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, it was good timing for Snap to buy Fit Analytics, Diamondback Energy acquired QEP Resources and Clayton Dubilier & Rice finalized its acquisition of S&S Activewear.
Snap buys Fit Analytics
Snap Inc. has acquired Fit Analytics in a move that will push its camera business into the e-commerce and shopping market.
Fit Analytics is a startup based in Berlin that has built technology to help shoppers find their size for footwear and apparel from online retailers using a wide set of personalization tools like its product Fit Finder.
Fit Analytics has established partnerships with around 18,00 brands including The North Face, Asos, Calvin Klein, Patagonia, and Puma.
Snap is acquiring the company as part of a long-term plan to bring more e-commerce and in-app purchases to Snapchat. The move comes after Apple’s iOS devices introduced greater privacy measures that will make it harder for companies like Snap to track how well their ads lead to purchases.
The terms of the deal have not been made public.
Diamondback Energy acquires QEP Resources
Diamondback Energy, a Texas-based hydrocarbon exploration company has completed its acquisition of oil and gas exploration and production firm QEP Resources in an all-stock transaction valued around $2.2 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, QEP stockholders will receive 0.05 shares of Diamondback common stock in exchange for each share of QEP common stock.
The move comes less than a month after Diamondback Energy closed its acquisition of leasehold interests and related oil and gas assets from Guidion Operating LLC.
Diamondback chief executive officer Travis Stice commented “The business combination with QEP and the Guidion transaction are accretive on all relevant 2021 financial metrics including free cash flow per share, cash flow per share and leverate, even before accounting for synergies.”
Clayton Dubilier & Rice gains S&S Activewear
The private investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has announced its completed acquisition of S&S Activewear.
S&S currently has more than 2,000 employees and has existing partnerships with big-name apparel brands including Adidas, Champion, Gildan, and Next Level Apparel. S&S brought in approximately $1.5 billion in sales.
The company emphasizes speed and quality of service through investments in national distribution capacity and technology, and established the largest one and two-day distribution footprint in the industry.
Included in the terms of the acquisition, S&S president Jim Shannon will take on the role of CEO, with CD&R operating partner John Compton taking over as chairman of the board.
In Other News
Here are some other announcements worth paying attention to:
- Publisher McGraw Hill has announced that it has acquired Kidaptive, Inc., a learning platform company which specializes in learning science, early learning, and data analytics worldwide.
- National Grid has agreed to acquire England’s largest electricity distribution business from PPL Corporation for $10.9 billion in an effort to position itself for a climate-driven transition from gas to electric power.
- Robinhood Markets, Inc. announced that it is acquiring privately-held recruiting firm Binc. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the 80-plus employee firm will be integrated into its operations immediately.
- Rogers Communications Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire Shaw Communications Inc. in a $26 billion deal, combining two of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies.
- Swiss multinational healthcare company Roche Holding AG announced that it is acquiring California-based GenMark Diagnostics in a $1.8 billion deal.
- According to Reuters, financial service startup Chime has held talks with investment banks about a public listing, as soon as the end of 2021, that would value the company at more than $30 billion.
- Restaurant software company Olo Inc. has successfully completed its IPO and began trading on Wednesday.
- Israeli-based financial services company eToro announced that it is going public via a $10.4 billion merger deal with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company.
