Category: Mergers & Acquisitions
Singaporean online art gallery The Artling raises US$1.78 million series A from Edipresse Media
Singapore-based The Artling Pte Ltd, owner of Asian online art platform, theArtling.com, and luxury marketplace Luxglove.com, has closed an investment of S$2.5 million (about US$1.78 million) from Edipresse Media, a luxury lifestyle media company in Asia and Europe.
Commenting on the funding, the founder of The Artling – Talenia Phua Gajardo said, “With our strength as the leader in this rapidly growing space, this Series A round enhances The Artling’s role as a digital storefront that connects artists in Asia with the world.”
At the same time, The Artling has also secured their expansion into Hong Kong and Greater China via the acquisition of Artshare.com, an online platform for the exhibition and sale of Chinese contemporary art. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2013, the Artshare’s brand will be fully incorporated into the Singaporean company while the Artshare founder, Alexandre Errera will continue to work with the group as an art advisor to Artshare.com, focusing on Chinese contemporary art, and blue-chip modern and contemporary Western art.
With this acquisition, The Artling is aiming to grow its presence in Asia’s online art market, to become one of the most dynamic and ambitious companies in Asia online art market.
Also founded in 2013, The Artling platform was launched by Talenia Phua Gajardo when she started sourcing artworks for interior design projects. Prior to this, Gajardo was from an architectural background and has previously worked for Zaha Hadid in London.
The Artling launched its second platform Luxglove.com last year which is an online luxury collectibles marketplace dedicated to seven verticals, some of which include pre-owned and vintage jewelry, watches, classic automobiles, and whiskey.
Recently, the platform closed the sale of a vintage classic car and a S$85,000 (about US$59,600) bottle of 50-year old Yamazaki single malt, reaffirming the rapidly growing trend of high-priced items being discovered and purchased online.
“We’ve been keeping things lean for a while and have had an extremely conservative burn rate to date,” Talenia said. “Both platforms are now at the stage where we need to ramp up and expand.”
The startup will use the funding to hire more people and focus on marketing, two areas in which it has held off on previously in order to control its spending. The Artling will also be moving into a larger space as the team continues to grow.
Michel Lamunière, the Chairman and CEO of Edipresse Media Asia commented on the funding, saying that, “Our investment in The Artling is in line with our strategy to reinforce our position in the digital media and e-commerce spaces in Asia. Art and luxury products are increasingly being bought online, and The Artling, under the leadership of Talenia, is in the best position to become the leading platform in Asia in this segment.”
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Online golf platform GolfLAN acquires Singapore-based competitor GolfGreedy in cash-and-stock deal
Dehli-based golf course aggregator, GolfLAN has acquired its Singapore-based competitor GolfGreedy in a cash-and-stock deal, the company said in a statement on Monday.
This deal comes as GolfLAN’s second acquisition in six months after it has bought Dubai-based golf technology company StayPrime in July 2016 for US$1 million.
Founded in 2011 by Dhruv Verma, an XLRI alumni and avid golfer, GolfLAN offers a subscription-based service for golfers to book tee times through the startup without the requirements of having a club membership.
GolfLan.com, a unit of GolfLAN Technology Solutions, is an online golf marketplace that is digitising the sport to make it more accessible, subsidised and convenient for the masses.
On GolfLAN’s cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Online Tee Time Organiser (OTTO), both amateur and professional golfers can find golf equipment and trainers, in addition to booking tee slots at over 1,000 courses across 40 countries from anywhere in the world.
Following this acquisition, GolfGreedy will become part of the GolfLAN group but will continue to operate under its own brand name. More than 10,000 subscribers of GolfGreedy, mainly from Singapore and nearby regions, will gain access to all the golf courses on the GolfLAN platform, that is 1,200 courses across 40 countries pro-acquisition.
Besides, the golf platform is also looking to expand it to 2,000 by the end of 2017. While club operators registered with GolfGreedy will be able to use GolfLAN’s superior golf cart management system and tee sheet management solution.
“Singapore is an important golfing destination in Southeast Asia. And golf, as an industry is also growing rapidly. This transaction clearly establishes our leadership in this region and industry. Golf lovers, through us, will get a host of choices to book a tee time and also experience a range of our world-class services,” said Dhruv Verma, the founder and CEO of GolfLAN.
