In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development.
This week, Fox expanded its media footprint with TMZ. Philip Morris pushed further in the health and wellness category by purchasing Fertin Pharma. And Glassdoor completed its Fishbowl acquisition.
Fox gained celebrity platform TMZ
Fox Corp. subsidiary Fox Entertainment has acquired TMZ, the infamous celebrity news platform, from AT&T-owned Warner Media. While the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, industry sources familiar with the matter say that TMZ is valued at less than $50 million.
As part of the deal, Fox will own and operate all TMZ-branded media properties, including the syndicated TV shows “TMZ” and “TMZ Live”; the sports site TMZ Sports and program “TMZ Sports,” celebrity and culture website TooFab.com and TMZ.com, and celebrity tour operations in Los Angeles and New York.
While for Fox the deal signifies an effort to expand in digital media and unscripted content, for AT&T it is another step toward extricating itself from costly media investments to focus on its original business of providing phone and internet services.
Philip Morris International makes progress towards smoke-free goals with Fertin Pharma acquisition
Philip Morris International Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has completed its $820 million acquisition of Fertin Pharma, a leading producer of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products based on oral and intra-oral delivery systems including compressed gum, lozenge, and pouch powder.
Fertin is also already a leading producer of Nicotine Replacement Therapy solutions. The acquisition includes a team of around 200 R&D professionals, as Philip Morris pursues its goal to generate more than $1 billion in revenue from nicotine-free products and over 50% of its total net revenues from smoke-free products by 2025.
The company hopes to utilize Fertin’s oral-delivery expertise to accelerate its expansion into over-the-counter products such as sleep aids, and supplements for improved energy, calm and focus. Fertin Pharma will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Philip Morris.
Glassdoor purchased professional social network Fishbowl
Workplace review company Glassdoor announced that it has completed the acquisition of Fishbowl, a professional social network and job board. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Fishbowl had raised less than $8 million according to PitchBook Data.
Founded in 2016, Fishbowl is used by more than a million professionals engaging in discussions about careers, industry and the workplace.
The acquisition comes after a Glassdoor survey revealed that “48% of employees have felt isolated from coworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 42% of employees have felt their career stall due to the lack of in-person connection.”
The addition of Fishbowl will help Glassdoor meet the needs of a changing work environment and deliver more workplace transparency through candid conversations and connections.
In Other News
Other deals are taking place:
- Government Executive (GovExec), the leading research and insights company that covers daily government business for civilians, federal bureaucrats, and military officials, is acquiring Market Connections, a government research and insights company.
- The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. announced that it is acquiring fintech lender GreenSky, Inc. for $2.24 billion, adding to its ‘Marcus by Goldman Sachs’ consumer-banking platform.
- Digital security software provider Kape Technologies announced that it is buying ExpressVPN for $936 million.
- Higher education enterprise software firm Anthology announced that it is merging with EdTech software and solutions company Blackboard.
- United Parcel Service (UPS) announced that it is acquiring same-day delivery services startup Roadie Inc. to boost its last-mile delivery service.
- According to Reuters, electric vehicle startup Rivian confidentially filed for an initial public offering last month.
