ITV

Tag: acquires

  • Nazara acquires majority in ad tech company Datawrkz

    Nazara acquires majority in ad tech company Datawrkz

    Mumbai: Sports media company Nazara Technologies has entered an agreement to acquire 55 per cent stake in programmatic advertising and monetisation company Datawrkz valuing the company at Rs 255 crore (~$30 million) linked to CY 22 EBITDA performance.

    “Datawrkz tech offerings will enhance in-house capabilities of Nazara for optimising its customer acquisition spends as well as enhance yields on ad monetisation of its large consumer base,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “The ad revenue monetisation is expected to assist many of the companies in the ‘Friends of Nazara’ network.”

    Nazara will acquire 33 per cent stake (Rs 60 crore payable of which Rs 35 crore is partly payable in cash and the balance consideration of Rs 25 crore will be paid either in cash or swap of shares) in the first tranche by 22 April. Nazara has reserved an option to acquire an additional 22 per cent in the second tranche that is expected to close in Q4 FY23.

    “We, at Nazara, are looking to build strong gaming ad tech offerings globally with the partnership with Datawrkz,” said Nazara Technologies CEO Manish Agarwal. “We strongly believe that growth of gaming-focused ad tech will be exponential in the coming decade across geographies with the growth of gamers and game publishers across freemium, web 3.0 and skill-based real money gaming.”

    He further added, “Ad tech companies with deep data processing capabilities and first-party data ownership will emerge as winners in gaming-focused ad tech and will help Datawrkz to create value for itself as well as for Nazara shareholders.”

    Datawrkz was founded in 2013 by IIM Ahmedabad alumnus Senthil Govindan and is a global advertising technology firm focused on accelerating user and revenue growth for clients through highly optimised digital advertising. It has offices in the US, Singapore, and India and functions as an independent trading desk to power digital media strategy, planning and execution.

    Datawrkz’s self-service product suite for advertisers – Vizibl includes a demand-side platform as well as a customer data platform. On the supply side, Datawrkz generates revenue for publishers through AdPrimus, its supply-side product that drives user engagement, mediates between demand sources and enables audience segmentation.

    For the calendar year 2021, Datawrkz posted combined revenue of Rs 90.7 crore (~$12.1 million) and EBIDTA margin of 12 per cent with around 70 per cent of its revenue coming from the US as per CY 2021 unaudited financial statements.

    “We had started this company with a vision to disrupt the digital advertising space,” said Datawrkz founder Senthil Govindan. “Datawrkz was already on a fast track to achieve our objective with rapid growth and satisfied clients around the world. Through our partnership with Nazara, I see our pace accelerating further. While Datawrkz will be able to immediately bring our natural strengths to bear within the existing Nazara fold, this also gives both sides a tremendous opportunity to build global advertising and publisher monetization products with a sharp focus on the gaming vertical.”

    “As always, it’s a great moment for us to welcome a new friend to our ‘Friends of Nazara’ network and I believe Senthil and the entire Datawrkz team will add great value to what we are building at Nazara over the next few years,” added Nazara Technologies founder and joint MD Nitish Mittersain.

  • GroupM acquires Chemistry Media in New Zealand

    GroupM acquires Chemistry Media in New Zealand

    MUMBAI: WPP’s wholly owned operating company GroupM has acquired New Zealand based media agency Chemistry Media Ltd.

    Chemistry Media is a media planning and buying agency with operations in Auckland and Wellington. Key clients include Bank of New Zealand, Fonterra, Nestlé, and Restaurant Brands.

    Since 2010, Chemistry has been affiliated with the MediaCom network, and currently trades under the name MediaCom. Following the acquisition, Chemistry will continue to trade as MediaCom. 

    This acquisition marks a further step towards WPP’s declared goal of developing its networks in fast-growth markets and sectors. In the Australia-New Zealand region, WPP companies (including associates) generated revenues of $1.2 billion in 2014, and employ 4,000 people.

  • Zee Tamil acquires ‘DNA’ format rights from Bomanbridge Media

    Zee Tamil acquires ‘DNA’ format rights from Bomanbridge Media

    MUMBAI: In a first for the channel, Zee Tamil has licensed the format of a show called DNA from the Singapore-based distribution and production agency, Bomanbridge Media.

     

    The channel will produce 26 episodes of the show in Tamil. The format has previously been produced in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Indonesia.

     

    Additionally, Bomanbridge Media has also inked a format deal with Vietnam’s Lasta Multimedia, which has licensed Beauty Academy created by A2G Creations. The format of Beauty Academy was previously sold in China on Dragon TV, and in Brazil on Globo TV.

     

    “The ultimate test for an international TV format is in its ability to travel to distant lands, take on local flavours without losing its fundamental characteristics. We’re delighted that TV networks in South Asia are increasingly looking to us to bring them these winning formulas for non-fiction programming,” said Bomanbridge South Asia office head Arpit Agarwal.

     

    “Bomanbridge Media has licensed other successful formats in the region such as NHK’s Dr. What and Miss Country Girl to China and are pleased to add the popular formats, Beauty Academy and DNA to the list. We look forward to working closely with Zee and Lasta Multimedia to help them create winning versions of these shows,” said Bomanbridge Media CEO Sonia Fleck.

     

    “We bring hot formats to the region, as Asian broadcasters continue to have an appetite for the genre,” Fleck added.

  • Publicis Groupe acquires Relaxnews for €15 million

    Publicis Groupe acquires Relaxnews for €15 million

    MUMBAI: The Maurice Levy led Publicis Groupe has acquired the French press agency Relaxnews for a sum of €15 million (€9.58 euros a share).

     

    Earlier this year in February, the agency had entered into exclusive negotiations with shareholders of Relaxnews to buy the company.

     

    Publicise Groupe, which had created a special vehicle – Financi?re Relaxnews – for the purpose of the takeover of Relaxnews – bought 94 per cent of the share capital and voting rights of Relaxnews.

     

    Approximately 30 per cent of the Relaxnews was purchased at a price of 9.58 euro per share from the co-founders Jérôme and Pierre Doncieux. Around 30 per cent of the share capital of Financi?re Relaxnews will be held by the co-founders and the remaining 70 per cent will be owned by Publicis Groupe.

     

    The acquisition of a block of shares representing approximately 34 per cent of the company’s share capital at a price of 9.58 euro per share from other minority shareholders (including investment funds managed by Sigma Gestion and La Française Asset Management).

     

    According to the General Regulations of the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), in the coming days, Financi?re Relaxnews will file a project for a simplified takeover bid on the remaining shares of Relaxnews at a price of 9.58 euro per share. Given that the Relaxnews’ board of directors has made a commitment to tender treasury shares held by Relaxnews to the takeover bid, Financi?re Relaxnews will own more than 95 per cent at the end of the takeover bid.

     

    Consequently, Financi?re Relaxnews will implement a squeeze-out procedure after the closing date of the takeover bid. The terms and conditions of this simplified takeover bid and of the squeeze-out, including financial conditions and timetable, will be disclosed in a separate press release, and will be subject to the approval of the Autorité des marchés financiers.

     

    Publicis chairman Maurice Lévy said, “With the integration of Relaxnews, Publicis Groupe’s clients could not only have access to an extended offer of leisure content but also to consistent measurement tools. I am pleased that Jérôme and Pierre Doncieux with all their team will join us. I am strongly confident in the new growth opportunities the group will be able to assign to its clients.”

     

    ZenithOptimedia France CEO Sébastien Danet added, “I am proud that ZenithOptimedia will be integrating such editorially and technologically valuable assets. With Jérôme and Pierre, we are going to be the Relaxnews incubator to all Publicis Groupe’s marks and clients in France and abroad.”

     

    Jérôme and Pierre Doncieux said, “We are very happy! Happy for the opportunities ahead for our teams. Happy for our clients’ added value. Happy to see the confidence shown by our shareholders and our board members who helped us to finalize the combination project and we thank them for this. Happy to move forward with Habert Dassault Finances and our strategic partner AFP. Happy for all we will learn and create in Publicis Groupe.”

  • Sony acquires optical data storage start-up

    Sony acquires optical data storage start-up

    MUMBAI: Sony Corporation of America (SCA) has acquired Optical Archive Inc. (OAI), a company that specializes in optical storage systems for the data center market.  The acquisition is made by SCA on behalf of Sony Corporation.

     

    With Sony, OAI will leverage its experience and capabilities in data center hardware design, supply chain operations and systems integration with Sony’s expertise in optical disc and manufacturing technology to develop new optical disc library systems that will meet the technological demands from the growing cold archive market.

     

    The term “cold archive” refers to a class of data that must be retained over a long period of time but isn’t accessed frequently, such as cloud-based photo storage and data retained for legal or regulatory reasons. Cold archive is the largest and fastest growing portion of the data center storage market.

