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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DVV to acquire RBI aviation conferences

June 27, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

DVV Media InternationalDVV Media International is to acquire the publishing activities and conferences in the aviation sector from Reed Business Information, part of the Cirium risk and business analytics market segment of RELX. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

The portfolio includes the magazine brands Flight International and Airline Business, the daily news, views, analysis and other publishing activities at international air shows, including Flight Daily News and Flight Evening News, a portfolio of aviation conferences and awards, including The Airline Strategy Awards, other publishing activities such as FlightJobs, and the websites supporting these publishing activities.

Cirium enables customers to provide the finance for fleets, build and maintain aircraft, efficiently transport passengers and improve traveller experience, and its focus is to drive targeted, profitable and informed decisions. Cirium will continue as part of R&BA, reflecting its strategic priority of focusing on data and analytics.

DVV is owned by German newspaper publisher Rheinische Post and has acquired a number of businesses previously owned by RBI, such as Personnel Today, Railway Gazette International, Commercial Motor and Motor Transport. The portfolio will join DVV’s complementary Air Cargo News brand to substantially increase DVV’s offering to the aviation sector.

Andy Salter, Managing Director of DVV, said, “This is a significant step forward for our organisation. The new portfolio means we now have a comprehensive offering across all modes of the transport and logistics business information sector. We are all looking forward to working with the new team to build on the legacy of these products and develop a thriving market offering.”

UK, Sutton & London

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Centaur Media Plc agrees sale of travel and meetings exhibitions to Northstar

April 10, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

centaur-logoCentaur, the international provider of business information and specialist consultancy, has entered into a conditional agreement to sell Centaur Media Travel and Meetings Limited, the owner of the Business Travel Show and The Meetings Show, to Northstar Travel Media UK Limited, a leading B2B information and marketing solutions company focused on the global travel and meetings industries. Completion of the disposal is expected to take place on 30 April 2019.

The disposal follows Centaur’s decision last October to explore the divestment of its smaller businesses in order to simplify the Group’s structure and to focus management resources on its leading brands. Centaur announced on 1 April 2019 that it has raised £5m from the sale of its financial services business, which includes brands such as Money Marketing and Mortgage Strategy.

Northstar will pay a cash consideration of £9.25m (subject to customary post-completion adjustments) for CTM, which formed part of the Group’s professional services division. Centaur will consider the best use for the sale proceeds following the completion of its divestment review.

Centaur’s professional services division comprises The Lawyer and a portfolio of market leading event brands across three sectors: travel and meetings, human resources and engineering.

Andria Vidler, Chief Executive of Centaur, said, “[This] is another important milestone in Centaur’s ongoing transformation. As we focus on building more robust and stronger recurring revenues, we are reducing Group complexity and overheads that will allow us to deliver efficiencies and improve our operating margins.”

For the year ended 31 December 2018, Centaur’s travel and meetings exhibitions made normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation operating profit of £1.7m (before central overhead allocations), up from £1.6m in 2017, on revenues of £6.4m (2017: £6.1m). At 31 December 2018, the business had gross assets of £1.7m.

UK, London & USA, Secaucus, NJ

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Immediate Media acquires Upper Street Events

January 25, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

Immediate MediaImmediate Media Co, the special interest content and platform company, is to acquire Upper Street Events Ltd, one of the UK’s leading producers of consumer enthusiast events. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Upper Street Events is a specialist producer of over 15 events a year at the heart of the UK’s art & design, craft, cycling, dance and specialist travel scene. The acquisition of Upper Street significantly strengthens Immediate’s strategic audience development capabilities. The alignment of the special interest events, such as craft, with Immediate’s existing portfolio of brands, should create future growth opportunities.

Immediate reaches over 22 million UK consumers monthly across a range of special interest sectors, including food, cycling, parenting, weddings and craft. In the craft sector alone, Immediate reaches four million active crafters every month across its current content platforms.

Immediate Media CEO Tom Bureau said, “The acquisition of Upper Street Events is a further step in Immediate’s multiplatform transformation complementing our strategy of focusing on special interest content and communities. We see significant opportunities for growth and development in the events space, both in the markets Upper Street already operate in and with our portfolio of market-leading brands. This deal enhances our ability to offer our consumers world class content, products, services and experiences, across print, digital and live events.”

UK, London

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Skift acquires Airline Weekly

September 27, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

SkiftTravel industry intelligence and marketing platform Skift has acquired Airline Weekly, including its subscription-based newsletter and related assets. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 2004 by Jay Shabat, Seth Kaplan and Jason Cottrell, the publication provides insight and analysis of the commercial passenger airline industry worldwide.

Rafat Ali, founder and CEO of Skift, said, “Now that we are in our sixth year at Skift, we have been exploring various ways to expand our roots in the travel sector and go deeper into our existing focus areas with more expertise. With Airline Weekly, the Airline Innovation Report, and our global forums, Skift now offers the strongest business coverage of commercial aviation in the world”.

USA, New York, NY & Fort Myers, FL

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Discovery Communications Inc. completes acquisition of Scripps Networks interactive to create Discovery, Inc.

