GlobalWide Media completes $40M acquisition of Neverblue Media Company

September 7, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

GlobalWide Media Inc. has closed its acquisition of Neverblue Media Company and AKMG.

Neverblue, based in Victoria, British Columbia with offices in Los Angeles, Europe and Asia, is a performance-based online marketing company with capabilities across all major media channels, including mobile, search, email, social media and display. AKMG is a performance based affiliate network comprised of premium publishers worldwide. While Neverblue will continue to operate under the Neverblue Media name, AKMG and its entire team will operate as GlobalWide Media going forward.

“We are delighted to formally welcome the Neverblue team, as their footprint into international markets together with their expertise and scale in mobile advertising complements our strengths in becoming the premier ‘One-stop’ solution for advertisers and publishers,” said Farshad Fardad, Chief Executive Officer of GlobalWide Media. “Our ultimate goal is to deliver highly targeted profitable customers to our advertisers while broadening the availability of additional branded campaigns to our publishing partners.”

USA, Westlake Village, CA & Canada, British Columbia, Victoria

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Gannett acquires social media marketing solutions company BLiNQ Media

August 26, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Gannett Co., Inc. has acquired BLiNQ Media LLC, a global innovator of Social Engagement AdvertisingSM solutions for agencies and brands. Since 2008, BLiNQ has managed social media marketing campaigns for more than 600 of the world’s largest advertisers.

“With demand for social media marketing solutions continuing to grow at a rapid pace, this acquisition is part of our ongoing transformation at Gannett and positions us to be a leader in both local and global social media marketing. BLiNQ will enhance Gannett Digital Marketing Services’ ability to deliver a one-stop shop for all marketing needs, including social marketing,” said Gracia Martore, president and CEO at Gannett.

BLiNQ will continue to operate its core business as part of Gannett’s portfolio of brands, providing technology and media solutions for social advertising and engagement to agencies and brands. As part of Gannett’s Digital Marketing Services organization, BLiNQ will help develop innovative social marketing solutions for businesses that want to reach local consumers. Gannett Digital Marketing Services will fully leverage BLiNQ’s BAM 2.0 technology platform, which facilitates social media campaign planning, set-up, management, optimization and insights. BLiNQ will have a strong focus on delivering robust solutions for local social engagement at scale, including working closely with ShopLocal to help shape best practices and results in reaching, engaging and building loyalty with retail consumers via social media. Dave Williams, BLiNQ’s CEO, will report to Vikram Sharma, president and CEO at Gannett Digital Marketing Services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BLiNQ’s headquarters will remain at TechSpace in New York City and its technology, finance and marketing groups will remain based in Atlanta. BLiNQ’s sales and support offices will continue in London, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

USA, McLean, VA & New York, NY

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Marketing/Advertising, ~North America. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Millward Brown to acquire consumer insight company, Cadem Advertising, in Chile

July 23, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

WPP’s wholly owned operating company Millward Brown, a brand, media and communications research business,  has acquired Cadem Advertising S.A., a consumer insights company in Chile.

Founded in 1997, Cadem has operated as a licensee of Millward Brown for many years providing brand tracking, quantitative and qualitative research services.

Cadem employs 87 people and key clients include Coca-Cola, Falabella Retail, Nestle, Telefonica and Unilever.

Cadem’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were approximately CLP3.2 billion with gross assets of approximately CLP1.3 billion at the same date.

UK, London & Chile, Santiago

Related articles:

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~Europe, ~Latin America and Caribbean. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

Aegis to acquire Chinese digital agency, Catch Stone, for initial consideration of £55.2m

July 23, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Aegis Group plc is to acquire Beijing Catch Stone Advertising Co., Ltd and the business of Shanghai Catch Stone Culture Media Co., Ltd, an established full service digital media and marketing agency in China, for an initial consideration of RMB 550 million (£55.2 million). Catch Stone will form a separate network brand for Aegis Media in China.

Catch Stone is an established digital agency in China. Its capabilities include digital media planning and buying as well as a range of digital marketing services in areas including creative origination and social media. Catch Stone is a leading media buying agency operating across China with a particular specialism in the automotive and financial services sectors. It has a strong mix of multi-national and local clients in these sectors, including Audi, Nissan, Saic GM Wuling (SGMW), Industrial Bank and Inoherb. Catch Stone was formed in 2002 and now employs over 130 people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The acquisition is subject to a four year earn-out structure, from 2013 to 2016 inclusive, with further annual consideration payments being made during this period, dependent on the level of future profit growth achieved. The total consideration for the acquisition by 2016 is expected to be around RMB 949.4 million (£95.2 million). If Catch Stone significantly outperforms current forecasts, the total consideration could be higher with a cap on the maximum amount payable of RMB 1.5 billion (£150.4 million). All consideration payments will be satisfied in cash.

The unaudited profit before tax of Catch Stone for the year ended 31 December 2011 was RMB 81 million (£8.1 million) and the value of the gross assets at that time was RMB RMB 375.9 million (£37.7 million).

The RMB: £ exchange rate used in this article is RMB 9.9724: £1.