     

    “This acquisition marks the beginning of our commitment to this growing market. Optical disc libraries will provide many advantages to customers who are currently using tape or hard drive technology to store cold data, such as lower costs, extremely durable media life, and higher data throughput rates. We plan to leverage and expand our existing optical disc production lines in order to accommodate the growing demand for this media,” said Sony Corporation SVP and deputy president, Device Solutions Business Group Terushi Shimizu.

     

    “We are thrilled to be part of Sony. Merging Sony’s excellence in optical engineering and manufacturing with OAI’s experience and capabilities in data center hardware design and operations will deliver innovative new storage solutions to customers,” added OAI CEO Frank Frankovsky. 

  • Emily Skopov acquires film & TV rights to Emilia Cruz detective novels

    Emily Skopov acquires film & TV rights to Emilia Cruz detective novels

    MUMBAI: Screenwriter and director Emily Skopov has acquired the film and television rights to the Detective Emilia Cruz series by mystery author Carmen Amato.

     

    The series, which includes the novels Cliff Diver, Hat Dance and Diablo Nights, as well as a collection of short stories, features Cruz as the first and only female police detective in Acapulco.

     

    “Emilia is a fascinating, multidimensional character with a complex backstory. This female-driven crime series, with such an inherently dramatic setting that features glamorous resorts against the local culture of poverty and violence presents an amazing opportunity for film and episodic television adaptations,” Skopov said.

     

    Currently working with producers Michael Keyes of Something Kreative, and Zack Stentz to set up production on Three Rivers, a Pittsburgh-set gritty true-crime thriller co-written with Eddie Richey, Skopov is best known for her work on such TV fare as Xena: Warrior Princess, SyFy’s Farscape, and the indie feature Novel Romance.

     

    Having been approached by two other film producers, Amato ultimately chose to work with Skopov in large part due to their shared view that the time is right for an entertainment franchise that puts Latino characters center stage in substantial, complex and diverse roles that transcend simplistic categorizations. 

     

    While writing the first novel, Cliff Diver, Amato found herself inspired by envisioning her “dream cast” of Latino actors breathing life into her creations.  While she’s currently keeping that fantasy casting list to herself, she and Skopov are quick to point out that the talent pool to fill these roles is deep, and includes many performers who don’t often get the opportunity to play fully realized human beings, nor to be part of a project that showcases a spectrum of Latino individuals and lifestyles.

     

    With iconic Acapulco as the series’ backdrop and plotting that parallels today’s headlines, Skopov believes the Emilia Cruz franchise will attract English-language viewers in the United States and gain a large Spanish-language fan base in both the US and Latin America for the dubbed or sub-titled version. To support the franchise, the foreign language rights to the Emilia Cruz books are currently available. The fourth novel in the series, King Peso, is due out in late 2015.

  • WPP acquires sports marketing agency Two Circles

    WPP acquires sports marketing agency Two Circles

    MUMBAI: WPP has acquired a majority stake in London based sports marketing agency Two Circles.

     

    Following the deal, Two Circles will become part of ESP Properties, GroupM’s newly launched company serving rights holders from the worlds of sports and entertainment.

     

    Founded in 2011, Two Circles employs 55 people and works with leading sports rights holders across 10 markets internationally, enabling them to deliver the right messages to the right customers at the right time and in doing so, deliver commercial growth across all key revenue streams.

     

    The agency’s clients include England and Wales Cricket Board, Valencia CF, Liverpool FC, Lawn Tennis Association, Ascot Racecourse, Harlequins, Bath and Wasps Rugby.

     

    Two Circles will continue to operate as a stand-alone business within ESP Properties and be led by CEO Matt Rogan and managing director Gareth Balch. The agency’s consolidated revenues for the year ended 31 August, 2014 were ?2.7 million, with gross assets of ?1.0 million as at the same date.

     

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors and strengthening its digital capabilities. WPP’s digital revenues were $6.9billion in 2014, representing 36 per cent of the Group’s total revenues of $19billion. WPP has set a target of 40-45 per cent of revenue to be derived from digital in the next five years.

  • News Corp backed PropTiger acquires Makaan.com

    News Corp backed PropTiger acquires Makaan.com

    MUMBAI: With an aim to ramp up its presence in India’s secondary property market, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp-backed real estate portal PropTiger has acquired rival Makaan.com for an undisclosed amount.

     

    PropTiger’s parent firm Elara Technologies has entered into a transaction with Makaan.com. Both portals will run separately.

