SGN acquires mobile games developer Mob Science

logo-sgn-silverSGN (Social Gaming Network), a cross-platform mobile games developer, has acquired Mob Science. The deal will include Mob Science’s full game portfolio, including its most popular title Legends: Rise of a Hero, adding more than 50M users to the SGN network.

“Mob Science is a proven game development company with collectively over 75 years of experience in top-tier mobsciencesocial game creation,” said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and Founder of SGN. “Both SGN and Mob Science stand for quality, enabling us to continue our strategic growth and market expansion.”

Mob Science’s team will stay in their Carlsbad, CA offices as the newest extension of SGN. More recruitment and strategic acquisitions will be slated for announcement later this year.

USA, Los Angeles, CA & Carlsbad, CA

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Google acquires Waze for over $1BN

googleGoogle has bought iOS map and navigation app Waze for just over $1billion (according to Reuters).

GeekTime is reporting that the price is $1.1 billion, “of which $1.03B will be transferred in cash directly to the company and its stockholders. An additional $100M will be awarded to employees based on performance.”

Waze was founded in 2007. The majority of its staff are based in Israel with around 10 others based in Palo Alto, USA. It has 47 million Wazeusers and has raised $67 million in funding from investors including: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Blue Run Ventures and semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc.

On the Waze blog, Waze CEO Noam Bardin said “We are excited about the prospect of working with the Google Maps team to enhance our search capabilities and to join them in their ongoing efforts to build the best map of the world.” He also said, “Nothing practical will change here at Waze. We will maintain our community, brand, service and organization – the community hierarchy, responsibilities and processes will remain the same.”

In the Google announcement, Brian McClendon, Vice President, Geo, said “To help you outsmart traffic, today we’re excited to announce we’ve closed the acquisition of Waze. This fast-growing community of traffic-obsessed drivers is working together to find the best routes from home to work, every day.” He went on to say, “We’re excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google’s search capabilities.”

USA, Mountain View, California & Israel, Tel Aviv

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Gannett to acquire television company Belo

gannettInternational media business Gannett is to acquire television company Belo in a deal that nearly doubles Gannett’s broadcast portfolio.

Gannett will acquire all outstanding shares of Belo for $13.75 per share in cash, or approximately $1.5 billion, plus the assumption of belo$715 million in existing debt for an enterprise value of approximately $2.2 billion. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, represents a 28.1 percent premium to the closing price of Belo common stock on June 12, 2013.

Belo Corp. owns and operates 20 television stations and their associated websites.  Belo stations, which include affiliations with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and the CW, reach more than 14 percent of U.S. television households.

The Company anticipates that the transaction will generate approximately $175 million in annual run-rate synergies within three years after closing.  The transaction valuation implies a 9.4x average 2011/2012 EBITDA multiple prior to synergies, and a 5.4x multiple assuming expected synergies.

Gracia Martore, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gannett, said, “We are thrilled to bring together two highly respected media companies with rich histories of award-winning journalism, operational excellence and strong brand leadership.  We have been successfully transforming Gannett into a diversified multi-media company with broadcast, digital and publishing components across high-growth markets nationwide, and this is another important step in the process.  It will significantly improve our cash flow and financial strength, enabling us to quickly pay down debt while remaining committed to disciplined capital allocation.  By enhancing our portfolio with one of the largest, most geographically diverse and network-balanced TV station groups in the country, the new Gannett will be well positioned to lead innovation, bolster our existing growth initiatives and take advantage of new opportunities in the emerging digital media landscape.”

USA, McLean, VA & Dallas, TX

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Ameresco acquires UK energy management business ESP

amerescoAmeresco, an energy efficiency and renewable energy company based in Framingham, MA, has acquired ESP, an energy management consulting company consisting of The Energy Services Partnership and ESP Response, located in Castleford, UK. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002 and incorporated in 2009, ESP is a  provider of  energy management solutions, including energy supply, invoice management and demand response services for commercial, industrial, manufacturing and utility customers.

“ESP is an exciting addition to the Ameresco family and will expand our enterprise energy management services to help support our multi-national customers that have additional requirements in the United Kingdom,” said George P. Sakellaris, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ameresco. “With this acquisition, we add local expertise to our EEM team and extend Ameresco’s energy supply and information services for our commercial, industrial and manufacturing customers with offices and requirements outside of North America. We look forward to working with the talented ESP team to further develop and cultivate growth opportunities serving not only Ameresco’s multi-national customers’ needs in the United Kingdom, but also ESP’s clients with offices and facilities in North America.”

“The entire ESP team is very pleased with the opportunity to enhance our delivery of sustainable services to our customers as part of Ameresco and to provide our expertise and services to Ameresco’s EEM customers in the United Kingdom,” said Derek Dixon, Chief Executive, ESP. “This acquisition also provides a great opportunity for our customers to benefit from the additional services and resources offered by Ameresco, a leading provider of energy efficiency and renewable energy services.”