UK, London & China, Beijing

Related articles:

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~Asia, ~Europe. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Publicis Groupe acquires CNC – Communications & Network Consulting AG

July 18, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired strategic communications consultancy CNC – Communications & Network Consulting AG . CNC will become part of MSLGROUP, the strategic communications network of Publicis Groupe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Munich, CNC is an international strategic communications consultancy group. CNC, which employs around 100 professionals, is present in 14 cities across Europe, Asia, North and South America. Since its founding in 2002, the consultancy has regularly achieved double-digit annual growth.

CNC advises large corporations, mid-cap companies, institutions and individuals on all aspects of strategic communications within their specific markets. CNC’s services range from strategic communications and reputation management to financial communications, crisis counseling including litigation advisory, branding and public affairs.

CNC has been involved in more than 100 German IPO transactions with a total volume of more than €180 billion and has a particularly strong focus on cross-border mandates.

CNC will be aligned to MSLGROUP. Its leadership under CEO Dr. Christoph Walther remains unchanged.  MSLGROUP CEO Olivier Fleurot and MSLGROUP President for the EMEA region, Anders Kempe, will join CNC’s supervisory board where Mr Kempe will become Chairman.

Maurice Levy, Publicis Groupe Chairman and CEO, said,”CNC is one of the premier strategic and financial public relations firms in Europe, with a client base that is outstanding. I have followed CNC’s success story with interest and I am impressed by the company’s entrepreneurial spirit. The skill set will fit perfectly into our group and our strategy to make Germany one of our key hubs.”

France, Paris and Germany, Munich

Related articles:

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~Europe. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

Berkery Noyes releases first half 2012 M&A Report for the Media and Marketing Industry

July 18, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, has released its first half 2012 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Media and Marketing Industry.

The report analyzes merger and acquisition activity in the Media and Marketing Industry for the first half of 2012 and compares it with activity in the four previous six-month periods from 2010 to 2011.

Total transaction volume increased six percent during the last six months, from 784 transactions in second half 2011 to 834 in first half 2012. Meanwhile, total transaction value increased 27 percent, from $24.88 billion to $31.51 billion. Despite this uptick, median enterprise multiples in the industry decreased. The median revenue multiple fell from 1.8x to 1.2x and the median EBITDA multiple declined from 10.0x to 7.8x. However, three segments had median revenue multiples of at least 2.0x: B2B Publishing, Broadcasting, and Exhibitions, Conferences, and Seminars.

Marketing was the most active industry segment for first half 2012, accounting for 262 transactions and surpassing Internet Media in transaction volume during the last twelve months. Although Internet Media activity declined two percent compared to second half 2011, it remained 19 percent above its second half 2010 levels. In the Marketing segment, 47 percent of deals were Digital Marketing transactions, which represented a 10 percent improvement on a half-to-half year basis. WPP Group was the largest acquirer in the Digital Marketing sub-segment as well as the overall Media and Marketing Industry.

The segment with the largest rise in volume in first half 2012 was Exhibitions, Conferences, and Seminars with an 85 percent increase. The median revenue multiple in the segment also increased 26 percent relative to first half 2011, from 1.9x to 2.4x.

Consumer Publishing M&A rose 13 percent, improving for the third consecutive half year period. The segment was led in first half 2012 by Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisitions of Waco Tribune Herald, The Bryan College Station Eagle, and 63 daily newspapers from Media General. In addition, the B2B segment was responsible for three of the top nine deals by value and underwent a 10 percent increase in transaction volume.

M&A volume in the Entertainment segment increased for the fourth straight half year, growing 24 percent in first half 2012. The largest related transaction in first half 2012 was Lionsgate’s acquisition of Summit Entertainment for $700 million. Video games, a sub-classification of Entertainment, rose 30 percent in first half 2012 and accounted for 62 percent of the segment’s deals. There was also a 50 percent increase in social gaming transactions during the last six months. The most notable social gaming deal by value was GREE International’s announced acquisition of Funzio, a mobile game developer, for $210 million.

“As we predicted in the press release for our first quarter report, there has been an impressive increase in M&A pertaining to social gaming,” said Evan Klein, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes. “Of the many possible means of monetizing social games, enticing users to purchase virtual currency and other rewards continues to be the most lucrative model for generating revenue.”

A copy of the FIRST HALF 2012 MEDIA AND MARKETING INDUSTRY M&A REPORT is available here.

Related articles:

 

Posted in Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Marketing/Advertising, Publishers, Research Reports, ~Asia, ~Europe, ~Latin America and Caribbean, ~Middle East & Africa, ~North America, ~Oceana. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

TiVo to acquire TRA

July 17, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

TiVo is to acquire TRA, a media marketing and analytics software company whose products help advertisers, agencies and television networks improve advertising targeting, accountability and return on media investment. TRA matches television exposures from 1.5 million TV homes with specific purchase transactions. The new unit will be known as TiVo Research and Analytics.

Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo said, “TV has long been the best medium for advertisers to influence what consumers buy. TRA has proven its platform can determine the effectiveness of TV advertising by connecting the exposure of ads to actual purchases, helping advertisers identify the right audience and get the most out of their ad dollars. TRA has driven a substantial client list of advertisers, agencies and networks with this proposition. With this new level of unique audience insights and analytics, TiVo will be able to provide insights nobody else has in an industry increasingly seeking alternative ways to measure audience behavior accurately while increasing efficiencies in media spending.”

TRA has more than 45 brand clients and 27 network clients including CBS, A&E Television Networks, ION Media, Procter & Gamble, Oscar Mayer and Starcom MediaVest Group, among others.

TiVo will pay approximately $20 million for TRA. TiVo expects the transaction to close this month. TRA’s revenue is on track to increase significantly in 2012.

 

USA, Alviso, CA

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

A Fusion Deal: Econsultancy sold to Centaur

July 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce our latest deal, the sale of Econsultancy.com Limited to business information and events group Centaur Media plc.

Econsultancy is a leading digital and events-led information provider to the global digital marketing and e-commerce community in the UK, with a growing presence in the USA, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Econsultancy’s revenues stem from subscriptions, events, training, professional qualifications and media. The company has approximately 110,000 registered users and approximately 5,000 subscribers.

Centaur are paying an initial consideration of £12m in cash, with deferred consideration of up to £38m due in 2016, based on EBITDA performance for the year ending December 2015.

Econsultancy was founded in 1999. In the financial year to 31 December 2011, Econsultancy reported revenues of £6.6m (representing an increase of 50 per cent. on the prior period) and adjusted EBITDA of £1.1m. Econsultancy’s CEO and key executives will remain with the business following the acquisition

The acquisition is a key part of the strategy to transform the Centaur Group into a predominantly digital and events-led business. The deal complements Centaur’s market-leading publications, events and digital services in the marketing, design and creative sectors.

Geoff Wilmot, Centaur Chief Executive, said, “The earnings enhancing acquisition of Econsultancy provides us with an exciting opportunity to acquire a leading information brand in a high growth sector with global potential which fits well with Centaur products including Marketing Week and New Media Age. Econsultancy is highly complementary with Centaur and gives us a prominent position in the rapidly growing digital marketing sector with the opportunity to scale internationally. We see considerable potential for collaborative growth through leveraging our existing position in marketing and the development of high value, paid-for information services.”

Paul Slight, Director at Fusion, said, “We were delighted to work with the team at Econsultancy. The company has become the leading source of independent advice and insight on digital marketing and ecommerce. It will be an excellent fit with Centaur products.”

UK, London

Related articles:

OTHER FUSION DEALS:

Media and Information

Business Services
Events, Broadcast and Other deals
Posted in B2B Services, Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Consultancy, Content Media, Fusion Deal, Internet Media, Marketing/Advertising, Publishers, Research Reports, Training/Education, ~Europe. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Burson-Marsteller to acquire i&e SAS

June 25, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

WPP’s wholly-owned public relations and public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller, is to acquire communications consultancy, i&e SAS in France.

Paris-based i&e has 50 years of experience in the French market and specialises in reputation management, brand marketing and change management.  The consultancy employs around 110 people and provides public relations services to public institutions and companies, including many of France’s leading brands.

i&e’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were approximately €13 million with gross assets of approximately €5 million at the same date.

Collectively, WPP companies employ nearly 5,000 people in France (including associates) with revenues of approximately US$850 million.  On this basis, France is WPP’s seventh largest market.

UK, London & France, Paris

Related articles:

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~Europe. Tags: , . Leave a Comment »

WPP to acquire AKQA

June 20, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

WPP is to acquire the assets of digital agency AKQA Holdings, Inc.

Founded in 2001, AKQA provides integrated digital communications campaigns, spanning social media, mobile, interactive experiences, gaming and content creation.  Clients include Delta, Diageo, EDF, GAP, Google, Microsoft Xbox, Nike, Target, Unilever and Virgin Money, among many others.

International recognition for its creative excellence has earned the agency numerous industry awards, including 19 Agency of the Year titles.  Last year, AKQA won Digital Agency of the Year honours in both the US (Adweek) and the UK (Campaign) and collected five Cannes Lions.

Currently employing 1160 people worldwide – from software engineers and technologists to creatives and strategists – the agency operates through offices in the US (San Francisco, New York, Washington DC), Europe (London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin) and Asia (Shanghai). The agency had gross assets of $282 million as at 31 December 2011 and forecasts revenues of around $230 million in 2012, having achieved $189 million in 2011.

AKQA will continue to operate as an independent and stand-alone brand within WPP and be led by founder and CEO Ajaz Ahmed and Chairman Tom Bedecarré.  Tom Bedecarré will also become President of WPP Ventures, a new Silicon Valley-based company, which will explore new digital investment opportunities for WPP as a whole.

Commenting on the arrival of AKQA, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP said:  “We are thrilled to welcome AKQA’s unique team of technological innovators and entrepreneurs to WPP.  We have admired their creativity and technological skills for a long time along with their outstandingly effective and award-winning work for clients. We are looking forward to working with Ajaz and Tom to broaden their offer and our own, both geographically and functionally.  We are delighted to be united!”

UK, London & USA, San Francisco, CA

Related articles:

Posted in Marketing/Advertising, ~Europe, ~North America. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »