Three years after paying $225 million to buy online ad company Allyes, Chinese ad firm Focus Media is selling a majority stake in the company, which bills itself as China’s “largest online media service provider,” to PE firm Silver Lake. Silver Lake is paying $124 million...
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In its attempts to find a buyer for Newsweek, The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO) has been said to have hardly given a thought to bids from entities considered too conservative or too tawdry, but it looks like an offer to buy the magazine from an audio equipment impresario appears to be...
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Health Grades, the publicly-traded owner of popular doctor ratings site HealthGrades.com, is being taken private by PE firm Vestar Capital Partners in a $294 million deal. Vestar, which includes former WebMD (NSDQ: WBMD) CEO Roger Holstein among its partners, is paying $8.20 per share for Health Grades, a 29 percent...
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Zynga is confirming this evening that it has indeed raised $150 million in funding from Japanese internet and telecom firm Softbank. Reports that the social gaming giant had raised the cash first surfaced several months ago, although Zynga would not comment then.
Business Insider, which has established itself as an aggressive online source of a wide range of business news and commentary, has raised $3 million in its latest funding round. In a blog post, CEO Henry Blodget says the amount is a “vast sum relative to the couch...
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So, why did Disney (NYSE: DIS) decide to buy Playdom? Disney Interactive Media Group President Steve Wadsworth told paidContent in a joint interview with Playdom CEO (and now Disney EVP) John Pleasants that Disney is on a “fairly aggressive mission to build a high-growth interactive media business.” He said...
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Retail chain GameStop is acquiring Kongregate, the San Francisco, CA-based game community, as the company looks for ways to expand its online presence. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close next week, were not disclosed.
Elemental Technologies, a Portland, OR.-based startup that sells video processing systems used by content companies, has raised $7.5 million in a new funding round. The funding comes from Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) venture arm Steamboat Ventures, along with existing backers General Catalyst Partners and Voyager Capital.
CEO Sam...
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Triangulate, a startup trying to build an online dating business on Facebook, has raised $750,000 from Trinity Ventures and Playdom Chairman Rick Thompson. Triangulate is the latest so-called “social dating” site to attract interest from investors; Zoosk, the most established player in the market, has raised more than $40...
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Community forums publisher CrowdGather has bought forum host provider Lefora, its fourth acquisition in less than a year. The acquisition is for San Francisco, CA-based Lefora’s technical assets. The details of the transaction weren’t disclosed, but Crowdgather did say the deal involved an all-stock purchase.
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