenue and EBITDA. During the period, we both extended contracts for existing customers and continued to secure new customers, providing further validation of the strength of our proposition and the important differentiation we have achieved through the on-going development of our energy management products and services.

“The move to our new Head Office was completed on schedule and on budget in November 2014, enabling us to accelerate the recruitment of additional staff in order to drive future growth and the progress with this is in line with our plans. New customer acquisition remains an important priority and, in line with this, we are pleased to report that March 2015 represented the highest monthly customer acquisition performance for the Group in its history.

“A significant market opportunity exists for continued profitable growth and we look forward to a second half of continued positive momentum.”

Access the full statement at the London Stock Exchange website here

UK, North Tyneside

Related articles:

Posted in B2B Services, Consultancy, Energy & Environmental Services, Outsourcing, Procurement, ~Europe. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

IHS acquires RootMetrics

April 20, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

ihs_logo_mpIHS Inc. has acquired mobile network analytics company RootMetrics. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

RootMetrics offers highly detailed network analytics on a subscription basis to mobile operators and infrastructure providers in the U.S. and U.K. The company will remain headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, and will continue to operate with the RootMetrics brand name. The company employs rm-logo170 colleagues based mostly in the U.S., with a growing presence in the U.K.

USA, Englewood, CO & Bellevue, WA

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Mobile Apps, Publishers. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

Market Track acquires New Momentum

April 20, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

MarketTrackMarket Track, a provider of advertising, promotional, and pricing intelligence solutions in North America, has acquired New Momentum (NewMo). The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

newmoBased in the San Francisco Bay area, NewMo provides online brand protection and eCommerce price monitoring services to many of the world’s most respected brands.

Commenting on the NewMo acquisition, Paul Salay, Market Track’s President, said, “NewMo has developed a proven expertise in helping companies reduce online fraud and protect their valuable brand equity. The unique combination of the two companies’ technology platforms coupled with NewMo’s unique, data-driven solutions will enable us to offer enhanced services to our clients through industry-leading innovation and thought leadership in this ever-changing digital landscape. The NewMo acquisition is just one of many investments Market Track is making to support our clients’ evolving needs across pricing optimization, competitive intelligence and assortment planning.”

USA, Chicago, IL & San Francisco Bay, CA

 

Posted in Content Media, Market Data & Information, Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Two Fusion Deals in Two Days: The sale of energyTEAM and ENER-G Procurement

April 17, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion only - logoFusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce the completion of the sale of two energy management services companies (and the third Fusion completion in the last month).

energyTEAM Limited and ENER-G Procurement Limited

Fusion Corporate Partners acted as corporate advisor for the vendors of both companies. The Fusion team was led by Paul Kelly, director at Fusion.

ET LogoenergyTEAM, a privately owned company based in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, has been running for nearly 40 years. Led by joint managing directors Chris Best and Brian Rickerby, energyTEAM has over 800 UK clients including public and private sector organisations. The company provides an integrated and fully managed energy management service comprising energy procurement and energy services. energyTEAM employs 60 staff. The deal was completed on Thursday 9th April 2015.

ener-gENER-G Procurement, owned by Salford-headquartered international renewable and sustainable energy specialist ENER-G Group, is based in Studley, Warwickshire. ENER-G Procurement was formed through the merger of the energy procurement arm of CMR Consultants and Utility Auditing Limited. Both companies were acquired by ENER-G Holdings plc in 2006 and 2007 respectively. ENER-G Procurement’s clients range from single energy-intensive sites, to large multi-site groups. ENER-G Procurement employs 52 staff. The deal was completed on Friday 10th April 2015.

Both companies were sold to Warrington based procurement services firm Inprova Group. The deals have been funded through a debt facility from Barclays. Investment from private equity house LDC is fuelling Inprova’s growth plans, which consist of a UK and international acquisition strategy focused on technology and category expertise that will complement the existing business. The terms of the deals are not being disclosed.

