S&P GlobalMarket Intelligence provides a wrap-up of media and communications dealannouncements and completions from July 18 to 22.
* EBay Inc.completed its ofSalesPredict, which uses advanced analytics to predict customer buying behaviorand sales conversion. The deal will support eBay's artificial intelligence,machine learning and data science efforts.
* Expedia Inc.acquired , a location-taggingand social-photo sharing platform. Trover's content and social experience is a "greatfit" with Expedia's mission, and the two parties will continue to buildTrover, according to a July 20 post on the Trover official blog. Trover expectsExpedia to "dramatically increase" its reach and help grow itscommunity of "Trovers." Trover was co-founded by Rich Barton andJason Karas in 2011 to function as "part gallery and part guidebook,"allowing people to share stories about local establishments and famous traveldestinations.
* Ancestry.comLLC completedits acquisitionof Adpay Inc., a creator and operator of the Memoriams.com obituary inputnetwork. Memoriams.com submits obituaries to about 3,000 newspapers in the U.S.from its network of funeral homes.
* FremantleMediaLtd.'s North American subsidiary announced July 19 that itacquired , thefilm and TV unit of book publisher PenguinRandom House LLC. FremantleMedia North America also formed apartnership with China's Meridian Entertainment to oversee Random House Studio'sproductions. Under the arrangement, FMNA will handle the TV adaptations whileMeridian develops the theatrical slate. Random House Studio projects currentlyin the works will go to FMNA. Random House Studio Executive Vice President andGeneral Manager Peter Gethers will continue to lead operations. He will workwith Meridian founder and Chairman Jennifer Dong on movie projects and alsoremain editor-at-large at Penguin Random House. Studio executives in LosAngeles will move to the FMNA offices, while those in New York will be based atPenguin Random House headquarters. FremantleMedia is a unit of .
* BeasleyBroadcast Group Inc. has agreed to all outstanding shares ofGreater Media Inc. ina deal worthabout $240 million. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Stockholders ofGreater Media will get about $100 million in cash and $25 million in shares ofBeasley's class A common stock at $4.61 per share. Greater Media shareholdersalso will receive the net cash proceeds, amounting to about $20 million, fromthe sale of its tower assets. Beasley will refinance roughly $80 million debtof Greater Media. In connection with the acquisition, Beasley will initiallypurchase 21 radio stations in seven markets including four new markets ––Detroit; Middlesex, N.J.; Monmouth, N.J.; and, Morristown, N.J. –– and threemarkets where the company has existing operations –– Philadelphia; Boston; andCharlotte, N.C. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to be inthe fourth quarter, Beasley and Greater Media shareholders will own about 81%and 19%, respectively, of Beasley's outstanding shares, according to a July 19news release.
* Private equity firm Beringer Capital advertising, media and marketingpublication Adweek from MediabistroHoldings. The saleincludes Adweek's industry blogs like AgencySpy, FishbowlNY, FishbowlDC,GalleyCat, LostRemote, PRNewser, SocialTimes, TVNewser and TVSpy. Beringer saidJuly 18 that it will help Adweek expand its editorial content. As part of thedeal, Beringer Capital co-founder Brian Martin was appointed chairman ofAdweek. Editorial Director James Cooper will continue to oversee Adweek'seditorial expertise and leadership.