September 2008

Gruner + Jahr no longer interested in RBI

After being one of the only parties to publically acknowledge an interested in Reed Elsevier's Reed Business Information business, Gruner + Jahr has apparently pulled out of the bidding. This has not been officially confirmed, although reports have also indicated that bidding for RBI has moved into the third round with four of the original eight bidders.

European Commission clears proposed WPP takeover of TNS

The European Commission has given clearance to WPP Group plc'sproposed acquisition of Taylor Nelson Sofres Plc, however the Board of TNS continues to recommend the rejection of the offer on the grounds it undervalues the business. 

End of bidding for Informa

The only remaining consortium in discussions with Informa Plc regarding a possible takeover has withdrawn from negotiations. The consortium of  Providence Equity Partners, the Carlyle Group and the Blackstone Group have pulled their 450 pence per share offer (£1.9Bn), which Informa had rejected, but resert the right to make another offer within the next six months. The consortium were unable to raised further funding for a higher bid. Informa's share price dropped significantly on announcement of the news. 

Discovery Channel listed on NASDAQ

The two owners of Discovery Communications parent company have agreed to combine their shareholdings and to form a new holding company which has now been listed on the NASDAQ.  John Malone, who held 66% of Discovery Holding Company, and 33% shareholder Advance/Newhouse have combined their holdings in the newly listed Discovery Communications (www.corporate.discovery.com). Founder John Hendricks is Chairman with David Zaslav as President and Chief Executive of the new company,which intends to use its new financial flexibility to drive innovation and pursue areas of strategic investment.

End of takeover talks with Wilmington

Without disclosing whom the Group has been in talks with, Wilmington Group Plc has announced that it is no longer in discussions with any party with regard to a potential  offer for the company.

GfK pulling out of race for TNS?

There have been unconfirmed reports that GfK is no longer planning to make a takeover bid for Taylor Nelson Sofres, leaving the way clear for WPP and its hostile bid. GfK has been in talks with Apax Partners regarding providing financial backing for a bid for TNS, however the parties have not reached agreement on eventual control of the business if successful. 

In the meantime WPP has been in talks with Microsoft regarding a possible deal for its Avenue A/Razorfish unit for around $800M. If this deal is successful will it be able or want to continue with its bid for TNS or has the hostile bid process simply a means of disrupting the opposition?

Virgin Radio now Absolute Radio

The new name for Virgin Radio has now been disclosed, TIML owned consultancy Absolute Radio International  is to rebrand the station as Absolute radio on 28th September. The Virgin Radio name will now revert to Virgin Enterprises.

Car Design News sold to Ultima Media Ltd

Fusion is pleased to announce the sale of CarDesignNews Ltd and its core asset www.CarDesignNews.com to specialist automotive publisher Ultima Media Ltd.  The sale brings together the three leading automotive design information and networking services.  CarDesignNews.com, will sit alongside Ultima's current publications, Interior Motives, the global magazine focussed on car interiors, and the Auto Design Night series of professional networking events, held at the biggest international motor shows.  

FusionCorporate Partners LLP acted exclusively for the shareholders of CDN.  The parties responsible for the transaction at Fusion were Paul Kelly pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk and Paul Slight pslight@fusioncorp.co.uk.

Bankrate has bought Bankaholic.om

Credit card and mortgage rate data specialist Bankrate Inc. (www.Bankrate.com ) has bought rival www.Bankaholic.com for $12.5M with an further earn-out of $2.5M.

