M&A roundup - week ending 8/13/16

Palantir bought Silk; Randstad acquired Monster; Walmart purchased Jet

Palantir, a provider of a suite of software applications for integrating and analyzing data, acquired data publishing platform Silk. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The Silk team would be coming to work at Palantir in an unspecified capacity. Going forward, the Silk platform will continue to operate in its current capacity, but it will no longer be updated. It will not provide technical or customer support to new or existing Silk accounts any longer, nor will it be doing any further development work or adding new features to the hosted Silk.co product.

Founded in 2009, Silk, which is based in Amsterdam and San Francisco, had raised $3.66 million in venture funding from Atomico Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.

PlanetRisk, a data visualization and analysis company, acquired Analytic Strategies, a provider of enterprise analytics services to the federal government. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Randy Wimmer, who founded Analytic Strategies and served as its CEO, will become a director on PlanetRisk’s board and a strategic adviser to Paul McQuillan, president and CEO of PlanetRisk.

Wimmer will collaborate with company leaders to continue expanding PlanetRisk’s capabilities and solutions to meet the demands of its customers in the global private and U.S. government sectors. Denis Clements, president and chief operating officer of Analytic Strategies, will become COO of PlanetRisk.

During acquisition negotiations, PlanetRisk was represented by Venable, while Analytic Strategies was represented by Odin Feldman & Pittleman P.C. Financing for the acquisition was provided by Frontier Capital, represented by Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP, and by Petra Capital Partners, represented by Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, PLC.

Randstad Holding, a human resources services provider, acquired job recruitment website Monster. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Randstad will pay $3.40 per share in cash, or a total purchase price of approximately $429 million.

Monster will continue operating as a separate and independent entity under the Monster name. By leveraging Monster's multiple distribution channels to bridge two different but complementary parts of the extended recruiting industry, Randstad intends to build the world's most comprehensive portfolio of HR services. 

The Boards of Directors of both Randstad and Monster have unanimously approved the terms of the merger agreement, and the Board of Directors of Monster has resolved to recommend that shareholders accept the offer, once it is commenced. 

Founded in 1994, Monster went public in December 1996. 

Boomtrain, a marketing platform that uses artificial intelligence, signed a definitive agreement to acquire messaging platform Nudgespot. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Nudgespot will integrate into Boomtrain's technology to allow businesses to communicate with customers and visitors on websites and in mobile apps. Boomtrain and Nudgespot initially partnered nine months ago, and have been co-developing a product that combines Nudgespot's platform with Boomtrain's AI technology.

Combined, Boomtrain and Nudgespot will have 70 people in offices located in San Francisco and Bangalore. The teams will continue to collaborate to add more functionality to Boomtrain Messenger during its beta program.

Founded in 2014, Nudgespot had raised $650,000 in venture funding.

Walmart acquired online shopping website Jet.com. The price was approximately $3 billion in cash, a portion of which will be paid over time. Additionally, $300 million of Walmart shares will be paid over time as part of the transaction.

Walmart and Jet will maintain distinct brands, though the two company will leverage technology solutions from both companies to develop new offerings to help customers save time and money.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, has been approved by the Boards of Directors for both companies and is expected to close this calendar year.  Financial advisors to Walmart on this transaction were Allen & Company and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.

Founded in 2013, Jet.com had raised $565 million in venture funding from Accel, Alibaba, General Catalyst, GV, and New Enterprise Associates, among others. 

Google acquired cloud commerce company Orbitera. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Going forward, Orbitera says it will continue to deliver products and services to its customers, with added scale from Google. The  acquisition is meant to improve the support of software vendors on Google Cloud Platform.

Founded in 2011, Orbitera had raised $2 million in venture funding.

Microsoft acquired interactive live video gaming company Beam. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Beam will become part of the Xbox team, where it can be integrated into games like Minecraft. Beam will also continue to offer its service and tools to its current users. It will continue to offer broadcasts across all gaming platforms.

Matt Salsamendi, the company's co-founder and CEO, will continue to lead the Beam team in Redmond, now as part of Team Xbox within the Engineering group.

AcuityAds, a real-time bidding solution for digital marketers, acquired advertising solutions provider 140 Proof. The purchase price was $20 million.

140 Proof will operate as a wholly owned division of Acuity, and its brand advertising platform and audience creation tools will continue. 100% of 140 Proof’s technology and team are being retained by the new business.

The conpany's founders will continue to run it, and its team will manage interest graph operations, social / mobile targeting, and interest modeling.

Founded in 2010, 140 Proof had raised $5.5 million in venture funding from BlueRun Ventures, Founders Fund, Mark Kingdon and SV Angel.

Roland, a manufacturer and distributor of electronic musical instruments, acquired a majority stake, 70 percent, in V-MODA, a maker of headphones and audio devices. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Val Kolton, CEO and Founder of V-MODA, is retaining the other 30% ownership. 

Kolton will maintain his role with the company as V-MODA’s CEO. Furthermore, he will also provide his expertise in product design for Roland’s dance, DJ and electronic music division as a consultant.

Liquid Web, a provider of web hosting services, acquired the Cloud Sites business unit from Rackspace. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

With the acquisition of Cloud Sites, Liquid Web will grow to approximately 550 employees and 30,000 customers globally. Cloud Sites will remain in San Antonio.

The addition of Cloud Sites supports Liquid Web’s mission to heroically empower web professionals worldwide. The company plans to invest in the Cloud Sites platform, employees and overall business.

