Q3 2008 Pure Play Transactions

BSA Satellink acquires Clear Blue Interactive

BSA Satellink Inc. acquired Clear Blue Interactive, Inc.  Prior to the acquisition, CBI operated a leading social network (http://www.affluence.org/) exclusively for affluent people. Membership requires a verified net-worth of at least $3 million, an annual household income of at least $300,000, or the successful invitation of at least five people who qualify for membership on their own. BSA has established a strategic plan, based on his vision, to aggregate the world's largest organization of international affluent people and to develop and implement technologies, processes, principles, and services aimed at building the most comprehensive multimedia platform to communicate, network, and market to affluent people around the world. The Company also intends to seek shareholder approval to change its name to "Affluence Corporation."

Announcement Date: September 29, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Springer acquires Transfermarkt.de

Newspaper publisher Axel Springer AG is acquiring 51% of the German portal Transfermarkt.de. Transfermarkt.de is the biggest online soccer community in Germany, with 14 million visits and 170 million page impressions, registered in August 2008. Matthias Seidel, the CEO and founder, will keep the other 49% of the company and the management position.

Announcement Date: September 24, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

MyHeritage acquires Kindo

UK-based Kindo.com, a family tree service, has been acquired by the Israel-based MyHeritage, which was recently funded by Accel and Index Ventures. The size of the deal was not disclosed, but it’s a fast exit for Kindo which only launched last year. Kindo says on their blog that the buy-out took place because “we share the same vision and values.” TechCrunch US speculates that it’s about extending it’s presence in Europe with an existing team and Kindo’s extensive 14 language service (including Russian, Arabic and Chinese).

Announcement Date: September 23, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Pangea Media acquires LaughNetwork

Pangea Media, an online quizzes and quiz technology company, has acquired LaughNetwork, a network of websites focused on humor, quizzes and casual entertainment. With this acquisition, Pangea Media expands its reach into new verticals and demographics, and offers users a more diverse range of interactive content through LaughNetwork’s more than 100 websites including: Funnies.com, YourSpaceIsBest.com, HopelessRomantic.com, PositiveThoughts.com, SnapPoll.com and others. The sites contain greeting cards, viral animated flash content, social media tools, jokes and quizzes. More than 200,000 unique visitors access LaughNetwork sites each day resulting in more than one million daily page views.

Announcement Date: September 23, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

InventBay.com acquires IdeaTango

InventBay.com has acquired IdeaTango, LLC. Founded in 2006, IdeaTango.com helps inventors find reputable resources in their process of bringing new products to market, and has since become one of the nation’s most popular websites for inventors. The site assists inventors’ navigation of the treacherous passage from concept to retail distribution. This acquisition will be good for the inventor community, Inventbay.com said. IdeaTango’s award-winning web-based service mix will add new technology to InventBay.com’s new website in the near future, reinforcing InventBay.com’s position as America’s pre-eminent integrated one-stop shop for inventors seeking assistance, resources and capital with investors, service providers or manufacturers who can help in the development of their projects.

Announcement Date: September 22, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Respond acquires WiserAdvisor

WiserAdvisor, established in 2003, is the pioneer in offering an unbiased, objective and sophisticated matching service for potential investors searching for financial advisors who best fit their unique needs. Acquiring WiserAdvisor will strengthen Respond's presence in the financial space, which has been Respond's fastest-growing sector. The acquisition accelerates Respond's ability to provide high-quality and real-time investor leads to qualified financial advisors. This complements Respond's current relationships with most existing firms in the financial planning leads market such as Paladin Registry, a registry of five-star financial advisors who are acknowledged fiduciaries.

Announcement Date: September 22, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

CrowdGather acquires FreePowerBroards

One of the leading networks of forum communities on the worldwide web, CrowdGather, has added FreePowerBoards.com to their rapidly expanding roster of enthusiast forums and tools for forum members. FreePowerBoards.com is an easy to use, customizable message board hosting service available free of charge to its members. Created in 2005, FreePowerBoards.com offers registration, hosting space, bandwidth, support, and service for individuals interested in creating their own message boards or forums. FreePowerBoards.com currently boasts 1.8 million members in over 35,000 diverse forums. The acquisition of FreePowerBoards.com will not only add to CrowdGather’s growing number of online forums, but will also allow forum members and registered users to create their own forums directly on the CrowdGather.com website.

Announcement Date: September 22, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

RadioTime acquires RadioSherpa

RadioTime, Inc., a developer of technology for finding and listening to radio online, announced it has acquired RadioSherpa which provides a real-time program guide for all HD radio stations in New York City, Boston and San Francisco. RadioTime will add this real-time information to its guide that provides a quick and easy way to find radio content from thousands of stations airing local and syndicated music, talk and entertainment shows. RadioSherpa's real-time song identification technology further enhances the RadioTime user experience by enabling listeners to quickly find their favorite songs currently playing on any station.

Announcement Date: September 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

SeLoger.com to acquire AgoraBiz.com

SeLoger.com, France's leading player in online real estate services, has acquired AgoraBiz.com.  AgoraBiz is a marketplace providing two ranges of services for real estate professionals and those involved in the buy-out/buy-in market. A leader in the French online real estate market in terms of audience and number of classified ads, the SeLoger.com group plans to expand its presence in high-growth market niches in order to capitalize on its expertise in online marketing and traffic generation around the real estate theme. At present, 6,000 real estate agent clients already publish at least one "office and commercial real estate" advertisement, representing a total volume of 35,000 advertisements for the sale of business assets or premises. The agorabiz.com website, launched in 2005, has 31,000 advertisements. It benefits from a unique position in its segment, combining all products of interest to professionals and those interested in buying a business. This deal fits in with the group's strategy of selective acquisitions and enables it to create value from its expertise in a new niche area of the real estate market.

Announcement Date: September 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Bestofmedia Group acquires Computing.Net

Within two months following the $35 million growth funding investment from Index Ventures, Bestofmedia Group has acquired Computing.Net, a source of high tech information and technical support for IT professionals, developers, tech enthusiasts and consumers. Computing.Net was named by PC World as the best site for free PC and Windows support. It was founded in 1996 and has become a leading resource for technology professionals. The site has how-to tutorials for all levels, from beginner to advanced technical skills. Computing.Net is now part of Tom's Guide, a Bestofmedia Group brand. Computing.Net, one of the most trusted and widely respected technical support sites, is a natural extension of the company’s offering to readers of Tom's Guide.

Announcement Date: September 16, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

GigaOM acquires TheAppleBlog

GigaOM has acquired TheAppleBlog, making it the seventh member of GigaOM’s growing network of blogs. TheAppleBlog feed will be integrated into that of Giga’s network and will be syndicated along with its other blogs. As part of its focus, TheAppleBlog is going to ramp up its coverage of iPhone and related applications, devices and add-ons.

Announcement Date: September 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Google buys Tatter and Company

Google Inc has bought Korean blogging software developer Tatter and Company. Tatter co-chief executive Chang-Won Kim announced the deal on his personal blog in an entry titled "We've been Googled!" saying that the acquisition would help Google increase its market share in the country. Kim described Google's market share in Korea as "minor" and said Korean web users mainly use portals such as Yahoo Inc's. Korea has the ninth-highest number of Internet users in the world, according to Internet World Stats, a website that tracks such data. Google said “the acquisition will allow it to enhance its publishing tools in Korea.”

Announcement Date: September 12, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Adult Entertainment Capital to acquire ComedyNet.com

Adult Entertainment Capital, Inc. is acquiring ComedyNet. ComedyNet is also carried on broadband portals such as Sling Media, HULU and ActiveVideo. Through its affiliation with QuickPlay, ComedyNet is available via subscription on most AT&T, Verizon and Sprint cell phones. ComedyNet's uncut and uncensored events are carried by Events on Demand. ComedyNet's digital programming network brings together the creative community of comedians, actors, writers, sketch troupes, improvisation artists and all of the denizens in the community of "funny." Stand up comedians from Harlem to the Heartland are captured in live performance, while produced shows like 'The Fourth Floor' and 'Mash-Up' bring animation, short films, stand up and improvisation together to form comedy that raises the bar.

