Audio Visual Effects - The Future of Entertainment Industry

Transcription

1 Deals Week Ending July 12, 2008 Did we say we were heading into the summer doldrums last week? Other than the Weather Channel acquisition, which we include because of its web presence, the deals last week were primarily interesting, smaller mid-market moves. They included a good number of acquisitions of divisions, product line assets, and business units. A clear example of positioning for the convergence of entertainment media, games developer Ubisoft announced the acquisition of Hybride Technologies, a Montreal-based studio renowned for its expertise in the creation of visual effects for cinema, television and advertising. Hybride s many projects include such innovative films as 300, Sin City and the Spy Kids series. The line between film and video game visual effects has narrowed considerably and Ubisoft and Hybride share the same vision of entertainment convergence. It makes sense for large gaming corporations like Ubisoft to make these acquisitions as the different media mediums merge to cut costs and keep production in house. Don t forget to tune into Corum s very popular quarterly webinar. This presentation will be Mid- Year Review Software and IT M&A Outlook What Lies Ahead? We will give an in-depth review of the global M&A results for the second quarter and trends affecting coming months. The webinar will be held Thursday morning at 9:00. There is no cost to you but a quick registration is required on our website - Deal highlights for the week include: Radiant Systems acquires Orderman GmbH Radiant Systems, Inc. has acquired Orderman GmbH, manufacturer of wireless handheld ordering and payment devices for the hospitality industry. Orderman s innovative, mobile devices are widely recognized in the European hospitality marketplace. Based in Salzburg, Austria, Orderman develops wireless, handheld point of sale (POS) devices and related software that are deployed in a variety of hospitality venues, including restaurants, cafes, arenas, stadiums, and ski resorts. This acquisition puts Radiant in an excellent position to further accelerate the adoption of mobile devices in the global hospitality sector and to bring additional innovations to market across all of the industries it serves. Deal Value: $30.9 Million Consona ERP acquires certain assets of Automated Design Systems Consona ERP Inc., a provider of ERP software and services for small and midsize discrete manufacturers, has acquired the Intuitive-related assets of Automated Design Systems (ADS), a Canadabased provider of software tools, implementation services, integration support and education programs for the worlds leading CAD and ERP applications. The acquisition of the Intuitive-related assets of ADS reinforces Consona ERPs aggressive acquisition strategy to acquire manufacturing expertise within the ERP industry, and extends the company s footprint within the Canadian market. The combined companies will look to grow and increase market share as a provider of ERP software and services for Canadian manufacturers. The Active Network acquires HY-TEK Sports Software Businesses The Active Network, Inc., provider of application services technology and marketing solutions for community service and participatory sports organizations, has acquired Hodgson s hurricane s, Inc. and certain assets of T&C Products, Inc., which collectively operate under the name HY-TEK Sports Software, the software and services provider to over 95 percent of the swimming and track & field clubs, schools

2 and organizations in the United States. HY-TEK offers a wide range of solutions to the swimming and track & field communities, including team management, meet management, athlete training and performance enhancement, database support and administrative tracking. HY-TEK s software is used by more than 20,000 professional leagues (USA Track & Field and USA Swimming), national governing bodies, and high schools and colleges in over 30 countries around the world. Triple Point Technology acquires Rome Corporation Triple Point Technology, global supplier of energy and commodity risk management and transaction processing software solutions, acquired ROME Corporation, provider of enterprise credit risk management solutions. The acquisition broadens and deepens Triple Point s product portfolio, enabling it to uniquely offer enterprise risk management solutions covering the four key contributors of corporate financial exposure: market risk, governance and regulatory compliance risk, operational risk and counterparty credit risk. Triple Point customers, and the energy/commodity markets at large, demanded the capability of managing all aspects of corporate financial exposure from their transaction and risk management solution provider. This customer pull was a key driver in our pursuit of the ROME acquisition. Hyland Software acquires Liberty Information Management Systems Hyland Software (Thoma Bravo portfolio company), the developer of the OnBase enterprise content management software suite, has acquired Liberty Information Management Systems. Since 1987, Liberty IMS has secured more than 1,000 implementations of its LibertyNET and LibertyNET Office products in organizations spanning several vertical markets, most notably in state and local government, transportation and logistics, financial services and healthcare. In acquiring Liberty IMS Hyland adds a team of knowledgeable professionals with technical and sales expertise to help organizations optimize their document-centric business processes. Moreover, as a heavily channel-focused organization, Liberty IMS brings to Hyland an established network of channel partners that can help expand Hyland's own network of Authorized OnBase Solutions Providers in key U.S. and Canadian regional markets. Ubisoft to acquire Hybride Technologies Ubisoft (France) announced the acquisition of Hybride Technologies, a Montreal Canada-based studio renowned for its expertise in the creation of visual effects for cinema, television and advertising. Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft will work closely with Hybride to share technology and to develop tools in order to optimize the creation of both video games and visual effects and to offer gamers visual experiences that rival those of the cinema. Swiss Post acquires Global Business Services Plus Swiss Post has acquired Global Business Services Plus (GBS+), which specializes in digital document management and has offices in France, Germany and Slovakia. By acquiring Global Business Services