Intel acquired deep learning startup Nervana Systems. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Intel will apply Nervana’s software expertise to further optimize the Intel Math Kernel Library and its integration into industry standard frameworks. Nervana’s Engine and silicon expertise will advance Intel’s AI portfolio and enhance the deep learning performance and TCO of its Intel Xeon and Intel Xeon Phi processors.

Nervana intends to continue all existing development efforts including the Nervana Neon deep learning framework, Nervana deep learning platform, and the Nervana Engine deep learning hardware.

Founded in 2014 Nervana had raised $24.4 million in venture funding from AME Cloud Ventures, DFJ, Data Collective, Fuel Capital, Playground Global, CME Ventures, Lux Capital, Allen & Co, Omidyar Technology Ventures, SV Angel and others.

Pharos Capital Group, a private equity firm, acquired telepsychiatry services provider FasPsych. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The acquisition was done in partnership with the company’s founder, Ed Irby, who, along with the company’s management team, rolled a significant equity stake in conjunction with the transaction. Irby and his management team will continue to lead the company going forward

Taxelco acquired Taxi Diamond, the biggest taxi fleet in Montreal. This transaction, which combines the strengths of two innovation-focused players, will allow Taxelco to step up its modernization strategy to meet the needs of Montrealers looking for safe, fast, and efficient professional taxi service which is available round the clock everywhere on the island of Montreal.

PLAYSTUDIOS, a developer of free-to-play casino games, acquired Scene53, an Israel-based game studio specializing in real-time, multi-player mobile games. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

The two companies jointly developed the newest PLAYSTUDIOS mobile app, POP! Slots. The game allows players to play in groups, share jackpots, and interact with friends as they explore virtual versions of iconic Las Vegas resorts. The initial release features MGM Grand, the Mirage, and Excalibur, with additional resorts soon to be added.

The Tel Aviv team will now focus on growing the POP! Slots product while pursuing new opportunities in the casual, free-to-play casino category.

Applied Systems, a provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance, acquired Relay Software, a provider of insurance software to insurers and brokers in the Republic of Ireland. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

This acquisition expands Applied’s international footprint, extending its leadership position in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as its expanding presence in the United Kingdom. 

The combined companies will support Applied’s growth mission in the UK and Ireland and vision to drive a connected insurance experience among brokers, insurers, and the insured.

Global online food delivery company foodpanda merged its hellofood business with Hungerstation in Saudi Arabia. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Both brands will continue to operate in the Kingdom. The combined business has over 3 million app installs, over 1 million active users and an inventory of over 2,000 restaurants across the country.  As a result of the deal, foodpanda’s Middle East business will be profitable.

In Saudi Arabia, the existing teams will be led by Ebrahim Al-Jassim, together with Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene, Managing Directors of foodpanda Middle East who will oversee the operations in the region.

Founded in 2012. Hungerstation had raised seed funding from Foodpanda.

Panasonic acquired all the outstanding shares of German software company OpenSynergy. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

 OpenSynergy became  a subsidiary of Panasonic on July 22. The company will continue to operate the business as an independent company just as before, under the new ownership.

Founded in 2007, OpenSynergy had raised $6.72 million in venture funding.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquired SGI, a provider pf solutions for data analytics, and data management. The price was $7.75 per share in cash, a transaction valued at approximately $275 million, net of cash and debt.

The combined HPE and SGI portfolio, including a comprehensive services capability, will support private and public sector customers seeking larger supercomputer installations, including U.S. federal agencies as well enterprises looking to leverage high-performance computing for business insights and a competitive edge.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of HPE's fiscal year 2017, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Certica Solutions, provider of an education technology Platform-as-a-Service, acquired  education data standard and tool suite Educuity. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Ed Comer, co-founder and president of Educuity, will head Certica's new business, as vice president, State Solutions. Co-founder Geoff McElhanon will join Certica as a chief software architect within the Software Products team.

The acquisition of Educuity will further expand Certica's ability to reach local and state education agencies with a range of management consulting services, SaaS applications and APIs. In addition to its two lines of business, Partner Solutions and Data and Compliance Solutions, Certica will now establish a State Solutions line of business. 

BravoSolution, a strategic procurement solution provider, acquired Puridiom, an on-demand procurement and AP solutions company. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The integration of Puridiom’s team and technology will begin immediately. BravoSolution will continue to support all existing products, customer commitments and the terms and conditions of all professional services and product support agreements. The Puridiom technology will be deeply embedded into BravoAdvantage, BravoSolution’s strategic procurement platform, to form a single, integrated and easy-to-use source-to-pay solution.

The Puridiom leadership team will remain with BravoSolution. Jesus Ramos, founder of Puridiom, will become the Senior Vice President of Procurement Solutions, focusing on the development and expansion of procure-to-pay solutions across the globe. Other members of the Puridiom executive team will continue to provide key roles throughout the combined organization.

Facebook acquired Eyegroove, a social network for music videos. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

Most of the Eyegroove team, including  founder Scott Snibbe, will be coming to Facebook. The company did not buy Eyegroove's tech or IP.

Founded in 2013, Eyegroove had raised $3.5 million in seed funding from angel investors, including Matt Papakipos, Roger McNamee, Amarjit Gil, and Bill McLean.

Huddle, an integrated digital and paper ticketing solution, merged with Preptix, a digital ticketing solution for schools. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. 

The combined company, Huddle, Inc., will be headquartered inAlpharetta, Georgia. The Huddle leadership team will remain intact, while Jay Barker and Patrick Noles from Preptix will assume senior roles at Huddle.

Founded in 2006, Huddle has raised $89.2 million in venture funding.

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