In November last year, the company has raised US$1 million (Rs 6.65 crore) from existing investors YourNest Angel Fund and Africa’s IT/ITES group iSON. Prior to that, it has also raised US$1 million in its first round of funding from YourNest and other angel investors in March 2015.
Recently, GolfLAN is looking at Africa, the U.S. and Australia for its next phase of expansion. “Our inorganic strategy for phase 1 is done. Now we will pump more money to grow these companies and will focus on phases 2 which will begin with South Africa,” said Verma adding that the company is in talks for a potential acquisition in the mentioned country within the next six to nine months.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sunil Goyal, the CEO of YourNest as well as an investor of GolfLAN said, “GolfLan is on a high growth trajectory with an energetic founding team that thinks long term. Our team has been actively engaging with Dhruv and team, as they work towards their goal of being the world’s best tee-time aggregator. We are thrilled to see them grow fast and are confident that they will drive further technology disruption and innovation in the golfing market.”
Also, with GolfGreedy and StayPrime in its ownership, the Dehli-based aggregator will consolidate its position as the leading provider of golf and related technology products in its key focus markets of Southeast Asia, the Middle East and India. GolfLan is also in talks with venture capital investors to raise about US$5 million by July.
“We are excited to be a part of the GolfLAN family. We started as a golf course aggregator to help golfers pursue their passion to get a good round at reasonable prices. Today we are still very much focused on doing that, albeit with more intelligence built in so that we can add value to the customer’s gold search and booking journey,” Gerald Koh, the co-founder of GolfGreedy said.
The company is looking to beef up its technology in 2017 and will launch an in-house service along the lines of StayPrime, in addition to investing US$1 million for market development in the Southeast Asian region over the next year.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Indian Aurobindo Pharma acquires Portugal’s Generis for Rs 970 crore in a bid to boost margins in Europe
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd announced on Saturday that it has acquired Portuguese pharmaceutical company Generis Farmaceutica SA from Magnum Capital Partners for approximately Rs 969 crore (approximately 135 million euros).
The binding agreement for this acquisition was inked through the Aurobindo Pharma’s wholly-owned subsidiary Agile Pharma BV based in Netherlands.
“The acquisition of Generis, by leveraging its strong portfolio and unrivaled brand recognition will allow us to establish ourselves as top generics player in the Portuguese market,” Aurobindo SVP European Operations, V Muralidharan said.
Generis produces and sells pharma products in Portugal which serve Aurobindo Pharma’s aim at increasing the profitability of its European operation, whereby Aurobindo Pharma estimates that the net sales with its acquired businesses will be approximately 72 million euros in 2017, compared to the 64.8 million euros in 2016.
In addition, the adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EDITDA) estimate for 2016 is 12.7 million euros, which is projected to improve to 15.8 million euros in 2017, Aurobindo Pharma said.
However, the real benefit of this acquisition can only be realised if Aurobindo can drive up its scale of operations and perform synergies to lower costs.
“The combined entity will benefit from a robust pipeline covering all major molecules coming off-patent in the next five years. The acquisition includes a state of the art manufacturing facility based in Portugal, which will allow us to better serve both the local Portuguese market and the broader European market, particularly with regard to small volume products and also to meet timelines for low lead time tenders,” V. Muralidharan explains.
As per details of the acquisition, the deal involves Generis’s manufacturing facility in Amadora, Portugal which has the capacity to produce 1.2 billion tablets, capsules and sachets annually.
“This deal consolidates Aurobindo’s footprint in Portugal, which currently consists of Aurovitas, Unipessoal LDA, and Unipessoal Limitada. The consolidated APL group will rank number one in the Portuguese generic pharma market, and will have the largest generic product portfolio consisting of 271 products,” said Muralidharan.
“This acquisition coupled with our past acquisition activity underlies our commitment to focus on growth initiatives in European markets and will be a key driver of growth for the future,” he further adds.
Aurobindo Pharma manufactures generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The company’s product portfolio is spread over 7 major therapeutic/product areas encompassing Antibiotics, Anti-Retrovirals, CVS, CNS, Gastroenterologicals, Anti-Allergies and Anti-Diabetics which is marketed globally in over 150 countries.
“Generis will benefit immensely from Aurobindo’s vertical integration and strong product pipeline,” Paulo Lilaia, the CEO of Generis said. “Our large portfolio along with our unmatched commercial presence in Portugal will allow Aurobindo to consolidate its market position in Portugal.”
