The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  F231109-251
 
Acquirer:  Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (NasdaqGS: SNDA)
ACQ Web:  http://www.snda.com/EN/investor/overview.html
Location:  China, Shanghai
Region:  Asia
Description:  Interactive entertainment media company
Category:  Media: Games: Entertainment
Contact 1:  Tianqiao Chen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
 
Vendor:  Ku6.com
Vendor Web:  http://www.ku6.com/
Location:  China
Region:  Asia
Description:  Web2.0-based online video website
Category: Video sharing
Contact 1:  Mr. Shanyou Li, Chief Executive Officer
  
Aprox. Value:  $44,000,000
 
Details:  Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. has agreed to acquire a 58% stake in Chinese video sharing website Ku6.com for $44 million.
 
Link: PE Hub

The Trust may still be raising the funds to acquire Lang Craigs – but this hasn’t stopped us planting trees across the  region.

Thanks to the Woodland Trust and Sainsbury’s Active Kids schools across West Dunbartonshire have been provided with free tree saplings to plant in their schools grounds.

The packs are a great way for young people to learn about the environment and how they can support and nurture it from an early age and continue to do so for the rest of their lives.  Tree packs are just one way the Trust engages with young people and we hope that our plans for the acquisition of Lang Craigs will provide further opportunities to engage with schools in West Dunbartonshire.

If you have missed out this autumn, you can apply for a free tree and/or seed pack for delivery in March 2010 by visiting www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/hedge

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website

ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  A0235-231117
 
Acquirer:  Undisclosed
Description:  Russia.com
Category:  Domain name
 
Vendor:  NewMedia Holdings, Inc.
Vendor Web:  http://www.nmhco.com
Location:  USA, Seattle, WA
Region:  North America
Description:  Media property owner
Category: Domain name

Aprox. Value:  $1,500,000
 
Details:  NewMedia Holdings has sold Russia.com, the domain name,  for $1.5 million. The deal was broked through Sedo. The buyer is undiclosed. The also own Algeria.com, Bangladesh.com, Ecuador.com, Morocco.com, Nepal.com, Nicaragua.com, PuertoRico.com, Scotland.com, SouthAfrica.com, Ukraine.com and Virtual-Countries.com.

According to Fusible.com   the new owner is rumored to be Russia Standard according to one of our readers.  Russia Standard is the same company that purchased Vodka.com in 2006 for $3 million (also brokered through Sedo).

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  A0235-231116
 
Acquirer:  ITV plc
ACQ Web:  http://www.itv.com
Location:  United Kingdom, London
Region:  Europe
Description:  Network of British commercial television broadcasters
Category:  Media: Entertainment
Contact 1:  ITV has made a one-off cash payment of £18m for Disney¹s 25% stake in GMTV, together with a further one-off payment of £4.25m in respect of Disney¹s share of the forecast cash balance in the business as at the year end.
 
Vendor:  The Walt Disney Company Limited
Vendor Web:  http://www.disney.com
Location:  USA, Burbank, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world
Category: Media: Entertainment
Contact 1:  Bob Iger, President & CEO
Contact 2:  John E. Pepper, Jr., Chairman

Aprox. Value:  A one-off cash payment of £18m for Disney’s 25% stake in GMTV, together with a further one-off payment of £4.25m in respect of Disney’s share of the forecast cash balance in the business as at the year end.
 
Details:  ITV plc today announces that, via its wholly owned subsidiary ITV Broadcasting Limited, it has secured full ownership of GMTV Limited, the national breakfast-time Channel 3 licensee, having acquired the remaining 25% equity stake in the business from The Walt Disney Company Limited and one of its subsidiaries.
 
Link: Guardian

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  A0235-231115
 
Acquirer:  Naspers
ACQ Web:  http://www.naspers.co.za/
Location:  South Africa
Region:  Middle East and Afica
Description:  Naspers is a multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media and print media.
Contact 1:  Ton Vosloo, managing director
 
Vendor:  Astrum Online Entertainment
Vendor Web:  http://www.astrumonline.ru
Location:  Russia
Region:  Europe
Description:  Interactive entertainment market
Contact 1:  Sergey Orlov, vice president Astrum
 
Details:  Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia has granted a permission to Naspers/MIH Group to acquire between 38% and 100% stake in online game developer and publisher Astrum Online Entertainment from DST (Digital Sky Technologies). Tthe transactions between Naspers and DST is part of a merger between online portal Mail.ru and Astrum Online. The merger is expected to include both stock and cash transactions. DST owns a 53% stake in Mail.ru and majority stake in Astrum Online while Naspers/MIH Group owns a 43% stake in Mail.ru. Astrum Online’s revenues were estimated at $50 million last year.
 
Link: Kommersant

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website. 
 
ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference:  A0235-231114
 
Acquirer:  Axel Springer Russia
ACQ Web:  http://www.axelspringer.ru/
Location:  Russia
Region:  Europe
Description:  Publishing House
Contact 1:  Ralph Byuhi, president of Axel Springer International
 
Vendor:  Gruner+Jahr
Vendor Web:  http://www.guj.ru/
Location:  Russia
Region:  Europe
Description:  Publishing House
Contact 1:  Dr. Torsten-Jörn Klein, Head of G+J International
 
Aprox. Value:  According to Handelsblatt (in German), Axel Springer paid several million Euro for G+J Russia and several hundred Euro for license.
 
Details:  Publishing House “Axel Springer Russia has completed its acquisition of the publishing house”Gruner + Jahr Russia. Under the deal all the magazines from the portfolio “Gruner + Jahr Russia, namely: GEO, GALA Biography, GEO Traveller and GEOlenokAs well as sites geo.ru, moi-roditeli.ru and moizvezdi.ru, become the property of Russia division Axel Springer AG. ID “Axel Springer Russia will continue to develop these print and online brands in Russia under license.
 
Link: Press Release

The Fusion Team have completed over 70 digital and media transactions for its private, corporate and private equity clients. For more information contact pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk or visit our website. 

ACQUISITION 
FDN Database Reference: A0235-231113
Acquirer:  Adconion Media Group
ACQ Web:  http://www.adconion.com
Location:  USA, Santa monica, CA
Region:  North America
Description:  Independent global audience and content network
Contact 1:  Tyler Moebius, CEO
 
Vendor:  Certain assets from privately-held Joost
Vendor Web:  http://www.joost.com/
Location:  The Netherlands, Leiden
Region:  Europe
Description:  Online video service
Contact 1:  Janus Friis, co-founder
Aprox. Value:  Undisclosed
 
Details:  Adconion Media Group has announced that it has acquired certain assets from privately-held Joost, the online video service. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but likely would have been a fraction of the money that was invested in the company.
 
Link: Press Release

I have spent the last 20 years of my professional career building web-based products and services and growing businesses on the web. During that time I have worked for early stage startups,  fortune 500 behemoths and everything in between. Most recently I worked as the  CTO of Napster, a late stage startup. I had a lot of fun there. We rebuilt all of the consumer facing applications, beat waterfall and a “business vs. technology” mindset out of the organization, and generally introduced elements of risk taking and excitement back into the culture.  But probably the most interesting and valuable part of my Napster experience was  the acquisition of Napster by BestBuy in October of 2008. As a result of that event, I learned a great deal about the differences in philosophy, attitude, and approach that inherently exist between a mature multi-billion dollar corporation and a smaller online startup.  Though many of the words and concepts we used to talk about markets, products, consumers, and projects were the same, our interpretations were very different.  At first we ignored or marginalized this, thinking that by working together we would ultimately end up “on the same page”. Eventually, it became obvious that we needed to spend a fair amount of time developing a common language and digging into the perspectives everyone was bringing to the table.  I am a strong proponent of both formal approaches to Customer Development (Steve Blank, Eric Ries) and lean/agile approaches to Product Development (Lean, Scrum, XP).  I bring this up because my thoughts and attitudes in these two areas color how I view  products, markets, businesses, and consumers and definitely influenced my experience with the BestBuy acquisition. As the transition progressed and we all began to acquire real working experience with one another, I identified a set of issues that I believe lay at the basis of many of the challenges we faced.

1. Empirical approaches to Product Development are easy to talk about but hard to do  (deterministic approaches die hard)
2. Flexibility is easy to champion and talk about but hard to build into any culture that has focused on efficiency for many years
3. Too many independent and separate  functional disciplines creates waste and opportunity cost
4. Thinking about technical risk is easier than thinking about market risk
5. “Complete” is not a meaningful concept and its pursuit causes problems (No Pareto)
6. Easier to focus on reducing internal risks than product/market fit risks
7. Hierarchical decision-making is more comfortable than demonstration based decision-making
8. Corporate IT organizational cultures are completely different from product development organizational cultures
9. Product Management is a poorly understood discipline
10. With large cash reserves can come a willingness to create complexity where it is not needed

I am going to spend the next couple of weeks detailing each of these observations and talking about how I am applying some of what I learned in my current situation

Come and join us for an opportunity to listen to partners that work with institutional investors in the market place. We focus on, not only the preservation of capital, but secure and stable growth.  Our panel/open forum will give you an opportunity to ask your questions, and learn from individuals, like us, who are institutionally backed.   We’ll discuss the market places the institutional investors are targeting and why. Equally as important of what to do, is what not to do…

There are critical mistakes that many investors make and you need to learn how to avoid these huge pitfalls.

We will discuss these mistakes at the forum so you do not make them yourself!

Do you agree that many people with okay credit and good rental history will no longer qualify for home loans?

If so, then it’s obvious that many of these people will live in apartments and rents are expected to rise at a steady pace for the next several years.

In fact, according to the National Apartment Association and leading Real Estate Economist, the multi-family sector is poised to be the top investment choice for many people based on the following facts:

1. Apartments can spin off a “Preferred return” to investors before any profits are distributed.
2. Investing in Real Estate, especially apartments, is considered to be one of the best investment choices for the next decade.
3. Apartments are expected to increase in value due to the rental increases that are already taking place.  These properties are expected to spin off higher and higher cash flows.
4. IRA’s can be used to invest in apartments, and there are many benefits for using IRA’s.
5. Banks are willing to sell REO apartment buildings for large discounts.
6. Investing with people that have several years of a proven track record of success will limit your risk and enhance your returns.
7. Investing with people that understand “Emerging Markets” will keep your investments at full potential while reducing risk.
8. Investments in Real Estate are ideal in “Inflationary markets”.

Let us show you how this economic “Perfect Storm”

Makes investing in apartments the “Perfect Choice”.

We’ll explain why the MAG/Excel Strategic Alliance is considered a top choice for many banks to reposition their REO properties. Institutional Investors have placed Investment funds in our projects, not only because we currently have assets totaling over 2,000 units and an additional 1,000 units under management, but because of the professionalism our business is conducted.  Our experience, expertise, and a proven track record of success, enable us to buy apartment buildings many sophisticated investors do not have access to.

Join us for our 60 minute presentation – Apartment Acquisition Strategies – Guests welcome.

*There will be a second part to the meeting for Accredited Investors to view specific available projects.

Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Location: Mercer Island Community Center, 8236 SE 24^th ST, Mercer Island, WA 98040

RSVP:

Michael A Gaines
206-910-2291
Michael@MultifamilyAG.com

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Bloosky
Web: http://www.bloosky.com
Location: USA, Irvine, Ca
Region: North America
Description: Affiliate ad network
Contact: Matt Cook, CEO

Vendor: Tracking 202
Web: https://pro.tracking202.com
Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Region: North America
Description: Details: Enterprise level PPC affiliate conversion-tracking platform, manages advertising campaigns on Facebook, MySpace and other platforms.

Contacts:

• Wes Mahler, Chief Executive Officer
• Steven Truong, COO & President

Approximate value: Undisclosed

Details: Tracking202 was founded in 2007 and have been fully self funding. They are an affiliate marketing business that manages advertising campaigns on Facebook, MySpace and other platforms. The business has been acquired by Bloosky, an affiliate ad network.

Link: Tracking 202 announcement 

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

Vu sur une publicité sur The Investor Globe.  Acheter de l’or à $428 l’once alors qu’elle est à plus de $1100.

Pour le savoir il faut consulter l’annonce.

Il semble que ça soit légal et possible.

From Reuters…

U.S. chocolate maker Hershey Co is considering launching a bid of at least $17 billion for British chocolatier Cadbury Plc as it seeks to trump a hostile offer by Kraft Foods Inc, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

 

Hershey has lined up deal funding from Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase & Co to make a solo offer for Cadbury, but is also still weighing a joint bid with Italy’s Ferrero Spa, the source said.

 

The interest from Hershey could add new pressure on Kraft to sweeten its $16.5 billion offer, which Cadbury rejected last week as derisory.

 

“It’s still very fluid and there are multiple prongs to this,” the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “It’s still very early. But they need at least $17 billion to top Kraft.”

 

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday afternoon that the impetus for the Hershey bid comes from the charitable trust controlling the company.

 

The trust is pushing Hershey Chief Executive David West to compete with Kraft’s offer, but wants to structure a deal so that it remains in charge of Hershey, the report said.

 

Officials for the Hershey Trust were not immediately available for comment. Hershey, Kraft and Cadbury declined to comment.

 

A solo Hershey bid would be the most transformative move the company has made in its 100-year history. The company’s market capitalization stands at $8.3 billion, while Cadbury is valued at $18.1 billion.

 

“Given that they generate 85 percent of their sales form the domestic market, gaining access to Cadbury’s platform would be highly advantageous,” said Erin Swanson, analyst at Morningstar, noting Cadbury’s presence in emerging markets.

 

She added that Hershey would be able to expand its candy and gum business. But a deal would mainly aim to capture new growth as there is little overlap between the companies’ businesses and therefore slim opportunity for cost savings.

 

THE BID

 

Hershey’s offer could include at least $10 billion in cash from Hershey and $2 billion in new Hershey shares, plus $3 billion to $5 billion from outside investors in exchange for equity in Hershey, according to the Journal.

 

That would trump the $6.74 billion in cash indicated in Kraft’s cash and stock offer for Cadbury, though Kraft has secured $9.2 billion in financing and could raise the cash component of its offer.

The Young Raging Bull’s Take

While Cadbury would complement Hershey’s existing business better than Kraft’s, it would undoubtedly be a risky venture that could put the chocolatier in a precarious financial position after all is said and done. This is largely due to the fact that Cadbury is more than twice the size of Hershey! Although sources have cited Hershey would use equity for the deal, I still think it’s going to put too much of a financial strain on them – harming shareholders in the process.

Hershey should just let Kraft have them…if history has shown us anything, it’s that most major mergers and acquisitions don’t work – meaning there’s a good chance Kraft will screw it all up in the end, benefiting Hershey’s business in the process.

Just my two cents.

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: eRepublic
Web: http://www.erepublic.com
Location: USA, Folsom, CA 
Region: North America
Description: Publishing, research, event, and new media company focused on the state and local government and education markets
Contacts:

• Dennis McKenna, President and CEO
• Paul Harney, Chief Operating Officer

Target: Governing magazine (from Times Publishing Co.) 
Web: http://www.governing.com
Location: USA, Washington, DC
Region: North America
Description: State and local government magazine
Contact: Fred Kuhn, Publisher

Approximate value: Undisclosed

Details: e.Republic today announced it has agreed to acquire Governing magazine from the Times Publishing Company. According to COO Paul Harney the combined organizations create the largest media firm providing news, research and analysis of the $2.9 trillion state and local government market.

Link: Press Release 

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Investor group led by Silver Lake and includes Joltid Limited and certain affiliated parties, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz
Web: http://www.silverlake.com
Location: USA, Cupertino, CA
Region: North America
Description: Private Investment firm
Contact:

• Jim Davidson, co-founder of Silver Lake and Chairman of the Executive Committee
• Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of Silver Lake

Target: Skype (from eBay)
Web: www.ebayinc.com
Location: USA, San Jose, CA
Region: North America
Description: Video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files

Contacts: John Donahoe, President and CEO eBay

Approximate value: $2.75bn

Details: eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) announced today that it has successfully completed the previously announced sale of its Skype communications unit in a deal valuing the business at $2.75 billion. The buyer, who will control an approximately 70 percent stake, is an investor group led by Silver Lake and includes Joltid Limited and certain affiliated parties, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz.

eBay received approximately $1.9 billion in cash and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million. The company retained an approximately 30 percent equity investment in Skype. The company also purchased senior debt securities with a face value of $50 million as part of a Skype debt financing.

Link: Press Release 

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: MySpace
Web: http://www.myspace.com
Location: USA, Beverly Hills, CA
Region: North America
Description: Social networking website
Contacts:

• Owen Van Natta, CEO
• Tom Anderson, Co-Founder & President

Target: Imeem
Web: http://www.imeem.com
Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Region: North America
Description: Ad supported streaming music

Contacts: Dalton Caldwell, founder

Approximate value: $8-10,000,000

Details: MySpace Buys ad supported music streamer Imeem News Corp’s MySpace purchased streaming music competitor imeem for a price reported to be between $8 to $10 million.

Link: Wired     

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Adknowledge
Web: http://www.adknowledge.com
Location: USA, Kansas City
Region: North America
Description: Performance-based advertising network that utilizes  predictive technology to connect advertisers with consumers across multiple channels.
Contact: Dwayne Lafleur, General Manager of Social Advertising

Target: Socwww.SocialMedia.com
Location: USA, San Francisco, CA
Region: North America
Description: Platform that enables social advertising across the web 

Contacts:

• Seth Goldstein, Co-Founder & CEO
• Dave Gentzel, Co-Founder & VP Products

Approximate value: Undisclosed

Details: Adknowledge, the largest privately-held advertising network, announced today that it has obtained the advertising business of SocialMedia.com. Adknowledge has made seven acquisitions in two years.

Press Release 

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Scripps Networks Interactive
Web: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com
Location: USA, Cincinnati, OH
Region: North America
Description: Lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet
Contact: Kenneth W. Lowe, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Target: NDTV Lifestyle Ltd
Web: http://goodtimes.ndtv.com
Location: India, New Delhi
Region: Asia
Description: Lifestyle broadcaster
Contacts:

• Dr. Prannoy Roy, Chairman
• Radhika Roy, Managing Director
• Saurav Banerjee, Chief Financial Officer

Approximate value: $55,000,000 valuing the company at $79,000,000

Details: Scripps Networks Interactive acquiring 69 percent of NDTV Group’s lifestyle programming subsidiary, NDTV Lifestyle Ltd. NDTV Lifestyle is anchored by NDTV Good Times, India’s top-ranked English-language lifestyle television channel. NDTV Group will retain a 31 percent stake in the joint venture. Scripps are paying $55M, M.     

SEPARATE ANNOUNCEMENT: New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) has informed BSE that NDTV Networks Plc., a UK subsidiary of the Company has repurchased the US$ 100 Million Step up Coupon Bonds due 2012. The Bonds have been repurchased for US$ 72.4 Million. NDTV Networks Plc. has financed the repurchase through Bank Loans. The repurchase has allowed NDTV Networks Plc to significantly reduce its outstanding borrowings and also to cut down on interest burden.

Links:

• Bombay Stock Exchange announcement 2 
• Bombay Stock Exchange announcement 2

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Like.com
Web: http://www.like.com
Location: USA, San Mateo, CA
Region: North America
Description: Shopping visual search engine, where the contents of photos are used to search and retrieve similar items
Contacts:

• Munjal Shah, CEO & Co-Founder
• Burak Gokturk, Ph.D. Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder

Target: weardrobe
Web: http://www.weardrobe.com
Location: USA, Palo Alto, CA
Region: North America
Description: Fashion website – share photos of what you wear
Contacts:

• Suzanne Xie, Co-Founder
• Richard Tong,  Co-Founder

Approximate value: Undisclosed

Details: Like.com has acquired Weardrobe for an undisclosed amount. Like.com will user its “Likesense” visual search technology to identify the pieces of clothing in a photo on Weardrobe and link visitors to where they can the items.

Link: TechCrunch 

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Creative Solutions (subsidiary of Bin Majed group)
Web: http://www.creativesolutions.ae
Location: UAE, Al Ain
Region: Middle East & Afica
Description: Web development
Contact: Khamis AlSharyani, Founder

Target: Mrrha
Web: http://mrrha.com
Location: Egypt
Region: Middle East & Afica
Description: File loading and sharing site

Contacts: Mahmoud and Ahmed El-Masoudy, Founders

Approximate value: Undisclosed

Details: Mrrha, an Arab online service  that was launched from Egypt has been acquired by Emirati company Creative Solutions.

Link: startuparabia 

Database Acquisitions – November 2009

ACQUISITION

Acquirer: Hubert Burda Media
Web: http://www.hubert-burda-media.com
Location: Germany, Munich
Region: Europe
Description: International media owner
Contact: JDr. Hubert Burda, Publisher

Target: Xing
Web: http://www.xing.com
Location: Germany, Hamburg
Region: Europe
Description:  European online business network

Contact:

Dr. Stefan Gross-Selbeck, CEO

Approximate value: 1,323,041 shares at €36.50 per share

Details

XING AG (ISIN: DE000XNG8888) was informed today that Burda Digital GmbH has purchased a total of 1,323,041 XING shares from Cinco Capital GmbH. The share price was EUR36.50 per share. This gives Burda Digital GmbH a 25.1% share of the company and makes it the primary shareholder.

Press Release 1

Press Release 2    

Database Acquisitions – November 2009