Bloomsbury strengthens academic portfolio

Dow Jones' Barrons buys Winners Circle

Bonnier acquires Working Mother Media

The Bonnier Corporation (the new US subsidiary of Sweden based Bonnier Group) has bought Working Mother Media Inc. from founder Carol Evans and her backer MCG Capital. This is Bonnier Corporations first transaction since it was formed last year from the combination of World Publications with 18 titles acquired from Time Inc. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Edvantage Group Futuremedia Learning

Nordic based, e-learning events agency, Edvantage Group, has acquired Futuremedia Learning, the e-learning division of Futuremedia Plc. Post merger, Edvantage Group will have combined revenues of £12M however no financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Active Interest Media buys Yellowstone title

Wind Point Partners portfolio company, Active Interest Media has bought Yellowstone Journal Corporation (www.YellowstonePark.com).  No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Clicksquared expands into UK

US based marketing firm ClickSquared Inc (www.clicksquared.com) has bought Middlesborough based marketing services company Rocket Science (www.rocketscience.uk.com). No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

MyHeritage spends some of investment

Family tree site MyHeritage.com has spent some of its new investment funding by acquiring Kindo.com, another family focussed photo site.  No financial details have been disclosed.

Fun Radio bought by Folder Media

Wrigleys divest Candystand.com

New start up, Funtank, LLC (www.funktank.com) ,  has bought www.Candystand.com, from the confectioner Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company which will remain as the sites only confectionary advertiser. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed. To date Candystand.com has been managed and maintained by a sister company to Funktank, WDDG Inc.

Pangea Media buys entertainment network

Online quiz network, Pangea Media (pangeamedia.com) has acquired humour and quiz entertainment network, www.LaughNetwork.com, which operates more than 100 sites. No financial details of the transaction were  disclosed. More than 200,000 unique visitors access LaughNetwork sites each day resulting in more than one million daily page views.

InventBay buys Ideatango

InventBay.com has bought IdeaTango, LLC, (www.ideatango.com) a site which helps inventors find reputable resources in their process of bringing new products to market, from founder Bryan Daigle. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

BestofMedia puts investment funding to use

Bestofmedia Group (www.bestofmedia.com) has been spending some of the $35M investment it has received from Index Ventures and has bought www.Computing.Net and added it to its Tom's Guide portfolio.  No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Giga Omni buys another blog

Giga Omni Media Inc. has bought another blog, www.theappleblog.com which is dedicated to the products of Apple.  No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

WebMD buys QualityHealth.com

WebMD Health Corp. is to acquire Marketing Technology Solutions Inc. operator of www.QualityHealth.com for an initial consideration of $50M in cash with an earn-out of a further $25M available subject to performance.  In 2007, Marketing Technology Solutions generated revenues of circa $21M, with a break-even EBITA.QualityHealth.com has 5.5 million visitors each month.

BBC Worldwide buys into Baby Cow

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has bought a 25% stake in production company Baby Cow which is owned by comedian Steve Coogan. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Napster finds a buyer

US electronics retailer Best Buy Inc.is to acquire  music-sharing site Napster Inc. for circa $121M in cash, offering $2.65 per share which is a 95% premium over Napster's last pre-deal closing price.

In the financial yea ending 31st March 2008, Napster generated revenues of $127.5M with a loss of $16.5M  (an improvement from a $36.8M loss the previous year).

Dennis new joint venture in India

Dennis Publishing has formed a joint venture with the Indian based publisher Media Transasia. (which currently publishes Maxim and Blender under licence).  The new company will be known succinctly as Dennis Media Transasia India and its initial focus will be on launching online properties.

Content Factory buys American football site

US based radio content production company, The Content Factory (www.thecontentfactory.com)  has bought Game Time Decisions (www.gametimedecisions.net), a fantasy american football and games site operator. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Gannett ups stake in CareerBuilder.com

Gannett Co. has bought an additional 10% stake in jobsite www.CareerBuilder.com from the Tribune Co. for $135M. This deal gives Gannett a 50.8% controlling stake in the company, with Tribune Co still holding 30.8%, McClatchy Co. holding 14.4% and Microsoft holding the remaining 4%.

Wolters Kluwer buys Doctors briefing site

Wolters Kluwer Health division is to acquire UpToDate.com, a site providig up to date clinical information on medical research to doctors.