Framingham, MA & UK, Castleford, West Yorkshire

Ameresco’s acquisition history

  • In July 2012, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Ameresco Canada Inc. acquired FAME, a privately held company offering infrastructure asset management solutions serving both public and private sector customers primarily in western Canada. The Company made a cash payment of $4,486,950 to acquire all of the outstanding stock of FAME.
  • In December 2011, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary AIS acquired the xChange Point and energy projects businesses, including automated demand response, from EPS. The Company made an initial cash payment of $4,497,141 to acquire these assets. The purchase price is subject to post-closing adjustments for pro-ration of certain revenue and expense items and for certain indemnity obligations of EPS.
  • In August 2011, the Company acquired Ameresco Southwest (then known as APS Energy Services, Inc.) from Pinnacle West Capital Corporation. The Company made a cash payment of $50,057,113 to acquire all of the outstanding stock of Ameresco Southwest.
  • In July 2011, the Company acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of AEG for an initial cash payment of $11,993,236. The former stockholders of AEG, all of whom are now employees of the Company, may be entitled to receive up to $5,000,000 in additional consideration if AEG meets certain financial performance milestones.
  • In August 2010, the Company acquired Quantum Engineering and Development Inc. (“Quantum”) for an initial cash payment of $6,150,000. During April 2011, the Company made an additional payment of $1,956,366 in accordance with certain provisions of the stock purchase agreement with the former shareholders of Quantum.

Utilitywise plc to acquire Energy Information Centre Limited for £15.5 million

utilitywiseUtilitywise plc, a utility cost management consultancy, is to acquire  Energy Information Centre Limited (“EIC”) for a total equity consideration of £15.5 million. Plus they will clear EIC’s mortgage debt.

To fund the transaction, Utilitywise are placing new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each by finnCap Limited to raise £5 million and a secondary placing of existing Ordinary Shares by finnCap Limited on behalf of certain directors and Hub Capital Partners to raise £17.2 million at a price of 100 pence .

In 2007,on behalf of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, Fusion Corporate Partners sold EIC to Broadfern Partners. Then in 2009 Broadfern rebranded as EIC.

Transaction highlights:

Total equity consideration of £15.5 million, to be satisfied by:eic

  • £10.5 million in cash
  • £5 million in new Utilitywise shares
  • In addition, Utilitywise will repay EIC’s existing mortgage debt of £1.94 million
  • Placing of £5 million in new Utilitywise shares to part fund cash consideration. Placing at 100p per share, representing a discount of 6.5% to the closing mid price as at 12 June 2013
  • The consideration represents historic EV/EBITDA* multiple of 6.7x

Geoff Thompson, CEO of Utilitywise, commented: “The acquisition of EIC creates an energy procurement and consultancy firm of real scale and adds further products and expertise to our already impressive portfolio. EIC’s strength lies predominantly in the larger, Industrial & Commercial segment of the market, an area which we had identified as a strategic area of growth, which combined with our market leading position in the SME segment gives us a strong foothold across the market and an excellent platform for growth. Utilising our outstanding proprietary IT and business analysis systems and our combined product range, we believe that we can identify and target a much greater portion of the I&C market, maximise the strength of the EIC brand and, thereby, the return on this investment for our shareholders.

“Since Utilitywise listed on AiM we have carefully added strategic, complementary offerings to our business through the acquisitions of Clouds (energy management) and Aqua Veritas (water consultancy). With the addition of EIC we now have an extremely compelling portfolio of products and services to meet the diverse energy needs of clients of all sizes and the expertise to deliver them. I would like to thank shareholders for their continued support as we continue to look to the future with great confidence.”

A circular will be sent today to shareholders giving notice of a general meeting of Utilitywise to be held on 2 July 2013 at 9.00 a.m. at the offices of finnCap Limited, 60 New Broad Street, London EC2M 1JJ. A copy of the circular can be found on the Company’s website http://www.utilitywise.com.

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Energy Management Transactions from Fusion

IHS to acquire global automotive information business R.L. Polk & Co. for $1.4BN

ihs_logo_mpIHS is to acquire R.L. Polk & Co., a provider of automotive information and analytics solutions for $1.4 billion. 90% cash and 10% equity. The stock issuance has a 2-year lock up. 50% of shares can be sold after year one and 100% of shares can be sold after year two

R.L. Polk is headquartered in Detroit and has $400 million of current annual revenue, 75% recurring revenue with 90%-plus renewal polkrates. 60% of its revenues come from the CARFAX brand and 40% from the Polk Division.

The company is principally focused in North America, with 9% of sales in EMEA and 3% in APAC. It has an adjusted EBITDA margin in mid-20 percent range.

USA, Englewood, CO & Detroit, MI

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ICIS acquires carbon market analytics specialist Tschach Solutions GmbH

icisICIS, a global provider of energy market information and a division of Reed Business Information, is to acquire Tschach Solutions GmbH, a specialist carbon market analytics company based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tschach

Tschach Solutions, founded in 2010, offers a comprehensive portfolio of data, information and analytics products for the carbon market.Products include short and long-term price forecasts, which combine analysis of market fundamentals, policy and trading behaviour in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the global Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).  Tschach Solutions produces a range of data, delivered through online, written report and consulting propositions.