Closing the transaction, Aurobindo Pharma has received the shareholder approval to raise Rs 2,100 crore through a sale of shares which is intended to use for the acquisition. However, the deal remains to be conditional depending on obtaining the necessary approvals from the Portuguese authorities.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Australian media tech firm Isentia Group buys China Newswire to grow distribution business in Asia
Media intelligence firm Isentia Group Ltd., which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), has recently acquired content marketing and media database SaaS company, China Newswire.
The deal closed at the end of 2016, with notifications to staff and China Newswire clients going out on 5 January 2017. Neither Isentia nor China Newswire has disclosed financial terms.
Based in Shanghai, China Newswire is a media syndication and big data company that claims to reach 30,000 media outlets, journalists, social media writers and key online influencers, providing SaaS content marketing and content syndication services.
China Newswire CEO Danny Levinsion is an American entrepreneur and has been building tech businesses in China since 1997. He is based in Beijing and previously sold his SaaS media intelligence business to Vocus and became Vocus’ Chief Executive in China.
Following the acquisition, Danny Levinson will assume the role of Asian regional director at Isentia. This new role will see him working with Isentia’s Sydney-based executive team to grow the company’s content syndication and distribution business in Asia.
This acquisition also comes at a time when the content distribution, influencer outreach, and media analytics sector has experienced consolidation in Asia in the past few years.
Globally, Cision has acquired PR Newswire, which competes with China Newswire in Asia. While Vocus sold its China assets including China Newswire, to Matoka Capital prior to the Cision merger, and also Nasdaq’s purchase of Toronto-based Marketwired. New promising PR firms such as PRWire Asia are also surfacing in the market.
Prior to this, Isentia – the publicly-listed content distribution and media analytics technology company has, through its many acquisitions like King Content, MediaBanc, and Brandtology, been operating in Greater China for more than 25 years. At present, the company has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong with more than 150 employees.
On the other hand, China Newswire has been operating in China for at least a decade and was previously owned by U.S.-based Vocus, which later merged with Cision in 2014 when both companies privatized and were bought by Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR. This was subsequently followed by Cisions’ acquisition and integration in PR Newswire.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
Carousell buys Duriana to consolidate position as largest mobile classified marketplace in APAC
Singapore-based P2P marketplace Carousell announced today that it has acquired Duriana, a Malaysian-based mobile classifieds startup, in part to position itself as a major mobile classifieds player in the market.
After the acquisition, Duriana customer base of 600,000 users will be migrated to the Carousell platform, where they can continue buying and selling online as part of a larger global community. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
“We saw that Duriana users had similar demographics and interests in buying and selling fashion items, gadgets, and electronics as well as home furnishing,” said Quek Siu Rui, the co-founder and CEO of Carousell. “By bringing Duriana users onto the Carousell platform, we’re helping more people buy and sell their preloved items quickly and easily.”
This would make Duriana the third acquisition of Carousell in less than six months since their US$35 million Series B round led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Ventures which has brought its total aggregate equity funding raised to an estimated US$41.8 million.
This also signals a growth strategy of becoming a major global mobile classifieds marketplace, following the last acquisition of online car marketplace Caarly in October 2016.
“This acquisition accelerates our international growth and strengthens our position as the largest mobile classified marketplace in Malaysia with over five million listings,” Quek explained.
“It also builds on our strong growth in the Philippines, our fastest market to reach over half million listings, and positions Carousell as the leader in the Philippines mobile classifieds industry just four months after our official launch in the market,” he further added.
Founded in October 2014, Duriana is a mobile marketplace for all things beautiful. The Malaysia startup has previously raised about US$3.3 million funding from investors – Alps Ventures and Beenos, which following this deal will provide an exit for both investors.
On the other hand, Carousell since its launch in August 2012, has been growing rapidly in the country, expanding to 19 cities in seven countries, including its recent entry to Hong Kong, Philippines, and Australia. The startup also claims to have over 57 million listings and over 23 million items sold as of Q4 2016.
Commenting on the acquisition, co-founder and CEO of Duriana, Saeed Gouda said that, “It’s been an exciting three years with Duriana, and we’re proud to have brought the company to this stage. After this exit, we’re looking forward to pursuing a new adventure. Carousell is shaking up the mobile classifieds space, and we’re confident that Duriana users will enjoy buying, selling and connecting as part of the vibrant Carousell community.”
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media