Salesforce.com to Buy Buddy Media for $689 Million

Salesforce.com, looking to enhance its social media offerings, has agreed to buy Buddy Media for $689 million.

With the acquisition, Salesforce.com will gain access to a blue-chip roster of social media clients, including Ford, Hewlett-Packard, L’Oreal and other major advertisers that work with Buddy Media on social media advertising. Buddy Media, started in 2007, works with customers to build campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, providing a platform for advertisers to publish content and monitor their social media efforts.

Salesforce has been active in the rapidly expanding space. Last year, the company purchased Radian6, which helps businesses measure their effectiveness on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The company is not alone in its quest to snatch up companies like Buddy Media. In May, Oracle reportedly paid $300 million for Vitrue, a social media marketing company. In January, Adobe acquired Efficient Frontier, a digital and social media advertising company.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/salesforce-com-to-buy-buddy-media-for-689-million/?nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkpm_20120604

inVentiv Health Announces Acquisition of Kazaam Interactive

http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2012/06/05/NY19516

inVentiv Health, Inc., offering best-in-class clinical, commercial and consulting services to the healthcare industry, today announced that it has acquired Kazaam Interactive, a full-service interactive agency providing comprehensive solutions and services for healthcare agencies and brands. 

The acquisition of Kazaam Interactive will be fully funded with equity from funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. ("THL") and other existing stockholders. THL, along with Liberty Lane IH LLC and other co-investors, acquired inVentiv in August 2010.

After AKQA Sale, Indie LBi Seeks Buyers

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/akqa-sale-indie-lbi-seeks-buyers/235587/

In the wake of WPP's snapping up AKQA for $540 million, Ad Age has learned that Amsterdam-based LBi is reaching out to potential buyers, according to two executives familiar with the process.

LBi has less brand cachet than AKQA but is actually bigger, with nearly twice as many employees. Its revenue was just under $250 million in 2011 with $22 million in net profit, according to its annual report. (AKQA has 1,160 people and $189 million in 2011 revenue, according to WPP.)

The top 10 digital networks by revenue are all owned by major publicly traded marketing-services companies and there are only a few top-50 agencies ranked by U.S. revenue that are not holding-company-backed. Those include: MediaWhiz, owned by private-equity-backed Hyper Marketing; Acquity Group; Resource Interactive; Gyro; and MePlusYou (formerly known as IMC2). 

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