M&A roundup - week ending 9/5/15

AOL made two acquisitions in Kanvas Labs and Millennial Media; Microsoft bought VoloMetrix

AOL made a couple of acquistions this week. First it bought mobile app developer Kanvas Labs. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

Kanvas Labs will continue to offer its currrent apps, which include Kanvas, its photo editing app, as well as Kanvas Keyboard, an app that gives allows users to create imagines that can be combined with stickers and text. It also offers an app that integrates with Facebook Messenger. 

At the same time, the entire Kanvas Labs team will be joining AOL and working out of its New York City headquarters. There are also plans to integrate Kanvas' technology with AOL’s existing products. All five members of the Kanvas Labs team are joining the AOL Membership team.

Throughout its history, as Tracks and then Kanvas, the company has raised over $3 million.

AOL then bought mobile ad network Millennial Media to expand its reach into mobile. AOL will be paying $1.75 per share for common stock of the publicly traded company, for a price of $238 million. 

The transaction will take the form of a tender offer followed by a merger, with Millennial Media becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL when the deal is completed, which is expected to happen in the Fall of this year.

Founded in 2006, Millennial Media is an independent mobile ad marketplace that drives monetization for its publisher and developer partners by connecting them to networks, advertisers and an RTB exchange. 

It currently serves 700 million monthly unique global users to over 65,000 apps and websites. It has been a publically traded company since 2012.

Microsoft acquired VoloMetrix, an enterprise analytics company focused on improving organizational effectiveness and knowledge worker productivity. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

The company plans to integrate the VoloMetrix solution into its Delve Organizational Analytics service, which is currently under development. Microsoft expects to launch an early preview program for Delve Organizational Analytics within the next month, and general availability of the initial release of the integrated Office 365 service by the end of this calendar year.

VoloMetrix, which launched in 2011, had raised just under $16 million in venture funding.

Enterprise IT solution LANDESK acquired Xtraction Solutions, a company that brings business intelligence to IT operations initiatives. No financial terms were disclosed.

This acquisition is LANDESK's sixth in three years, and its advances the LANDESK Workspaces initiative and furthers the company's vision for user-centered IT service management.

LANDESK plans to leverage Xtraction Solutions' capabilities across its portfolio and to integrate them into LANDESK Workspaces , which empowers organizations with an intuitive IT management experience that unifies data, simplifies processes and delivers tools based on role.

Local services marketplace Thumbtack shored up its engineering team through its its first ever acquisition, hiring the team from mobile and web shopping application HeartThis. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

This is purely an acqui-hire for Thumbtack; it will not be acquiring either HeartThis' product nor its technology and the company will remain live for the time being. It was not revealed how many employees of HeartThis will be making their way over to ThumbTack, or what they will be working on when they get there.

HeartThis had raised funding from investors that included Freestyle Capital, Founder Collective, 500 Startups, Tekton Ventures, Karl Jacob, and Tom Moss.

Amazon reached an agreement to acquire Elemental Technologies, a provider of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. No financial terms were disclosed. 

Elemental will continue to operate its business under its existing brand. It will also expand the integration of its offerings with AWS, and through close collaboration with AWS, accelerate the innovation of next-generation services that feature a range of solutions for customers leveraging on-premises assets, hybrid architectures, and cloud.

The acquisition brings together Elemental’s leading video solutions with the Amazon Web Services' Cloud platform to provide media and entertainment companies with a range of integrated solutions to efficiently and economically scale video infrastructures as the media industry increasingly moves to internet based delivery.

The company has raised $44.1 million in venture funding. 

BlackBerry Limited entered into a definitive agreement to acquire mobile security company Good Technology for $425 million in cash.

Good's technology will integrate with BlackBerry's enterprise portfolio and global network, creating a comprehensive management solution for all mobile devices that protects customers' security and privacy. 

The company serves more than 6,200 organizations, including more than half of the Fortune 100, all of the Fortune 100 commercial banks, aerospace and defense firms, and leaders across healthcare, manufacturing and retail.

Good had raised $291.3 million in venture fudning. 

Salesforce signed an agreement to acquire digital experience and engagement consultancy AKTA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ÄKTA works with global brands and emerging growth companies to discover new opportunities, define intelligent user experiences, design innovative digital services and bring successful products and applications to market.

It seems as though AKTA will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Salesforce, with John Roa
CEO and Founder of the company, continuing to lead it.

Capillary Technologies, a provider of cloud-based software solutions, acquired MartJack, a multi-channel commerce platform. No financial terms were disclosed.

MartJack serves over 250 companies, including major global brands such as Walmart, Unilever, Future Group, Lulu, Clarks, Body Shop and Aramex, who use its cloud platform to develop online storefronts enabling digital commerce with shoppers. 

The acquisition gives Capillary the chance to offers its customers a suite of e-commerce solutions.

South African managed IT services company CyberLogic acquired a 70% stake in SME-focused Managed Services Provider Space Age Technologies. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The companies are the two SME-focused IT services firms in the region and, together, they will field over 85 highly specialised tech experts based in Stellenbosch and Cape Town city bowl.

For the foreseeable future, each company will operate independently and retain its own brand identity.

SS&C Technologies Holdings, a provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, acquired Varden Technologies, a provider of client and advisor communication solutions for investment firms. No financial terms were disclosed. 

Founded in 1999, Varden currently serves over 100 mutual fund, wealth management, and fund administration clients ranging from $50 million to $300 billion in assets under management.

Combining Varden with SS&C allows Varden to access SS&C's greater scale, while giving SS&C's customers access to Varden's end-to-end communication solution.

KPMG Australia, part of the global network of professional firms providing Audit, Advisory and Tax services, acquired IT complete solution provider Hands-on Systems. No financial terms were disclosed. 

The Hands-on Systems’ team of around 80 people will join KPMG’s Technology Enablement business and be known as KPMG Hands-on Systems. The business sets up, maintains and supports infrastructure hardware and software for more than 10,000 Microsoft Dynamics users throughout Australia including Harvey Norman, Komatsu and Harris Farm Markets.

The acquisition strengthens KPMG's global alliance with Microsoft, as Hands-on Systems specialised in Microsoft solutions. KPMG was also announced as a Gold competency partner for Microsoft Dynamics in Australia.

(Image source: alignedinsuranceinc.com)