Announcement Date: September 2, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

ProSiebenSat.1 has acquired autoplenum.de

The ProSiebenSat.1 Group, one of the leading European media corporations with 26 free TV stations, 24 pay TV channels and 22 radio networks in 13 countries, has acquired a stake in autoplenum.de, Germany's first independent, automotive information and evaluation platform. The online portal was launched at the end of June 2007 by Holtzbrinck eLAB GmbH and Malte Krüger. ProSiebenSat.1 now holds 25.1 percent of the platform, with an option to expand its stake later to a majority interest of 50.1 percent. The acquisition expands ProSiebenSat.1s presence in the digital world, and adds an online automotive information and knowledge platform to ProSiebenSat.1 Networld.

Announcement Date: September 2, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

R&S Investments acquires Hollywood.com

Hollywood Media, the entertainment news and ticketing firm, is selling its flagship unit/domain, Hollywood.com. The buyer is R&S Investments, a firm controlled by the company’s own chairman and CEO. The price is up to $10 million, but $9 million of that is earnout, with just $1 million paid upfront. The company will also get paid if R&S sells Hollywood.com before the earnout period is complete. Despite the name, the press release noted that Hollywood.com represents just 4 percent of revenue, and was a major money loser ($2.5 million) for the last 12 months. Basically, it looks like there’s more value there as a premium domain than as a lower-tier ticketing and showtime site. Going forward, the company will focus on its Broadway.com ticketing business, as well as UK’s CinemasOnline.

Announcement Date: August 28, 2008
Deal Value: $1 Million (Cash plus potential of up to $9 million in earnout)

Stracka Design acquires GolfQ

Stracka Design Company, an operator of a social network for golf enthusiasts, has acquired GolfQ.com, a golf promotions website. GolfQ advertises that they are the world’s largest golf online community that has helped promote golf courses for nearly ten years.

Announcement Date: August 28, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

DriverSide Motors acquires FairBenjamin

DriverSide Motors, a San Francisco-based operator of an automotive research and information website, has acquired FairBenjamin, a website for finding local mechanics.

Announcement Date: August 26, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Technorati acquires BlogCritics

Technorati continues to redefine itself. In June they launched Technorati Media, a blog advertising network. Now they have acquired Blogcritics, a six-year-old blog network. The price, which was all cash, is not being disclosed but rumor puts it in the $1 million range. Blogcritics is similar to Salon’s newly launched Open Salon, which lets lots of people write articles from time to time on topics they’re familiar with. The site has had published submissions from 2,300 authors, many of which maintain their own blogs as well. 73,000 articles have been published in the six years since launching. The site draws about 1 million unique monthly visitors who generate 3-4 million page views. Authors maintain the copyright on their content and grant a perpetual license to Blogcritics.

Announcement Date: August 26, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Lifetime Networks to acquire ParentsClick Network

Lifetime Networks announced its first-ever digital acquisition with the purchase of ParentsClick Network, Inc., a privately-held social network and digital media technology company that has developed an online community application for creating customizable, content-rich websites for active parents and their real-life groups. Buoyed by an impressive 48 percent growth on www.myLifetime.com in July, the strategic acquisition offers Lifetime -- the leader in women's entertainment -- an important entry into the high-value, fast-growing consumer category of parenting and moms online. The technology assets will also support the network's expanding digital initiatives by accelerating the development and launch of key vertical communities. Additionally, Lifetime is also acquiring the company's substantial portfolio of over 200 parenting-related domains.

Announcement Date: August 26, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Amazon acquires Shelfari

Amazon.com has acquired Shelfari, a Seattle-based online social network for book aficionados. Shelfari and Amazon will work hand in hand to continue to grow a dynamic community and create innovative tools around books.  Shelfari is known for its innovative user interface. One question brought up by the deal is - Can Amazon own 100% of LibraryThing's main competitor and manage its 40% stake in LibraryThing?

Announcement Date: August 26, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Hupert Burda Media acquires DasKochrezept.de

The German publishing house Hupert Burda Media is acquiring DasKochrezept.de, one of the most representative platforms for cooking and nourishment in Germany. DasKochrezept.de has more than 1.7 million visitors per month and more than 1 million unique users. “With the acquisition we can work together with BonGusto and tv.gusto, offering an attractive content package to our customers,” says Christoph Schneider, CEO of abantis media, the subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media which is leading the acquisition.

Announcement Date: August 25, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Allesklar.com acquires DatingCafe.de

The German online dating agency DatingCafe.de has been acquired by allesKlar.com, an internet media company which manages internet portals. One of the most representative websites of its portfolio is www.meinestadt.de. The portal collects information about 12,500 cities and has around 5.9 million unique visitors per month.  DatingCafe has more than 1 million members and is a market leader in events, parties and trips for singles.