     

    “Our parent firm Elara has acquired Makaan.com, which will keep operating as a separate portal. No fresh funds were raised for this acquisition,” PropTiger.com co-founder Dhruv Agarwala told PTI.

     

    The acquisition creates a comprehensive online real-estate platform, which will offer end-to-end services to home buyers, real estate developers, property brokers, banks and private equity investors. Since 2011, around 12,000 homes worth $1.2 billion have been purchased through PropTiger’s platform.

     

    The Noida-based firm, which was founded in February 2011, has eight offices in the country with employee strength of around 500. In November last year, News Corp had acquired 25 per cent stake in PropTiger for $30 million as part of its strategy to expand presence in digital media.

     

    Earlier this month, PropTiger also acquired the Bangalore-based digital interaction design company Out of Box Interaction (OoBI), which specialises in displaying real estate projects in an immersive way.

     

    Entrepreneur and investor Anupam Mittal, whose other digital ventures include Shaadi.com and Mauj Mobile, founded Makaan.com within People Group.

  • Dentsu acquires Israel’s digital performance agency abaGada

    Dentsu acquires Israel’s digital performance agency abaGada

    MUMBAI: With the aim of strengthening its presence in Israel and neighbouring countries and enhancing the range of digital services provided, Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd. has acquired Israel’s digital performance marketing agency abaGada Internet.

     

    Founded in 2010, abaGada does not just stop at search engine optimization (SEO) when it comes to search engine marketing practices; the company’s grasp of various internal and external factors such as the analysis of customer and user behavior and other strengths in the digital performance marketing domain leads to results. 

     

    Moreover, abaGada offers a variety of services including search engine marketing (SEM) to increase the number of visitors from the search engine to owned media such as a corporate website, and the creation and dissemination of owned media content coupled with social media. Although many of its clients are companies operating in Israel, abaGada also provides services targeting the customers of multinationals in 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

     

    There are a number of excellent venture companies in Israel, and the country’s reputation for its innovative strengths has resulted in its being referred to as the second Silicon Valley. With its advanced technological strengths and development capabilities, abaGada is expected to function as the Group’s digital technology hub in Israel and neighboring countries in the region. 

     

    The Dentsu Group has to date provided services to clients in Israel through its media communications agency Carat, one of the Group’s global network brands. Post-acquisition, abaGada will transition toward operating as iProspect, another of the Group’s global network brands which has strengths in the digital performance domain, and provide impetus for the development of a collaborative framework with Carat in the media and digital domains. 

     

    For the year ended December 2014 abaGada revenue stood at GBP 3,500,000.

  • Reliance MediaWorks and others acquire 54 per cent of Prime Focus

    Reliance MediaWorks and others acquire 54 per cent of Prime Focus

    BENGALURU: Reliance MediaWorks Limited (RMWL) along with Reliance Land Works Private Limited (RLWPL) and others had sought to acquire 26 per cent or 7,77,08,534 shares (about 77.7 million shares) of Prime Focus though a public offer from its shareholders.

    The acquirers offered a price of Rs 52 per equity share of face value of Re 1 each. The total value of the offer was Rs 404,08,43,768 (about Rs 4.04 billion). The planned acquisition would increase the shareholding of RMWL and others to 63.96 per cent, the other 37.96 per cent to be obtained by way of preferential allotment through agreements.
     
    The other parties include Namit Malhotra, Naresh Malhotra and Monsoon Studio Private Limited (MSPL). MSPL is a wholly owned company by Namit Malhotra and Naresh Malhotra who are its promoters.
     
    As per the public press advertisement issued by the acquirers, they have managed to obtain 16.1 per cent representing 4,81,24,618 shares (about 48.1 million shares) at a cost of Rs 250,24,80,136 (about Rs 2.5 billion) taking the total shareholding of RMWL and others to 54.06 per cent once the preferential allotment is complete.
     
    Prime Focus has announced an Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 29 January, 2015 to create, offer, issue and allot, from time to time and in one or more tranches, by way of a Preferential Issue, through offer letter and/or circular and/or information memorandum and/ or private placement memorandum and/or such other documents/writings, in such a manner and on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Board in its absolute discretion to the acquirers viz., (1) up to 23,076,923 equity shares to MSPL; (2) up to 23,076,923 equity shares to RMWL as first RML subscription shares (3) up to 67,307,692 equity shares to RMWL as second RML subscription shares.

     

    Click here to read the notice
     

    Click here to read the advertisement