ExactTarget goes public

Email marketing company ExactTarget went public Thursday, raising $161 million. Investor confidence bid up the $19 initial share price by 32%, with shares closing at $25.11 by the end of trading.
CEO Scott Dorsey founded ExactTarget in 2000 with an initial investment of $200,000. The company planned to go public in 2009, but put it off due to the slumping economy.
According to ExactTarget's stock prospectus, the company lost $35 million last year on sales of $207 million. ExactTarget plans to use the infusion of cash to expand sales and marketing as well as its overseas operations.

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120323/STRATEGY09/303239994/exacttarget-goes-public-enjoys-popular-first-day?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editorial&utm_campaign=dailyclickthroughs

Oracle buys social marketing company Vitrue

Database management technology company Oracle Corp. has acquired Vitrue Inc., whose technology enables the publishing and management of content pushed to a variety of social sites.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch is reporting that the price was $300 million. Oracle said the addition of Atlanta-based Vitrue technology will complement its own sales and social data management solutions.

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120523/STRATEGY10/305239996/oracle-buys-social-marketing-company-vitrue?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editorial&utm_campaign=dailyclickthroughs#seenit

MDC acquires TargetCast TCM

MDC is to formally announce on Tuesday that it is acquiring a majority stake in TargetCast TCM, a New York media agency that has 110 employees who work on accounts with more than $600 million in billings from clients that include AMC, Expedia, Hotels.com, New York Life and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.       
The MDC media agencies that will come under the Maxxcom umbrella, in addition to TargetCast TCM and RJ Palmer, are Integrated Media Solutions, Media Kitchen and Varick Media Management. The billings handled by the media agencies that will be part of Maxxcom are estimated at $1.5 billion.       

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/business/media/mdc-to-buy-targetcast-tcm.html

WPP Offers $12.5 Million for Big Spaceship

WPP wants to purchase digital shop Big Spaceship, making an offer of $12.5 million in recent weeks, according to a source close to the situation.

Brooklyn, NY-based Big Spaceship has been in talks with WPP since October, according to the source. The deal is in due diligence stage, the source said.

Big Spaceship's clients include Adobe, HBO, Skittles, Victoria's Secret, Land's End, and various other notable brands. The agency's disciplines include brand strategy, web, mobile, social, games, and content.

WPP declined to comment, and Big Spaceship didn't reply by press time.

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2161562/wpp-offers-usd125-million-spaceship