M&A roundup - week ending 4/30/16

Rovi bought TiVo for $1.1B; Comcast bought DreamWorks for $3.8B; AbbVie bought Stemcentrx for $5.8B

Spotify acquired CrowdAlbum, a company that makes live music events into shared experience. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

The CrowdAlbum team will join the team at Spotify that focuses on building products for artists. All three CrowdAlbum employees will relocate to New York and CrowdAlbum’s CEO, Tracy Chan, a former product manager at Google and YouTube, will split his time between Spotify’s New York and San Francisco offices.

Launched in 2013, CrowdAlbum had raised $100,000 in venture funding from Social Starts. It works with over 1,000 artists and venue partners in the United States.

NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corporation, acquired DreamWorks Animation. The deal is worth $3.8 billion. 

The studio will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which includes Universal Pictures, Fandango, and NBCUniversal Brand Development.

Following the completion of the transaction, DreamWorks Animation CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will become Chairman of DreamWorks New Media, which will be comprised of the company’s ownership interests in Awesomeness TV and NOVA. Katzenberg will also serve as a consultant to NBCUniversal.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2016, subject to receipt of antitrust approvals in the U.S. and abroad, as well as the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Drug research company AbbVie acquired cancer drug startup Stemcentrx. The price was $5.8 billion cash and stock.

The acquisition expands AbbVie's oncology pipeline with four additional early-stage clinical compounds in solid tumor indications and a significant portfolio of pre-clinical assets.

Founded in 2008, Stemcentrx had raised $473.53 million in venture funding.

Professional services firm Ernst & Young acquired Human Resources M&A Advisory firm Tasman Consulting. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Shari Yocum and Niki Lee, co-founders of Tasman, have become principal members in the Ernst & Young LLP People Advisory Services transactions practice. Most members of the Tasman Consulting team are also joining the practice.

Launched in 2011, Tasman Consulting was recognized in Inc. 5000, Inc. Magazine's list of fastest growing companies, as well as in the San Francisco Business Times' Fast 100 and Top 100 Women Owned Businesses in 2014 & 2015.

Oracle acquired Textura, an online collaboration platform for the construction industry. Oracle [aid $26.00 per share in cash, or approximately $663 million.

 Together, Oracle Primavera and Textura will form the Oracle Engineering and Construction Global Business Unit offering a cloud-based project control and execution platform that manages all phases of engineering and construction projects.

 The proposed transaction is expected to close in 2016. Until the transaction closes, Oracle and Textura will continue to operate independently.

Founded in 2004, Textura went public in June 2013. 

Online lending company Affirm acquired  personal finance management app company Sweep. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Sweep co-founders Jackson Gates and Asi Behar, as well as the majority of the Sweep engineering team, will be joining Affirm following the acquisition.

The current Sweep app will no longer be accessible to consumers starting May 26, 2016. A new, more powerful product under the Affirm brand will combine the technologies and visions of both companies and is scheduled for release later this year.

Founded in 2014, Sweep had raised funding from Kapor Capital.

Nokia acquired smart device maker Withings. The transaction is valued at EUR 170 million (roughly $193 million)

Withings will be part of our Nokia Technologies business, combining products from Withings and the Digital Health business,

Withings was founded by Chairman Eric Carreel and CEO Cedric Hutchings in 2008 and is headquartered in France, with approximately 200 employees across its locations in Paris, France, Cambridge, US and Hong Kong.

The company had raised $33.83 million in venture capital. 

Spin Master, a multi-category children's entertainment company, acquired Toca Boca, a studio that makes digital apps for kids, and Sago Mini, which creates mobile apps for kids aged 2 to 5. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

HouseTrip’ properties will be funneled into TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals. The HouseTrip brand will also continue as part of TripAdvisor.

Founded in 2010, HouseTrip had 300,000 properties across Europe. The company had raised $59.7 million in funding from Accel, Balderton Capital and Index Ventures. 

Rovi, a provider of digital entertainment technology solutions, acquired digital video recorder TiVo. Rovi is paying $10.70 per share in cash and stock for total consideration of approximately $1.1 billion.

The company will continue to be led by Tom Carson and upon closing of the transaction will adopt the TiVo brand as the new company name. The Board of Directors of the combined company will include participation from TiVo’s current Board.

Together, Rovi and TiVo have worldwide portfolios of over 6,000 issued patents and pending applications worldwide.

TiVo was founded in 1997.

Inbox Health, a provider of patient billing and payments software and services, acquired CakeHealth, an online system for managin health-related documents, reports, and expenses. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

All CakeHealth consumer accounts will be inaccessible. Data has not been retained, and the information CakeHealth provided can be accessed directly via a user's health insurance company.

CakeHealth's insurance aggregation technology will be included in future releases of Inbox Health's Benefitly product, which syncs with healthcare providers’ existing scheduling system, sending patients SMS or email messages letting them know they can check-in early for their visit. Patients can complete office forms on their own device before their visit or in the waiting room, review their insurance information, ask questions about their benefits, and pay for their visit in full or over time.

Founded in 2010, Cakehealth had raised $150,000 in venture funding from Kima Ventures and Rock Health.

Hello Curry, an Indian food delivery service, acquired The First Meal, an online breakfast and health foods subscription platform. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Hello Curry will adopt The First Meal's subscription model. The acquisition is expected to help Hello Curry penetrate the breakfast and meal box segments through the subscription framework and deliver 5,000 meals per day in the next six months. 

The First Meal was founded in 2015, and was delivering 350 meals daily.

Litmus, an e-mail testing and analytics platform, acquired Curated, a content curation tool. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The Litmus Email Analytics engagement data is already integrated within Curated, but the company will also continue to enhance Curated's product features, including integrating Curated capabilities alongside Litmus’ email service provider partners, and enabling Litmus users to more easily use Curated to make their content consistently engaging.

Founded in 2014, Curated has helped close to 3,000 companies and individuals send digest emails.

InVision, a provider of design tools, acquired Web animation tool Easee.No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Easee will remain live and open for registration, but it will no longer receive updates. Founder Steven Fabre will be joining InVision’s design tools team.

The company was founded in 2015.

Video game developer Pocket Games entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Kicksend, an app for printing and sending photographs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the transaction was for stock and debt.

Founded in 2011, Kicksend has partnerships with Walmart, Walgreens, Target, CVS and Duane Reade, that provide 1-hour photo printing services. The company has raised $2.8 million in funding from investors including Y Combinator, SV Angels, Jack Abraham, and True Ventures.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by both companies’ Boards of Directors.

(Image source: proactiveinvestors.com)