No financial details of the transaction were disclosed, however Wolters Kluwer have indicated that the site is expected to generate $80M in revenue in 2008.

Microsoft to divest part of Greenfield Online

Microsoft Corp. has reportedly agreed the sale of the internet survey solutions unit of Greenfield Online to a portfolio company of ZM Capital, ZM Surveys LLC, subject to a financing contingency. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Greenfield Online for $486M in a deal which is due to complete in the fourth quarter of 2008.    

IHS - two data deals

US based information provider IHS INc has completed two deals. The first deal saw IHS buy Documental Solutions LLS, an information provider for the defence and aerospace industry for $24.5M in cash. Documental Solutions will be integrated into IHS' Jane's Information Group.

In the second transaction, IHS Inc bought Divestco USA Inc. a provider of data and analytical tools to the oil and gas industry. Consideration in the deal was circa $3M in cash.

Sky buys film site

BSkyB subsidiary Sky Digital Media has bought www.Screenrush.co.uk from French company AlloCine Group. The site cover information on films, venues and how they have been reviewed.

Crowdgather adds modelling forum

US community network Crowdgather Inc. (www.crowdgather.com) has bought aviation, rail and watercraft modelling forum site www.Zealot.com.

No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Indian Media group buys US cricket site

India based, Reliance ADA Group has bought a 70% stake in a US base webcasting site Willow.tv.

No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed, although this is part of a reported planned spending spree with the copany having up to $70M to spend on expansion.

National Lampoon buys ZingFu.com

National Lampoon, Inc. (www.nationallampoon.com) has bought widgeting site www.ZingFu.com from Zing Fu Enterprises, LLC. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Wood Mackenzie buys Brook Hunt

Mining and metal markets consultancy Brook Hunt has been bought by Candover backed energy research provider Wood Mackenzie. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed. 

HealthCentral buys AIDS HIV information sites

New start up buys Abilities Expo

New US start up 5Net4 Productions, founded by David Korse and Lew Shomer has acquired Abilities Expo from Questex Media Group. Abilities Expo is a group of US consumer shows which is a showcase for independent and assisted living products and services. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed. 

Digg - largest funding round so far

Digg Inc. (www.digg.com)  has raised $28.7M in a  third round of funding led by Highland Capital Partners, taking the sites total funding to $40M.

Uptake raises $10M for expansion

Travel search site www.Uptake.com, which was founded by Yen Lee a former GM at Yahoo!, has raised $10M in funding in a second round led by Trinity Ventures and Shasta Ventures, to bring its total funding to date to $14M. The company will use the funding for expansion and growth via acquisition.

Online book writing site raises $5M

Community book development site, WEbook.com, has raised $5M in funding in a round led Vertex Venture Capital and its existing backer, Greylock Partners Israel and eight angel investors.

Qype raises funding for international expansion

Review site Qype.co.uk has raised €8M in funding from Wellington Partners, Advent Venture Partners and Partech International. This  funding will be used to expand Qype in more countries. With the funding comes two new non-executive board members: Pelle Tornbe, of  Metro newspapers, and Wellington General Partner Eric Archambeau.

Clash music get Government backing

Independent music magazine Clash (www.clashmusic.com)  is to recieve £230K in funding from the Scottish government to fund its website.  

Mexican Billionaire buys stake in New York Times Co.

Reported in a SEC filing, Carlos Slim Helu, a Mexican billionaire (owner of Telmex and America Molvil) has bought 9.1M shares or a 6.4% stake  in The New York Times Co. although the amount paid has not been disclosed.  Slim took a 1% stake in Independent News & Media earlier this year.

MyHeritage raises $15M

Israel based family tree site www.myHeritage.com  has  raised $15Min a second round of funding led by Index Ventures (www.indexventures.com) and Accel Partners (www.Accel.com). Index partner Saul Klein will join MyHeritage's board.

MyHeritage.com has 25 million members and is launching a  face-recognition feature that automatically identifies and tags family members which can also be used with photos on sites like Flickr, Facebook and Picasa.

Pressmart raises $6M

Pressmart Media Limited (www.pressmart.net), a  print-to-digital archive service,  has raised $6M in funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson (www.dfj.com) and NEA IndoUS Ventures (www.neaiuv.com). 

Mydeco second round

Mydeco.com (By Design (UK) Ltd), the recently beta launched home design market portal  founded by Brent Hoberman part of the management team behind lastminute.com, has secured £7.35M in its second round of funding. Sofinnova Partners led the round, other participants included SRPE, Amadeus Capital Partners and Burda Cross Media. This investment follows a seed round last year led by SPARK Ventures and takes total funding to date to over £12.5M.

DMGT - results will be at lower end of expectations

Daily Mail and General Trust Plc  in a trading update covering the eleven months to 31st August 2008,  report revenues up 4% year on year (an underlying increase of 2%) however economic conditions have had an impact on the groups newspaper and property businesses, on a more positive note the B2B divisions have continued to perform well.  DMG Information's revenues for the period have risen by 8% and profit growth of approximately 5% for the full year is expected.
DMG World Media's revenues for the period have increased by 24% with full year operating profit expected to be significantly ahead of 2007. Associated Newspapers' total revenues for the eleven months have increased by 1%  with circulation revenues up by 1% and total advertising revenues up by 0.4% year on year however recent trends show advertising in July and August falling by 3% and these trends have continued in September.  Associated's full year operating profits are expected to be lower than last year.  Northcliffe Media's total revenues for the period were down 5%,  with UK advertising revenues down 9%, as for Associated, trends deteriorated in July and August and continued downwards in September. UK digital revenues have grown and are 46% up on 2007, and now represent 6% of total advertising revenues. UK circulation revenues for the period were 2% below last year. DMG Radio Australia's revenues were up by 27% at constant
exchange rates. DMGT will report exceptional gains of circa £45M from the sale of businesses and properties.

Euromoney expecting record profits

Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC in its pre-close trading update for the year ending 30th September 2008 report strong performances from subscription revenues and from emerging markets. Euromoney expects to announce an adjusted profit before tax of not less than £64M (2007: £55.5M). Annual results will be announced on 13th November 2008.

Future - in line with expectations

Future Plc, in its pre-close trading update ahead of its results for the year ending 30th September 2008, expect results in line with expectations and progress from its digital strategy. Annual results will be reported on 26th November 2008.

Expomedia growth from emerging markets

Expomedia Group Plc in its interim results for the six months ending 30th June 2008 has reported turnover from continuing activities up 19% to €18.5M (H1,2007: €15.5M) with an adjusted EBITDA of €2.0M (H1, 2007: €2.1M. Operating profit on continuing activities was €0.4M (H1,2007: €0.9M) with associated PBT up to €0.6M (H1, 2007: €0.1M).  The loss before tax on discontinued activities was €0.7M (H1, 2007: €0.1M) whcih the Group in discussions regarding their disposal.  No proceeds from the sale of these activities have been included in the figures an the Group expects to reverse these losses in its full year figures. Trading is weighted in the second half of the financial year and forward bookings for 2008 are up 19%.

Record year for Centaur

Centaur Media plc has released its preliminary results for the year ending 30th June 2008. Revenue has remained largely flat at £90.4M (2007: £90.3M) with adjusted PBT up 14% to a record level of £19.2M (2007: £16.9M), with statutory PBT after exceptional items of £14.5M (2007: £16.9M). Statutory PBT has been hit by an exceptional charge of £3.6M relating to the closure of Perfect Analysis and other organisational changes. Centaur's adjusted EBITDA increased by 9% to £21.5M (FY2007: £19.7M). Revenue from online products (excluding Perfect Information) grew by 22% year on year and accounted for 19% of total revenues.

Wilmington - fifth successive year of growth

Wilmington Group Plc, in its preliminary results for the year ended 30th June 2008  reported revenue from continuing operations up 14.7% to £93.4M (2007: £81.5M), with adjusted PBT up 15.7% to £17.6M (2007: £15.2M).  The Legal & Regulatory division revenue has grown 15.4% to £75.4M (2007: £65.3M), boosted by acquisitions with segmental profits up by 14.0% to a record £17.9M (2007: £15.7M). The Business Information division revenue from continuing operations grew 11.8% to £18.0M (2007:£16.1M) with segmental profits flat at £3.0M (2007:£3.0M).

The Financial Reporting Review Panel on reviewing Wilmingtons the report and accounts of for the year ending 30 June 2007 considered them not to be in accordance with IAS, and so the company had to increase liabilities from £59.3M to £65.6M and to reduce shareholders' funds (within minority interests) from £69.1M to £67.7M, with a corresponding adjustment to goodwill.

Restructure of licencing at BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide has appointed Neil Ross Russell as the Managing Director of the newly restrutured Children's and Licensing business, which is to be split into pre-school, pre-teen and adult licensing divisions. 

Happold new head of Multimedia at GNM

Guardian News and Media has promoted Tom Happold  to a new role as Head of Multimedia reporting to Director of Digital Content, Emily Bell.

New management structure at GMG Regional Media

GMG Regional Media has promoted Ruth Spratt to the role of Managing Director from her role as Digital and Broadcast Director. David Sharrock has also been promoted to Chief Operating Offer from Chief Financial Officer.  Alex Davies is to take on the role of Chief Information Officer, and Paul O'Halloran is to be MD of Surrey & Berkshire Media.

More restructuring at DMGT

DMGT Plc has announced a restructure under which its Associated Newspapers and Northcliffe Media divisions will be merged to form A&N Media. The MD of Associated Newspapers Kevin Beatty will become CEO of the merged division.  Michael Pelosi remains in post as MD of Northcliffe Media. Guy Zitter, MD of the Daily Mail is to expand his role by taking responsibilty for digital  activities including some sales activities previously handled by the departed Andy Hart. He will be responsible for digital activities at the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, digital activity in Ireland, and publication operations in India.

Fry to join Johnston Press

Johnston Press is to replace Tim Bowdler, who is stepping down as Chief Executive as of May 2009, with John Fry who is currently Chief Executive of Archant. Archant has responded quickly by promoting Group Finance Director, Adrian Jeakins to Chief Executive replacing Fry.

Hollinshead promoted at Trinity Mirror

Trinity Mirror Plc has promoted Mark Hollinshead to be MD of its Nationals division with immediate effect in a move which brings all five of Trinity Mirror's national papers and associated digital products under one manager. Richard Webb the current MD of UK Nationals is leaving the company.

Allen - three new appointments

Charles Allen former ITV Chief Executive, has been busy joining the boards of Virgin Media and Endemol as non-executive directors and also taking up a senior advisor position at Goldman Sachs. He is also non-executive chairman of Global Radio and is involved in the integration of GCap media into the company.

Rhodes leaving News International

Camilla Rhodes, Chief Executive of News Magazines has left News International. The News Magazines division is being shut down after reporting a £10M loss in the twelve months to June 2007.

Changes at Haymarket Business Media

Nick Stimpson has left his post as Managing Director of Haymarket Business Media's specialist media division after being with the company for 18 years. He is not being replaced and the division has been divided bwtween the Brand Media and Professional Media divisions.

Riley joins Reciva

Phil Riley, formerly Chief Executive at Chrysalis Radio has joined Reciva (www.reciva.com) , an internet radio provider as Chairman.

Mogull promoted at BBC

The BBC has promoted Kerstin Mogull to a newly created role as  Chief Operating Officer of BBC Future Media and Technology from her role as Deputy Director of policy and strategy. She will report to the newly appointed head of the division Erik Huggers.