3 Plus (GBS+), based in Paris, Swiss Post is reinforcing and completing its offering in the field of document solutions in Germany and France. SAI Global acquires Privacy Knowledgebase SAI Global, provider of governance, risk and compliance solutions, has expanded its portfolio of compliance and risk management services by purchasing the Privacy Knowledgebase from Stone Investments, Inc. The Privacy Knowledgebase is a Web-based database of privacy and data protection information designed for privacy, legal and compliance professionals who must stay abreast of complex, rapidly changing local and global privacy regulations and legislation. The Privacy Knowledgebase provides one-stop online access to the worldwide privacy information that privacy compliance professionals must have. The complex, ever-changing privacy landscape presents real challenges for SAI clients who must always stay up-to-date, and the acquisition provides an on point solution that addresses this need. Sovereign Wealth Corp. to acquire Multimedia Solutions Sovereign Wealth Corp. is acquiring Multimedia Solutions, a South African based mobile marketing company. The agreement enables Multimedia Solutions to expand its operations internationally to high growth markets including Brazil, India, Asia and the United States of America. Multimedia Solutions is a leading supplier of mobile technology in the South African market. Multimedia Solutions clients include some of the leading retailers in South Africa and the company is currently doubling its revenue on an annual basis. The Multimedia Solutions technology also enhances Sovereign Wealth s Digital Vouchers and mobile payment platforms, which are being used to launch a mobile phone and Internet based loyalty program in the United States. Sangoma Technologies to acquire Paraxip Sangoma Technologies Corp (Canada) agreed to acquire Paraxip Technologies Inc, a developer of IP connectivity software that empowers the deployment of IP Telephony applications. Founded in 2003, Paraxip s customers include IBM, Genesys (a subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent), First Data Corporation and the State of California. The integration of Paraxip s SIP based NetBorder suite into Sangoma s product line provides Sangoma with a growth path that includes the Unified Communications market, IP contact centers, commercial interactive voice response solutions and other SIP-based telephony markets. The combined products and channels of the two companies considerably extend Sangoma s current addressable market range by providing support for all software-based telephony applications. Deal Value: $4.6 Million Aspect Software acquires BlueNote Networks Aspect Software, Inc., the world s largest company solely focused on Unified Communications for the Contact Center, announced it has acquired substantially all of the assets of BlueNote Networks. The acquisition furthers the company s recently announced unified communications for the contact center strategy with the addition of IT-ready, software-based products that communications-enable business processes (CEBP). Leveraging the BlueNote Networks technology, Aspect Software customers will now

4 be able to extend session initiation protocol (SIP)-based voice, video and other real-time interactive communication services to enterprise users as an integral part of a service oriented architecture. Open Text acquires Corbis Division Open Text Corporation, provider of Enterprise Content Management software, acquired emotion LLC from Corbis Corporation. The emotion division will become part of Open Text's Artesia Digital Media Group. emotion serves more than 70 marketing-department customers, including some of the largest Fortune 500 companies. The acquisition gives Open Text's Artesia Digital Media Group a broader portfolio of offerings for marketing departments and advertising agencies, adding capabilities that complement its industry-leading enterprise marketing asset management solution, Artesia DAM. The move will extend Open Text's digital media capabilities as part of its Enterprise 2.0 strategy. Announcement Date: July 10, 2008 Insight acquires MINX Insight Enterprises, Inc. has acquired MINX Limited, a small UK-based European Network Integrator with Cisco Gold Partner accreditation. This acquisition is consistent with Insight s evolution to a broad-based technology solutions advisor and provider in the UK. MINX will become part of the operation of Insight Direct (UK) Ltd and will significantly enhance Insight UK s capabilities in the sale, implementation and management of network infrastructure services and solutions. This acquisition will complement Insight s acquisition of Calence, a North American networking services company in April and supports the Company s global networking solutions strategy. Announcement Date: July 10, 2008 Deal Value: $6.1 Million British Telecom acquires Ufindus iomart, provider of co-location and managed hosting, announced the sale of its subsidiary Ufindus Limited, a leading internet directory services company to British Telecommunications plc. Ufindus was founded by iomart in 2002 and has grown to be one of the UK s largest new media directories businesses providing listing and web-sites for small and medium sized enterprise customers in the UK. The disposal will allow iomart to focus on its core offering of its managed webhosting business, Easyspace and its data center operations, both of which are expected to perform well in the current market environment. Announcement Date: July 11, 2008 Deal Value: $39.5 Million Thales to acquire ncipher Thales UK Ltd, a unit of Thales SA, is acquiring ncipher PLC (UK), a developer of Internet security products. Founded in 1996 and based in Cambridge, England, ncipher offers software centering on encryption, a growing area as companies seek to secure their data in light of high-profile breaches over the last few years. ncipher's portfolio includes products for handling the keys that unlock encrypted data. How those keys are handled often involves compliance with data protection regulations as well as policy controls for who can access the keys. Thales, which is the second-largest supplier of electronics to the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense, said the deal will bolster its encryption offerings, giving it several hardware security modules, a provisioning product for managing cryptographic keys and products focused on the security of data stored on tape.

5 Announcement Date: July 11, 2008 Deal Value: $100 Million