Announcement Date: August 8, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Comcast Interactive acquires DailyCandy

Comcast Interactive has bought newsletter service DailyCandy for an unconfirmed $125 million. The site caters to women interested in fashion, food, travel and other cosmopolitan topics. Comcast apparently beat out Viacom with its willingness to pay $5 million more than Viacom’s offer of $120 million. Daily Candy is a leading online brand that reaches an engaged, loyal and targeted female demographic with a unique editorial voice. They have a highly successful and differentiated advertising and business model that touches people on a very local level. Comcast believes in the value of the obvious cross-promotion and content development opportunities across its CIM and Comcast brands.

Announcement Date: August 7, 2008
Deal Value: $125 Million (Cash)
Seller Revenue: $25 Million (2008)

Focus acquires Jameda.de

Hubert Burda Media, the German media company, has acquired Jameda.de, a website with more 300,000 doctors, counsellors and alternative therapists throughout Germany. The acquisition was made through Focus Tomorrow, a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media, which acquired 51% of the shares of Jameda.de and Focus Magazin Verlag which bought 19%. Jameda.de’s employees will be working closely with the Focus Online team.

Announcement Date: August 6, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Rogers Media acquires PoolExpert

Rogers Media Inc., a magazine publisher and broadcaster owned by Rogers Communications Inc. (Canada), has acquired PoolExpert Inc., one of Canada's biggest online fantasy sports information and technology providers. Fantasy sports are growing in popularity across North America as sports fans build baseball, football, basketball, hockey or Formula One racing teams that compete against each other in online leagues based on the statistics generated by individual players or teams in Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL or Formula One. The PoolExpert deal allows Rogers to combine the acquired company's products and services with those available at major sports properties owned by Rogers such as the Rogers Sportsnet broadcaster.

Announcement Date: August 5, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

CraveOnline acquires MyAmineList

CraveOnline.com, an operator of a number of online male-focused websites, has acquired MyAnimeList, an anime and manga social networking website. MyAnimeList is focused on allowing users to catalog their anime or manga collections, and socialize with other users. According to MyAnimeList, it has around 79,500 users. CraveOnline is a unit of AtomicOnline, which operates a stable of online media sites.

Announcement Date: August 4, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Amazon.com to acquire AbeBooks

Amazon.com, Inc. is acquiring AbeBooks (Canada). AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books, with over 110 million primarily used, rare and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world. As a leader in rare and hard-to-find books, AbeBooks brings added breadth and expanded selection to Amazon’s customers worldwide.

Announcement Date: August 1, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

I-FREEK acquires majority of Nihon Intersystems

I-FREEK Co Inc acquired a 80% interest in Nihon Intersystems Co Ltd, a manager and operator of ecommerce retail mobile sites. Nihon Intersystems Co Ltd, based in Tokyo, Japan, manages and operates ecommerce retail services websites. The company was founded in 2003, and it develops mobile commerce websites; provides mobile business consulting services; wholesales cosmetic, health foods and equipments.

Announcement Date: July 30, 2008
Deal Value: $2.7 Million

GigaOM acquires jkOnTheRun

jkOnTheRun, an online blog focused on mobile gadgets, has been acquired by blog publisher Giga Omni Media (GigaOM). jkOnTheRun was started by Houston, Texas-based James Kendrick and Philadelphia-based Kevin Tofel, as a personal blog project.

Announcement Date: July 24, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Vance Publishing acquires CattleNetwork, CattleStore

Vance Publishing Corporation has acquired two Internet-based businesses that market to and serve the farm and ranch communities, CattleNetwork.com and CattleStore.com. Both were purchased from Integrated Management Information, Inc., of Colorado. This is Vance's first solely digital acquisition; other recent purchases have included a mix of print, e-media, and events. The Company plans to continue to pursue acquisition opportunities that will increase services to its customers and strengthen its existing product lines. The two new sites will become part of Vance's growing Food360 group, which includes Drovers, Dairy Herd Management, Bovine Veterinarian and Pork print publications, websites, e-newsletters, and the Doane forecasting and analysis product line marketed to the agricultural community, along with a host of other magazines, digital products and events.