March 6, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

Discovery Communications IncDiscovery Communications has completed its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive, with the combined company to be officially known as Discovery, Inc.

Scripps Networks Interactive is a leading developer of lifestyle-content for television and the Internet. The company’s brands includes HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and country music network Great American Country.

Scripps shareholders will receive approximately $90 per share, consisting of $65.82 per share in cash and 1.0584 per share in Series C Common shares of Discovery stock valued based on a volume weighted average price (subject to elections and proration), in each case in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement. This includes a cash payment of $2.82 per share in connection with Discovery’s previously announced decision to exercise in full the cash top-up option under the merger agreement.

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share and to free cash flow in the first year after closing, including significant cost synergies. The combination is expected to create a strong economic model with capacity for rapid debt repayment and a clear runway for growth and value creation.

Kenneth W. Lowe, former Chairman, President & CEO of Scripps Networks Interactive, will join Discovery’s board of directors, effective immediately.

David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer for Discovery, said, “Today marks another critical milestone for Discovery, as we become a differentiated kind of media company with the most trusted portfolio of family-friendly brands around the globe. As a new global leader in real life entertainment, Discovery will serve loyal and passionate audiences around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains across every screen; deliver new ways for advertisers and distributors to reach highly targeted audiences at scale; and leverage our leadership position to create new value and growth opportunities for all of our stakeholders.”

USA, Silver Spring, MD & Knoxville, TN

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Groupon acquires last-minute travel app Blink

September 15, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet
grouponGroupon has acquired last-minute travel app Blink, a travel app dealing in discounted same-day bookings for European hotels. The deal will help bolster Groupon’s Getaways travel business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are very excited to welcome the Blink team to the Groupon family,” said Aaron Cooper, senior vice president of Groupon Getaways. “The combination of a fantastic mobile app, same-day inventory management for properties and a team that is obsessed with mobile and last-minute travel will help us further expand our travel business as the go-to destination for great deals on great places to stay.”

The Blink app will be rebranded “Blink by Groupon” and will operate separately from the Groupon parent business.

USA, Chicago, IL

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TripAdvisor acquires GateGuru

June 19, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

tripadvisorTripAdvisor has acquired GateGuru, a mobile resource for flight and airport information around the world.  Built on a mix of user-generated content and information from the airports, flyers can view detailed maps and insights on stores, restaurants, amenities and gate locations.  Combined with weather forecasts, estimated security wait times and real-time flight status information, the app aims to take the stress out of flying. The terms of the deal were  not  disclosed.

gateguru

“Flying is often an essential part of a trip and we have continually developed our suite of flights products, from the pricing andavailability search on TripAdvisor, to our award-winning SeatGuru.com, with seat maps and more,” said Steve Kaufer, co-founder and CEO TripAdvisor, Inc.  “GateGuru nicely complements our existing flights products and we look forward to working with the GateGuru team as they continue to manage the GateGuru app and add great functionality to the TripAdvisor mobile experience.”

The GateGuru team will continue to operate out of New York City, and report to Bryan Saltzburg, General Manager New Initiatives and leader of the TripAdvisor Flights product and SeatGuru brand.

USA, Newton, MA & New York, NY

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USA TODAY Travel Media Group acquires Tripology

April 18, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

USA TODAY LOGOUSA TODAY Travel Media Group has acquired Tripology. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Tripology is an interactive travel referral service focused on connecting travelers with experienced travel specialists. Available free to consumers, Tripology utilises proprietary technology to match traveler requests with travel professionals. USA TODAY plans to offer Tripology.com referral services across Gannett media outlets.

“The acquisition of Tripology fits well into our overall growth strategy. The USA TODAY Travel Media Group has been expanding its tripologydigital portfolio of travel news, products and services over the past year. For decades, we’ve provided our audience with helpful and easy to use travel content and now we’re adding more tools to help consumers with their travel experience,” saidJohn Peters , president of USA TODAY Travel Media Group. “Time-starved travelers researching and booking cruises, honeymoons, family reunions, and other complicated travel often require the services of a travel professional and Tripology can match them with a specialist.”

USA, McLean, VA

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The USA TODAY Travel Media Group acquires 10Best.com

January 19, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

USA TODAY LOGOThe USA TODAY Travel Media Group has acquired 10Best.com. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

10Best.com provides users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. The content is produced by writers living in the city they write about. In 2012, 10Best.com averaged more than 700,000 monthly unique visitors generating approximately 28 million page views.10best

10Best.com will continue as a standalone travel media site and its content will be featured in USA TODAY Travel Media Group travel products. The content will also be used across other Gannett media outlets.

“As we welcome the 10Best brand and team into the USA TODAY family, we believe their expertise in fresh, useful and engaging travel content will greatly contribute toward expanding our product offerings,” said John Peters , president of USA TODAY Travel Media Group. “Travel is in the DNA of USA TODAY and for decades we’ve been providing our audience with helpful and easy to use travel content. 10Best fits very well into our overall travel strategy as we continue to expand our digital portfolio of travel news, products and services.”

USA, McLean, VA

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