CloserStill Media acquires eCommerce trade shows in Spain

July 31, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

CloserStill Media logoCloserStill Media, organiser of eCommerce Expo in the UK as well as eCommerce Expo Asia, has acquired two eCommerce events taking place in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, from organiser E World for an undisclosed sum.

In addition to the eShows, CloserStill also acquired the 1-2-1 eForum events held each year in the Spring and Autumn which hosts Spain’s largest online retail buyers for two days.

The eShows in Spain become part of CloserStill’s expanding portfolio of enterprise technology events, which includes events in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore and Hong Kong attended annually by more than 75,000 delegates with more than 1,200 speakers and 900 exhibitors.

The E World team, headed by managing director Agustin Torres, has joined CloserStill Media Tecnología in Barcelona. CloserStill plans to expand its technology events portfolio in Spain with a roll-out of its international technology brands from 2020.

Sophie Baker-Davis, head of CloserStill’s technology portfolio, said, “We are excited about the opportunities in the Spanish marketplace. The online retailing world is making great strides in Spain. We are delighted to be working with Agustin and his team and look forward to investing with him to accelerate the growth and importance of the eShows to the e-commerce sector and to integrate them into our international technology and e-commerce network”.

The next upcoming event is eShow Madrid 2019 on 29-30 October, which will see the introduction of a new VIP Concierge programme and takes place at IFEMA with over 10,500 delegates and 130 exhibitors expected.

UK, London & Spain, Madrid & Barcelona

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Future plc acquires SmartBrief for USD 45M

July 29, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

Future plc logoFuture plc has acquired SmartBrief Inc., a US-based digital media publisher of targeted business news and information for USD 45 million. The initial amount will include a cash consideration of USD 32.2 million funded from the Group’s existing debt facilities, with a further USD 12.8 million to be satisfied through the issue to the vendors of 1,027,492 new ordinary shares. The agreement also includes a deferred consideration based on certain financial targets achieved over the year ending 31 July 2020, which is subject to a cap of USD 20 million.

Leveraging proprietary technology and editorial expertise, SmartBrief delivers relevant industry news in partnership with trade associations, professional societies and corporations. SmartBrief owns a database of over 5.8 million subscribers made up of senior executives, thought leaders and industry professionals.

Founded in 1999 and based in Washington DC, SmartBrief creates and distributes more than 250 digital newsletters, allowing advertisers to target and engage with decision-makers and influencers across multiple sectors including food and travel, business, education, finance, health care, retail, tech, marketing and advertising. During 2018 Future extended its successful consumer strategy into B2B through the acquisition of NewBay Media in the US, which enabled Future to access the B2B market with several market-leading titles.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of Future, said, “The acquisition of SmartBrief will substantially boost our presence and market position in the B2B sector and enhance our technology capabilities.”

“SmartBrief is a leading, respected provider of sector-focused newsletters and daily email briefings covering a range of key verticals. The addition of SmartBrief’s must-read information products to our portfolio will further extend the reach of our B2B operations. The acquisition will be earnings enhancing, and we have identified several exciting opportunities to leverage SmartBrief’s proprietary technology in both our B2C and B2B business.”

UK, London & USA, Washington DC, WA

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UBM acquires majority economic interest of Shanghai International Franchise Exhibition

June 14, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

UBM SinExpoUBM Sinoexpo, a subsidiary of UBM plc, has acquired a 70% economic interest in the Shanghai International Franchise Exhibition, organised by Shanghai Exhibition-Conference Ltd.

Established in 2005, the biannual SFE is one of the largest franchising events in China, hosting 221 exhibitors with over 450 brands and 50,261 visitors in the spring 2018 edition. SFE’s exhibitors are mainly in the food, beverage and retail sectors which is reflective of the trends in the Chinese franchise market today. Every year investors, potential franchisees, distributors, agents, dealers, and social organisations attend the two events in search of new, foreign, and commercially attractive franchise brands for the domestic market.

According to the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, China’s top franchises generates total sales of RMB 428 billion from 124,068 stores across the country. Currently, China has over 4,500 franchises and chain store companies creating more than 5 million jobs nationwide. Foreign franchise brands are becoming increasingly interested in 2nd and 3rd tier Chinese cities given favourable labour costs, reasonably priced real estate facilities, and untapped consumer spending.

Jime Essink, President and CEO of UBM Asia, said, “Our combination with SFE comes at an opportune time given our complimentary resources and shows in China. The Spring edition of SFE has already successfully co-located with our Hotel Plus event at SNIEC for two editions and we plan to co-locate SFE’s autumn edition with Food & Hotel China this November. The synergies and crossovers between professionals in the food, beverage, and retail sectors of these collocated events creates a complete and compelling industry value chain opportunity for visitors and exhibitors.”

The next edition of SFE will take place on 13-15 November 2018 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

Shanghai

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Hg makes strategic investment in Financial Express

May 15, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

Hg Capital plcHg, the manager of HgCapital Trust plc, is to make a significant investment in Financial Express, a leading data, analytics and software vendor focussed on the UK and Australian retail investment funds markets. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. HgCapital Trust plc will invest approximately £7.5 million in FE, with other institutional clients of Hg investing alongside the Company through the Mercury 2 Fund.

Based on the 30 April 2018 NAV, the company’s liquid resources available for future deployment, including all announced transactions, are estimated to be £145 million (20% of the 30 April 2018 pro forma NAV of £712.8 million). In addition, the company has access to an £80 million standby facility, which is currently undrawn. The investment will reduce the company’s outstanding commitments to invest in Hg transactions over the next four to five years to approximately £587 million.

Founded by Michael Holland and Craig Wilson, FE is a leading provider of investment data, research and software to the financial services industry in the UK and operates a proprietary database of complete retail funds data with global coverage and history, built up over 20 years. Trusted by investors, advisers, asset managers and platforms who use FE data, software and investment advice every day, FE is a leading player in supporting the UK fund industry.

The investment will be made from the Mercury 2 Fund. FE has a number of business characteristics that Hg looks for, including a strong position in the wealth / asset management software and data sector, a well-recognised brand, mission-critical products, and a strong management team led by Neil Bradford.

The investment comes on the back of significant expansion of FE’s global operations and product offering over the past few years, and another year of record growth for the company in 2017.

Sebastien Briens, Partner at Hg, said: ‘We have been following FE for a number of years, and have been impressed by the strength and depth of its data, products, team and vision. We are very pleased to partner with Michael, Craig and Neil in the next stage of growth for the business.’

Neil Bradford, CEO at FE, said: ‘Hg’s track record and experience in our sector means they are the perfect partner to continue FE’s growth strategy and international expansion ambitions. We look forward to working with the Hg team.’

Michael Holland, co founder of FE, said: ‘Data is at the foundation of everything we do and Hg has a deep understanding of the fund data space. I am confident that this partnership will hugely benefit our clients.’

UK, London

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GoCompare Agrees To Acquire MyVoucherCodes

December 19, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

GoCompareGoCompare.com Group plc has reached an agreement to acquire The Global Voucher Group Limited, which trades as MyVoucherCodes, and its subsidiaries from Monitise Limited for £36.5m in cash, on a cash-free, debt-free basis. The acquisition will be financed through a combination of existing cash resources and an extension to GoCompare’s existing credit facilities.

MyVoucherCodes.co.uk is one of the UK’s largest online voucher code sites with eight million e-mail subscribers and a website which receives around 45 million annual visits. As such, MyVoucherCodes benefits from industry-leading commercial relationships, working with more than 3,000 retail brands.

Matthew Crummack, CEO of GoCompare, said, “We are delighted with this acquisition which will complement the services offered by GoCompare. We are making strong progress towards our ambition to become the ‘go-to’ place for savvy savers to find great deals, and for service providers to reach and acquire customers.”

UK, Newport & London

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PenskeMedia acquires FashInvest

November 27, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

PensPenske Media CorporationkeMedia Corporation and its subsidiary Fairchild Media today announced the acquisition of FashInvest, the innovator in connecting the fashion-tech, fashion, retail, and branded consumer goods sectors with the finance and investment sectors. This acquisition follows Penske Media and its subsidiary Fairchild Media’s acquisition last month of Sourcing Journal, a media brand for global executives focused on the sourcing and manufacturing industries. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

FashInvest, known for being “where fashion meets finance,” began as a series of educational industry events in 2009 and has rapidly evolved to now be a leading global media resource. FashInvest’s daily online news posts, reports, and exclusive interviews on the emerging fashion tech and fashion arenas have established it as a news authority for a growing number of fashion-tech and fashion entrepreneurs seeking the latest news on who has received funding, who is providing the funding, and what strategies are attracting financing.

“FashInvest has tapped into the vital intersection of finance and fashion—a business that has been built over the last decade on discovering and developing emerging fashion and retail brands and their access to capital markets.  Fairchild Media has consistently been the leader in coverage of well-established global fashion brands, and with the acquisition of FashInvest the opportunity to deepen our coverage of emerging companies, start-ups, and the financial institutions (VC’s, Private Equity, etc.) that are shaping the future fashion industry is dramatically enhanced,” said PMC Chairman and CEO Jay Penske.

USA, New York, NY, Wilmington, DE

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Palamon Capital Partners acquires a majority interest in on-line beauty retailer feelunique.com

December 10, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

UK based Private Equity firm, Palamon Capital Partners, has acquired a majority interest in on-line beauty retailer feelunique.com.

feelunique.com has revenues of more than £30 million of annual revenue and the deal values feelunique.com at £26 million.

feelunique is an on-line retailer of premium products in haircare, skincare, cosmetics and fragrances, selling full-permissioned stock from almost all of the major brands including Dior, Lancôme, Clarins, Guerlain, Yves Saint Laurent, Benefit and Kerastase. The Company has built a strong reputation for its customer service and website editorial content, which is directed by Newby Hands, a beauty journalist and Harper’s Bazaar Beauty Director-at-Large. It was founded in 2005 and employs more than 125 staff at its headquarters and logistics centre in the Channel Islands.

Palamon will purchase a majority shareholding from the founders and earlier-stage investors and will provide further capital to support the Company’s growth plan. Sirius Equity will invest alongside Palamon in the transaction. Following Palamon’s investment, Sirius co-founders Robert Bensoussan will join the Board of the Company as Chairman and Jim Sharp will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Mr Bensoussan also is Chairman of L K Bennett, a board member of Interparfums and former investor in and CEO of Jimmy Choo.

Dan Mytnik, Partner at Palamon commented: “We are delighted to be investing in feelunique, a high growth business that is ideally placed to benefit from the fast expanding on-line retail beauty sector with its established platform, a strong business model and entrepreneurial management team. We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with founders, Aaron Chatterley and Richard Schiessl, and to welcome Robert Bensoussan and Jim Sharp to the Board. The expertise of Robert and Jim in the luxury branded sector will be invaluable in taking the business to the next level.”

UK, London & Channel Isles, Jersey

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