Townsquare Media Group acquires music and comic book websites from AOL

June 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

townsquareTownsquare Media Group is to acquire AOL Music assets The Boot, The BoomBox and NoiseCreep as well as comic book website ComicsAlliance from AOL Inc. The new digital properties will join Townsquare Media Group’s national digital business, a portfolio of  music and entertainment websites. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of these assets from AOL represents the continued rapid growth of Townsquare Media’s aolportfolio of owned and operated music and entertainment websites,” commented Townsquare Media Group Chairman and CEO, Steven Price. “Adding these premium brands to Townsquare Media’s comprehensive offering propels our scale beyond today’s 52 million US monthly unique visitors, allowing advertisers and agencies even greater access to this highly engaged and demographically desirable audience.”

USA, Greenwich, CN & USA, New York, NY

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CBS Corporation acquired the rest of TV Guide Digital

June 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

CBSCBS Corporation has wholly acquired TV Guide Digital, which includes the  TVGuide.com and TV Guide Mobile properties. In March Fusion DigiNet reported that CBS took over the TV Guide stake held by One Equity Partners, the private-equity arm of J.P. Morgan Chase, which owned 49% of the company, with the option to buy another 1%. CBS was said to be paying about $100 million for the 49% stake.

Under the terms of the new deal, CBS Corporation has acquired the remaining 50 percent stake in TV Guide Digital shares from tvguide_logo_tatLionsgate. CBS and Lionsgate’s 50/50 partnership for the highly distributed TVGN cable network, announced on March 26, will continue.

TVGuide.com and the TV Guide Mobile apps will become part of CBS Interactive’s Technology, Games and Lifestyle group.

“TV Guide is one of the most-enduring and iconic brands in the world of television and video, and we’re proud to welcome TV Guide Digital to the CBS Interactive family,” said Jim Lanzone , President of CBS Interactive. “TVGuide.com and TV Guide Mobile have the biggest and most-engaged audiences in the valuable TV information category, making them a perfect fit for our portfolio of premium content brands.”

USA, Los Angeles, CA & San Francisco, CA

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Snapdeal.com has acquired Shopo.in.

June 3, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

snapdealIndian shopping site Snapdeal.com has acquired Shopo.in. Shopo is an online marketplace for Indian handcrafted, handmade and designer goods.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal was announced on the Shop.in homepage with a one line notice. All links on the Shop.in homepage now lead to Snapdeal pages.

India, Delhi

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YottaMark acquires personalised food information company ShopWell

May 31, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

HARVESTMARK ACQUIRES SHOPWELLYottaMark has acquired substantially all the assets of ShopWell Solutions, Inc., the personalised food information company.  YottaMark will integrate the ShopWell team into its HarvestMark Insights group, and ShopWell’s website and mobile applications will become YottaMark branded properties. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The ShopWell app helps people make smart decisions about the food they eat. Personalised results show easy-to-understand food scores and recommend foods based on the shopper’s specific dietary needs. At home or in the store, shoppers simply scan a food’s barcode to get nutrition information and find out if the food is a good match. The recommendation engine technology is powered by patent-pending algorithms designed by Registered Dietitians and statisticians, and draws on guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Institute of Medicine, and the latest peer reviewed research.

“This acquisition anchors HarvestMark’s strategy as the leading provider of trusted information about food, and provides a critical channel to reach shoppers across the entire grocery store”, said Elliott Grant , YottaMark’s Founder & CTO.  He added, “a producer will now be able to determine which characteristics drive preference and repeat purchase.  A retailer will have the ability to rapidly measure how merchandizing, store operations or supply decisions are affecting shopper satisfaction.  In today’s highly competitive food market – this edge provided by shopper insights can make the difference between a profitable product and failure.”

USA, Redwood City, CA

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Yahoo! acquires gaming infrastructure start-up PlayerScale

May 30, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

YahooYahoo! has acquired gaming infrastructure start-up PlayerScale. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

PlayerScale was founded in 2009 and is based in Belmont, California. It develops infrastructure software for various gaming platforms across the social and mobile space. PlayerScale has 100 million users with 4000 titles from over 2,600 developers worldwide.

Other recent Yahoo acquisitions include Astrid, a task-management app maker;Summly, a news-condenser app maker; Stamped, a playerscalemobile-review app maker; OnTheAir, which specializes in broadcasting video chats or interviews to online audiences; Snip.it, which is a kind of clipping service for the web; Propeld, a location-based apps maker; Jybe, a social recommendation site and Loki Studios, a mobile gaming start-up.

The acquisitions are part of a strategy to broaden and strengthen Yahoo!’s expertise in the mobile segment as adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets continue to accelerate.

USA, Sunnyvale, CA & Belmont, CA

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Answers acquires Webcollage

May 29, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Answers, operator of answers.com, has acquired Webcollage, a SasS platform for managing and publishing rich product information. Founded in 1999, Webcollage has over 1,000  consumer brands who create and publish rich product descriptions, videos, and interactive tours through their  network of retail e-commerce sites. Webcollage has headquarters in New York City and R&D center in Tel Aviv, Israel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Webcollage is a perfect extension to Answers’ product suite for retailers and brands,” said David Karandish, CEO of Answers. “Consumer manufacturers and retailers who trust Webcollage as a publishing platform can now benefit from Answers’ complementary products for product reviews, product Q&A, retailer reputation management, and branded consumer engagement. With the stellar Webcollage team, we are committed to making Webcollage customers even more successful.”

USA, St. Louis, MI & New York, NY

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Mecom Group sells Danish free sheets to Sjællandske Medier

May 28, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

sn_logoSjællandske Medier has acquired three local free weekly titles (Freesheets) from Berlingske Media, the Danish subsidiary of  Mecom Group for a cash price of DKK 37.5 million (€5.0 million), payable in full at completion.

The Freesheets comprise three weekly publications and two media houses, which together contributed €0.9 million mecomto Mecom’s profit before tax in 2012, excluding central overhead allocations. The Sale will be a transfer of the trade and assets of these operations, and will result in the deconsolidation of approximately €2.6 million of assets from Mecom Group’s balance sheet.

Berlingske Media has also agreed to acquire the outstanding 25 per cent minority interest in a printing company subsidiary of Mecom, for DKK 6.5 million (€0.9 million).

The sale is expected to complete on 1st June 2013.

Denmark, Copenhagen

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LexisNexis acquires Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt

May 23, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

logo-lexisnexisLexisNexis Legal & Professional, a  provider of content and technology solutions (and part of Reed Elsevier), together with Reed Elsevier Properties SA, has acquired the  publishing brands and businesses of Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt from the Thompson Media Group. Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Widely known for its “how to” guides for compliance professionals, the Sheshunoff collection of publications includes more than 100 sheshunofftitles offering expert information critical for the financial services industry with a strong focus on federally regulated banking and credit union lending activities. The A.S. Pratt collection has established itself as the “gold standard” of analytical content for the banking and commercial practice areas and includes 40 industry-leading titles covering key legal and regulatory issues – including respected treatises, journals and newsletters such as the Banking Law Journal, Pratt’s Letter, Brady on Bank Checks, Clark’s The Law of Secured Transactions, and others.

“Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt are highly valued brands that have built a trusted reputation by featuring some of the country’s most respected and recognized legal authorities,” said Bob Romeo, CEO, Research & Litigation Solutions at LexisNexis. “The addition of this trusted practice area content to our portfolio, and our ability to offer them through multiple channels further cements the status of LexisNexis as a premier provider of holistic banking and compliance information and analytical content.”

Both collections will continue to be offered in print format. Additionally, LexisNexis intends to offer them through digital channels, including as eBooks and online.

Other acquisitions in the past year include Law360 legal news, Knowledge Mosaic securities content and services and Oxford University Press intellectual property titles.

USA, New York, NY

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DMGT Half Year Preliminary Results

May 23, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

DMGT have announced their half Yearly Financial Report for the six months ended 31 March 2013. They report a good underlying performance, with the full Year outlook unchanged.

Financial Highlights

                  Half Year   Half Year    Reported   Underlying  Half Year  Half Year
                    2013         2012      Change~     Change~      2013       2012
                             (restated)+                                    (restated)+
Revenue             £915m       £974m        -6%         +2%        £866m      £866m
Operating profit    £146m       £133m        +10%        +7%        £97m       £68m
Profit before       £137m       £105m        +30%                   £97m       £37m
tax
Earnings per        25.8p       19.6p        +32%                   28.2p      15.8p
share
Dividend per                                                        5.9p       5.6p
share
  • DMGT underlying revenue up 2%; underlying operating profit up 7%
  • Adjusted profit before tax of £137m, up 30%
  • Good performance from B2B; underlying revenue up 6% and underlying profit up 5%
  • Underlying revenue decline of 2% at dmg media; improved profit margin driven by cost efficiencies, resulting in underlying profit up 7%
  • Active portfolio management; bolt-on acquisitions and disposal of non-core assets
  • Net debt up £111m to £724m; net debt:EBITDA ratio of 1.85
  • Share buy back programme progressing well
  • Dividend increased by 5%
  • Outlook for the full year unchanged

Martin Morgan, Chief Executive, said:

“We have delivered a good underlying performance in the first half reflecting the strength of our B2B companies and the resilience of our national consumer titles. As expected, reported operating profit increased despite a decline in reported revenue resulting from recent disposals.

Our international B2B companies have increased their underlying revenues and profits* by 6% and 5% respectively. Our UK consumer business, dmg media, continued to experience challenging conditions and underlying revenues were slightly down, although the increase in digital revenues more than offset the decline in print advertising revenues and the business delivered a 7% underlying increase in operating profit*.

We have continued to actively manage our portfolio of businesses and have made several acquisitions and disposals during the period and into the second half, to improve the overall quality and growth prospects of the Group.

Relative to last year, the first half of the year benefited from the timing of biennial events and the absence of a bond redemption premium. Conversely we expect the comparatives in the second half of the year to be adversely impacted by the timing of biennial events and the Olympics, which were one-off benefits for us in the second half of the last financial year. Overall, the outlook for the full year remains unchanged.”

For further information click here.

UK, London

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Yahoo! to Acquire Tumblr for $1.1BN – promises not to screw it up

May 22, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

Yahoo! Inc. is to acquire Tumblr.

The announcement follows:

YahooPer the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.

With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of the fastest-growing media networks in the world. Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent on site each month. On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app and do an average of 7 sessions per day. Its tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network. The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! is expected to grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50 percent to more than a billion monthly visitors, and to grow traffic by approximately 20 percent.

The deal offers unique opportunities for both companies. Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search tumblrinfrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.

Total consideration is approximately $1.1 billion, substantially all of which is payable in cash.

“Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” said Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. “On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn’t be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the Internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands – established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday.”

“I’ve long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of the creator. That’s why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I’ve ever met. He’s also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I’ve ever worked with,” continued Mayer. “David’s respect for Tumblr’s community of creators is awesome. I’m absolutely delighted to have him join our team.”

David Karp, CEO of Tumblr, addressed the Tumblr community, “Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from.”

The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second half of the year.

USA, Sunnyvale, CA & New York, NY

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