“It is highly unusual to sell two companies to the same acquirer at almost the same time. Both deals attracted multiple offers from prospective acquirers in two separate competitive processes. However, both vendors selected Inprova Group as their preferred choice,” said Kelly. “Neither vendor knew who the other was and, beside the normal complications of any sale process, the Fusion team also had to ensure confidentiality was maintained at all times. I am proud of the way the team managed these processes and I am delighted at the successful outcomes for both of our clients”.

Inprova Group is based at Olympic Park, in Birchwood, Warrington and has been set up by the founders of purchasing firm CEL Procurement, which has been providing procurement services since 1987, and was rebranded as Inprova in preparation for the group’s ambitious growth strategy. The company launched with Bob Holt as its chairman. Mr Holt drove the expansion and stock market flotation of property repairs giant Mears Group.

“Purchasing these two energy brokers ties in with Inprova’s wider strategy of building scale and capability across new procurement markets.” Commented Inprova group chief executive Paul Kennedy. For many of our customers, utility spend is becoming an increasingly complex and volatile area of spend and as such, they require a greater level of support and guidance in this spend category. The integration of these two businesses into the Inprova Group will enable us to negotiate better energy prices as we’ll take a far larger aggregation of spend to market. It is also likely that there’ll be opportunities for us to deliver wider procurement related services into the enlarged customer base.”

“Inprova Group will be turning over in excess of £12m per year following these two acquisitions.” Kennedy added: “My aim is to at least double this figure over the next two to three years. We’ll do this through our strong customer base in existing markets, which offers significant growth opportunities and also by continuing our ambitious UK and international expansion strategy.”

The Fusion Team has completed over 80 UK and cross border Business Support Services, Energy & Environmental Services, Media, Business Information & Technology, Exhibitions & Conferences, TV Broadcast & Production, Healthcare and Online Commerce transactions. Fusion specialises in the sale of middle-market companies with transactional values ranging from £5 million to £100 million. The sales of energyTEAM Limited and ENER-G Procurement Limited are our 7th and 8th sales of energy management companies.

UK, Warrington, Cheshire & Burgess Hill, East Sussex & Studley, Warwickshire

Other Fusion Deals:

Business Support Services and Energy & Environmental Services

Media & Business Information

Exhibitions & Conferences

Healthcare

Broadcast

Posted in B2B Services, Building Services, Consultancy, Energy & Environmental Services, Facilities Management, Fusion Deal, Outsourcing, Procurement. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

LinkedIn is to acquire lynda.com for around $1.5Bn

April 16, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

Screen Shot 2015-04-16 at 14.28.51LinkedIn is to acquire lynda.com, an online learning company teaching business, technology and creative skills. Based in Carpinteria, CA, lynda.com was co-founded in 1995 by Lynda Weinman and Bruce Heavin.

The transaction is valued at approximately $1.5 billion, approximately 52 percent cash and 48 percent stock and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2015. Most members of the lynda.com team are expected to join LinkedIn.

Through a subscription to lynda.com’s service, individual members and organisations have access to a comprehensive collection of courses taught by industry experts, offered in English, German, French, Spanish, and Japanese. In addition to individual subscribers, lynda.com serves corporate, government and educational organizations through its lyndaEnterprise, lyndaPro, lyndaCampus, lyndaLibrary and lyndaKiosk products.

“The mission of LinkedIn and the mission of lynda.com are highly aligned. Both companies seek to help professionals be better at what they do,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “lynda.com’s extensive library of premium video content helps empower people to develop the skills needed to accelerate their careers. When integrated with the hundreds of millions of members and millions of jobs on LinkedIn, lynda.com can change the way in which people connect to opportunity.”

Further Reading:

Ryan Roslansky, head of global content products at LinkedIn, blogged in more detail about the acquisition here. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, wrote a post about the acquisition here, and Lynda Weinman, co-founder of lynda.com,  posted about it here.

Mountain View, CA & Carpinteria, CA

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Publishers, Training/Education, ~North America. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »