LINKAGE: Media Companies Shop: Gannett buys Journal Media, Casiano, Thrillist, the Meredith/Media General Saga…
Some major news and noteworthy tidbits from the marketing and media world. Lots of news on the M&A front this week.
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Some major news and noteworthy tidbits from the marketing and media world. Lots of news on the M&A front this week.
What: Programmatic ad spend will account for about a third of display and video expenditures this year, or about US$14.2 billion, up 49% compared to 2014.
What: Mobile platform for brands and app developers Taptica has acquired Facebook’s programmatic social marketing tech company AreaOne for US $17 million. Why it matters: 83% of Facebook users
The Jordan Edmiston group is one of the main media and advertising technology investment banks. As such the New York based group, led by its Founder & CEO Wilma Jordan, gets many insights into trends and growth opportunities. We interviewed Jordan about the latest transactions she has worked on and about her evaluation of the M&A scene.
Social ads Company Kinetic Social has raised US$17.5 million funding in venture cash from Multiplier Capital and Bridge Bank to ramp up its content management and creative services through an internal outfit the company is calling Creative Studio. This brings Kinetic’s total funding to US$38.5 million. In 2013,the company raised US$8 million in Series A and US$18 million in Series B in 2014.
Time Warner and Google has participated in a US$275 million round of funding in startup FanDuel, led by venture-capital firm KKR and Time Warner Investments, together with Turner Sports.Existing investors Shamrock Capital, NBC Sports Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Pentech Ventures and Piton Capital also participated.The round brings New York-based FanDuel to US$363 million raised to date.Even though FanDuel is currently not profitable, the one-day fantasy sports operator claims paid active users have grown 300% from a year ago.
Univision Holdings, Inc. and Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. have announced that, together with Univision’s major shareholders, they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) and that certain subsidiaries of Univision and Televisa entered into an amendment to their existing Program Licensing Agreement (the “PLA Amendment”).In addition, Univison filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC ( the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) relating to a proposed initial public offering.
Vista Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in automating trafficking and billing software Company Mediaocean. The deal values Mediaocean at about US$720 million, the company confirmed. Mediaocean was the result of the 2011 merger of Mediabank and Donovan Data Systems, a deal valued at US$1.5 billion.
What: Programmatic audio advertising platform Jelli has raised a US$21 million Series B funding round, bringing the platform total funding to US$37.6 million.The proceeds from the round will
HiMedia Group, a Paris based public online media and e-commerce company and Giuliano Stiglitz, former CEO of Orange Advertising Americas, have partnered to create Latam Digital Ventures, a new company dedicated to create and buy digital media businesses in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.
Undertone, a company that creates digital advertising solutions for brands, has announced the acquisition of argentinian Sparkflow, an all-in-one platform for cross-screen rich media advertising. The transaction accelerates Undertone’s core capability of bringing unique, high impact formats to market and simplifies the process of building cross-screen advertisements, opening up new creative possibilities for marketers and agencies.The acquisition signifies Cygnus Capital, venture capital firm focused on digital economy, first important achievement.
What: Video ad delivery firm Extreme Reach has completed the acquisition of Talent Partners, provider of business affairs solutions for advertisers and agencies, from The Carlyle Group and other
What: Chicago-based Centro, an Advertising-technology company and media management software seller, has raised US$30 million in Series B funding from Wall Street firm Neuberger Berman
What: Web and mobile software platform Percolate has raised US$40 million in a Series C round Led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Why it matters: This last round brings Percolate
What: Rubicon Project, a global technology company leading the automation of advertising, is about to acquire privately held Chango Inc., which specializes in intent marketing technology.
Snapchat Inc. is in the midst of raising a new round of funding that would value the company between US$16 billion and US$19 billion., making it the third-most valuable venture-backed company in the world.
What: Electronics retailer RadioShack has filed for bankruptcy nearly 94 years after opening its first store. The retailer agreed with Telco Sprint to cobrand 2,400 of its approximately 4,000
What: Facebook announced Q4 Earnings of US $3.85 billion, a 49% YoY increase beating forecasts for US$3.77 billion. Net income was of US$701 million and Revenue for the full year
Yahoo reported its fourth-quarter financial performance, including full-year revenue but excluding traffic acquisition costs of US $4.618 billion and full-year adjusted EBITDA of US $1.362 billion.
SITO Mobile Ltd., a mobile engagement platform provider, has announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Hipcricket Inc., mobile engagement and analytics, for US $4.5 million in cash, to acquire substantially all of its assets.