Announcement Date: July 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

SnagFilms acquires indieWIRE

SnagFilms, which brings nonfiction films to a global web audience and promotes viral web distribution through virtual movie theater widgets, has acquired indieWIRE, the news, information, and social networking site for the international independent film community, from its publisher GMD Studios. indieWIRE will provide archival and news content for SnagFilms.com and the company’s virtual movie theater widgets, including breaking news from the indie sector, comprehensive film reviews and analysis, and the top relevant blogs. indieWIRE will feature virtual movie theater widgets from SnagFilms, including the indieWIRE editors’ top selections from the SnagFilms library.

Announcement Date: July 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

StepStone acquires Les Villages Emploi

StepStone, provider of Total Talent solutions, announced the acquisition of Les Villages Emploi, a French group of four websites including one aggregator site and three specialized market job boards. The sites cover a broad range of employment opportunities including Technical positions, Sales and Marketing, Administration, Finance and Accounting roles. This acquisition marks StepStone’s second acquisition in the French market in the past six months, and will complement the company’s existing French businesses.

Announcement Date: July 15, 2008
Deal Value: $5.7 Million (Cash plus undisclosed performance earnout)

Expedia, Inc. to acquire Venere.com

Expedia, Inc. is acquiring Italy-based Venere Net ApA from Advent International and the founding partners. Venere.com is focused on offering hotel reservations to European consumers and provides hoteliers with geographically diverse sources of demand. Venere.com has established relationships with approximately 29,000 hotels and bed and breakfast properties throughout Europe and the U.S. The transaction will result in the addition of more than 10,000 incremental hotel properties in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to Expedia, Inc.'s global hotel offering. Additionally, it will immediately expand Expedia’s supply footprint in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and enable Expedia to diversify its business model approach to hotel partners worldwide.

Announcement Date: July 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

BigString acquires Buddystumbler.com

BigString Corporation, a provider of social networking messaging applications user-controllable email and instant messaging services, acquired Buddystumbler.com, an IM-based social network that allows users to meet people via free online chats on AOL AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and Google Talk. The website will be integrated with BigString IM, the company's new cross-platform IM application. The company also agreed to provide certain advisory services to BigString to assist in the transition and integration of the websites. In consideration of these advisory services, Buddystumbler.com Inc. will receive a percentage of the net proceeds derived from the advertising revenues generated.

Announcement Date: July 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

Manufacturers’ News acquires IndustryNet.com

Manufacturers' News, Inc. has acquired IndustryNet.com and will be merging it with its existing industrial search engine, mniguide.com, to create one of the nation's most comprehensive guides for locating manufacturers and suppliers. IndustryNet is one of a growing number of vertical search engines that are gaining popularity. With an estimated one million new web pages coming online each day, industrial buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to sift through traditional search engine results to locate qualified vendors and suppliers. Vertical search engines, like IndustryNet, offer many unique advantages that help buyers save time and money.

Announcement Date: July 8, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

NowPublic acquires Truemors

NowPublic Technologies, a participatory news network, has acquired Truemors, a website dedicated to news rumor mill that allows users to read, write, discuss and rate rumors posted by others.

Announcement Date: July 10, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

TripAdvisor acquires VirtualTourist.com and OneTime.com

TripAdvisor LLC, which is owned by Expedia Inc., has acquired VirtualTourist.com Inc. and OneTime.com Inc., two Southern California-based online travel websites. VituralTourist.com provides user-generated travel content, and OneTime.com is an online travel booking comparison website.

Announcement Date: July 1, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

eForce Media acquires Vertical Passion Media

eForce Media, a provider of internet sales lead generation services, has acquired Vertical Passion Media, LLC, an operator of a number of online destinations in the auto classified and other lead generation areas.

Announcement Date: July 1, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed

StarVest Partners acquires IRON Solutions

StarVest Partners and limited partners Dublin Capital Partners and Spring Mountain Capital, a strategic investor, has expanded into the "Data-as-a-Service" market by acquiring IRON Solutions, Inc. IRON Solutions is the pre-eminent source for market data for over 4,000 North American farm, outdoor power and construction equipment dealers, leading auctioneers, and many financial institutions, insurers and government agencies.

Announcement Date: July 2, 2008
Deal Value: $15 million