“Tschach Solutions is a fast growing business whose approach to market analysis has proved highly effective. This acquisition increases ICIS capability in short and long-term energy market analysis,” said Christopher Flook, Managing Director of ICIS. “Our collective capabilities will provide customers with unique insights”.

Dr Ingo Tschach, Managing Director of Tschach Solutions added that “ICIS’ strong position across the energy information market, coupled with its extensive sales and marketing capability, provides the opportunity to accelerate our plans for future growth. As part of ICIS, we are better positioned to capitalise on the increasing need for carbon market data and analysis”.

UK, Sutton, Surrey & Germany, Karlsruhe

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Bloomberg launches $75 million venture fund

bloombergbetaBloomberg has launched Bloomberg Beta, a $75 million venture fund to invest in and create early-stage technology companies.

Bloomberg Beta’s initial focus areas are producing insights from data (data, technology platforms, content discovery, media distribution) and making the experience of work better (networks and communities, human-computer interaction, and radically new organisational models).

In these areas, Bloomberg Beta’s first announced investments are Newsle, MkII, Nodejitsu, Codecademy, Errplane and ProsperWorks.

“Bloomberg L.P. is itself a template for startups – first to succeed in its market, founded on a big idea, with a strong culture, and guided by its founders for three decades,” said Roy Bahat, head of Bloomberg Beta. “With Bloomberg Beta we can nurture the new generation of technology companies built on this template. We’re entrepreneurs at heart, and we want to invest and make companies. We’re fortunate to have a patient backer in Bloomberg L.P., which has seen firsthand the rewards to growing an extraordinary company over time.”

USA, New York, NY & San Francisco, CA

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WPP to acquire a 49% stake in Heureka Group in Poland

wppWPP‘s wholly-owned operating network VML, the digital marketing agency, is to acquire a 49% stake in Heureka Group, a Polish digital agency.

Heureka Group is a full-service interactive advertising agency specializing in digital advertising and social media campaigns. The Group consists of two main creative agencies, Heureka and Pride & Glory, and a proprietary social analytics tool called Brand Fibres.

Heureka Group was founded in 2008 by Michal Adamkiewicz-Wolniak, Joanna Adamkiewicz-Wolniak, Dariusz Andrian, Piotr Friedberg and Dawid Szczepaniak, Clients include Orange, Danone Group, Philips, Nestle, Microsoft, BRE Bank and PZU. Heureka employs 150 people in offices in Warsaw and Krakow.

Heureka Group’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012 were approximately Euro 6.8 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately Euro 2.4 million. Under the terms of the acquisition, WPP has the option to acquire majority ownership at a future date. Following the transaction, Heureka Group will rebrand as VML.

UK, London & Poland, Warsaw & Krakow

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Reed Elsevier sells RBI France

Reed Elsevier

Reed Elsevier has sold Reed Business Information France to funds belonging to  Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (via the Winch Capital 2 fund), BNP Paribas Développement and several managers of the company. The funds bought a 75 percent stake of RBI France, while the remaining 25 percent was purchased by managers Jean-Pierre Seguret and Alexandre Sidommo. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but is being reported that RBI France was sold for around £40 million.

Reed Business Information France provides professional information and services. Sales in 2012 amounted to EUR 62.4m and the rbigroup has 476 employees in France, Spain and Tunisia. Its main activities include a business intelligence platform which manages tenders (DoubleTrade), some of Reed Elevier’s last consumer magazines including CosmétiqueMag and Coiffure de Paris, guides and soft cover books (Prat Editions, ESF éditeur), an occupational training company (Comundi) and a lead generation company (emedia).

The deal also includes the transfer of the Reed Elsevier group’s Spanish tender management companies Manivest and Construdatos to RBI France.

RBI France is the latest disposal by Reed Elsevier as it moves away from cyclical markets  and focuses on electronic data services and research businesses.

Alexandre Sidommo, head of the Business Intelligence division DoubleTrade has been appointed chairman of Reed Business Information France. The Supervisory Board will be chaired by Jean-Pierre Seguret, former chairman of the DDB France group.

The executive team comprises Stéphane Barus, Finance and Administration director, Gianni Cavalcaselle who becomes head of the Business Intelligence division (DoubleTrade France and Spain), Thierry Lescure, head of emedia, Reed Contents, IT systems and Internet Strategy, Rémi Ramondou, head of the Publishing division, Aurélie Sornat, head of Human Resources and Anne Thomas, head of the Press division.

Pierre-Yves Poirier, Partner of Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners said, “We are very proud to assist entrepreneurs looking to boost business growth. We now share the same objective, namely helping RBI France to seize growth opportunities on its markets.”

France, Paris

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