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, Uber Acquired Autocab. All3Media gains history network HistoryHit and Cisco bought network intelligence software company ThousandEyes.

Uber Acquired Autocab 

Uber purchased UK-based Audtocab, which sells SaaS to the taxi and private hire vehicle industry. 

Uber plans to use Autocab’s technology to expand its own platform by linking users who open the Uber app in places where there are no nearby Uber drivers to alternative local providers.

The acquisition will increase the utility of Uber’s app in markets where the company doesn’t (or isn’t allowed to) operate. 

Autocab launched in 1989 and currently has SaaS users in 30 countries and sells booking and dispatch software. The company also operates iGo, a global marketplace which local firms can plug into to attract more riders. 

Following completion of the acquisition, Autocab will remain independent with its own board, retaining its focus on serving the taxi and private hire vehicle industry. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been made public. 

All3Media Gained HistoryHit

Production company All3Media bought HistoryHit, a TV and online platform run by historian and television presenter Dan Snow. HistoryHit will operate under All3Media’s Little Dot Studios. 

Snow launched HistoryHit 3 years ago, and the podcast which accompanies the Netflix-style subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) averages about 3 million listeners per month.

Snow launched the platform with the belief that “there was an audience for high-quality history, told by the world’s best historians, which was not being served by the traditional media.” 

The acquisition will create an integrated history network as HistoryHit joins Little Dot Studios’ existing nonfiction channels, which operate under the advertising video on demand (AVOD) model like Timeline and Absolute History. 

Following the deal, Snow will work exclusively with HistoryHit and Little Dot to create new content. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. 

Cisco expands with ThousandEyes 

Cisco has completed its acquisition of network intelligence software company ThousandEyes. The acquisition, which was first announced at the end of May, follows Cisco’s business strategy to expand its software capabilities. 

ThousandEyes, which was founded in 2010 and raised over $110 million on a post valuation of $670 million as of Feb 2019, produces software that helps companies monitor their network for outages. 

The deal has been estimated to be valued around $1 billion, and compliments Cisco’s $3.7 billion acquisition of AppDynamics back in 2017.

ThousandEyes network monitoring technology will bolster AppDynamics’ performance management and IT operations analytics at a key moment with Cisco’s clients’ operations with larger networks of employees working from home. 

In Other News

Other discussions are developing, while more deals remain pending :

• Roper Technologies announced it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire insurance software vendor Vertafore for about $5.35 billion. 

• According to the Wall Street Journal, over the weekend, Twitter Inc. held preliminary talks about a potential combination with TikTok, the popular video-sharing app that the Trump administration wants to ban in the U.S. 

• According to Bloomberg, credit card giant American Express Company is in advanced talks to buy online lender Kabbage, Inc. in an all-cash transaction that could be valued at as much as $850 million. 

• AT&T’s WarnerMedia is seeking to sell Japanese anime streaming service Crunchyroll to Sony Pictures for $1.5 billion, according to a report by The Information. 

• Right after a deal to acquire Brooks Brothers out of bankruptcy for $325 million with Authentic Brand Group, the largest U.S. mall owner Simon Property Group, along with another shopping center owner Brookfield Property Partners are in talks to acquire one of their top anchor tenants, the bankrupt retailer J.C. Penney’s retail operations.

• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announced that the company’s offer to acquire QIAGEN N.V. has expired as the conditions of the agreement have not been met.