Media
GERMANY – Cinven pulls out of ProSiebenSat1 race
It is understood that Cinven, which had joined the Apax and Goldman Sachs consortium, has withdrawn from the auction for a 50.5% stake in German media group ProSiebenSat1. The remaining potential buyers are believed to include Turkish media giant Dogan...
UK - Risk Capital Partners exits design and marketing company Loewy
Risk Capital Partners has made its fourth full exit in the past 15 months with the sale of its entire holding in the creative design and marketing services company Loewy. The Loewy disposal generated a 2.5x cash on cash return and an IRR of 41%.
UK - Ingenious Media invests £3m to enable Digital Rights Group to make acquisition
Ingenious Media Active Capital Limited has invested £3m in The Digital Rights Group Ltd (DRG) in order to enable it to acquire Portman Film and Television Ltd, a UK drama distributor.
UK - The Carlyle Group to acquire Bigmouthmedia to merge with Global Media
The Carlyle Group has acquired Bigmouthmedia, the digital marketing agency headquartered in Edinburgh and will merge the company with its existing portfolio company, Global Media GmbH, the web marketing company headquartered in Munich. As a result, Carlyle...
UK - Ingenious Music VCTs invest £2.6m
Ingenious Ventures, part of Ingenious Media, the specialist media investment and advisory group, has invested a total of £2.6m through its two Music VCTs. The money will support debut albums of up-and-coming bands Passenger and Apartment, and solo-artist...
UK – Esprit backs WAYN
Esprit Capital Partners has led a $11m series A round of funding for UK travel and lifestyle social network business Where Are You Now? (WAYN).
UK - New recruit joins MSIF’s venture fund
Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF)has appointed Jon Wormald as investment manager for its £40m venture fund. Wormald joins the fund from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he spent six years working in audit and transaction services in the entertainment,...
GERMANY – ProSiebenSat1 bidders down to three
Reports suggest that only three bidders remain in the race to acquire Germany’s largest commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat1 after CVC is said to have dropped out. Remaining known bidders are the two consortiums comprising financial investors Permira...
GERMANY – nugg.ad receives growth capital
Bmp AG and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH have invested in Berlin-based media company nugg.ad. The financial investors each take a 17.5% stake, with nugg.ad founders holding the balance.
ITALY/GERMANY - Mediaset leaves competition for ProSiebenSat
Mediaset, the broadcasting giant owned by ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, is no longer in the competitive process for German television network ProSiebenSat.1 Media.
BELGIUM - Clear2Pay raises additional EUR 2m from Iris Capital
Clear2Pay,a Belgian software vendor of next generation payment solutions for financial institutions, has received a EUR 2m capital increase from Iris Capital. In addition, the telco and media venture capitalist has purchased existing equity for the value...
ITALY/GERMANY - Berlusconi and private equity funds to compete for media giant
According to reports in the Italian press, Silvio Berlusconi's broadcasting empire Mediaset is planning to launch a bid for 50.5% of German television network ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It is understood that a decision will be made next Tuesday, when the group's...
UK - Ingenious appoints David Mansfield as a main board director
Ingenious, the media investment and advisory group, has appointed David Mansfield as a main board director. Mansfield joined the advisory board of Ingenious Media Active Capital Plc, the AIM listed fund, early this year and now joins the company in an...
UK - Ingenious Media takes stake in Apax target Incisive Media
Ingenious Media Active Capital Ltd part of Ingenious Media Plc, the entertainment and media-focused investor has acquired an 11% stake in Incisive Media Plc for £22m. Ingenious paid 195p per share which matches the price offered by Apax six weeks ago...
UK - Ingenious appoints Peter Shawyer as non-executive director
Ingenious, the media investment and advisory group, has appointed Peter Shawyer as a non-executive director to the board and a director of Ingenious Ventures Ltd. Shawyer was previously managing partner at Deloitte & Touche and is currently a non-executive...
UK - Mind Candy announces $7m in funding
Mind Candy, the UK based company behind the Alternative Reality Game (ARG) Perplex City, has raised $7m from Accel Partners and existing investor Index Ventures and NewMedia Spark. The funding comes in advance of a major expansion of new products to be...
UK - FTSE 250 Informa in talks with Candover and Cinven
Informa Plc, the FTSE 250 company which provides specialist information and services for the academic and scientific, professional and commercial business communities, is in talks with Candover and Cinven about going private. The deal would see Informa...
UK - Promethean portfolio company DLG makes acquisition
Promethean portfolio company Data Locator Group (DLG) has acquired the business and assets of Wegener DM Group Plc (WDM) from the listed media group Koninklijke Wegener NV. WDM has created a database on UK consumers and their lifestyles and collects the...
UK - Merseyside Special Investment Fund backs SLR Technology Solutions
SLR Technology Solutions received almost £80,000 of funding from Merseyside Special Investment Fund to complete its proof of concept phase.
UK - Promethean keen on Media Square
Media Square, the listed marketing company which issued a profit warning last month, is reported to have rejected a bid by Promethean. The share price rose by 4p yesterday on the news of this bid.
NL - VNU completes sale of its stake in Solucient to Thomson
VNU, the information and media company which is owned by private equity consortium Valcon Acquisition BV, has announced that it has completed the sale of its 34.3% stake in Solucient, an information products company serving the healthcare industry, to...
UK - Icera closes $20m investment from 3i
Icera Inc, the cellular wireless semiconductor company, today announced that 3i has invested $20m in the company as an extension to its recent series-C funding round, which now totals $60m. 3i joins an investor group comprising Benchmark Capital Europe,...
UK - Ingenious plans launch of Ingenious Securities
Ingenious, the media investment and advisory group, announces that Robert Benton and Richard Jeffrey have been appointed Chief Executive and Head of Securities, respectively, of Ingenious Securities, a new business to be focused on the media sector, which...
UK - August Equity announces appointment of Keith Davidson
August Equity Ltd has announced the appointment of Keith Davidson as Investment Manager. Davidson joins August Equity from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he has been since 2002. Keith qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen in 2002 before...