S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of U.S. companies' media and communications deal announcements and completions from May 14 to May 18.
* Conduent Inc., a provider of diversified business services, has entered into a binding agreement to sell its commercial vehicle operations business to investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners Ltd., an infrastructure investment firm. The transaction is part of the previously announced Conduent plan to divest $250 million to $500 million in revenue associated with noncore assets. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter and is subject to certain regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Until then, this business will continue to be part of Conduent and Conduent Transportation.
* Rackspace Hosting Inc. bought RelationEdge LLC, a Salesforce Platinum Consulting Partner and digital agency. The acquisition allows Rackspace to expand its capabilities through the continuous transition to modern technologies such as software-as-a-service applications, according to a May 17 statement. Texas-based Rackspace plans to operate RelationEdge with "considerable independence," retaining the current leadership and RelationEdge brand. Founded in 2013, RelationEdge has opened offices in a dozen cities throughout the U.S. and currently has 125 employees.
* Oracle Corp. agreed to acquire California-based DataScience Inc. DataScience provides human- and machine-powered solutions for extracting knowledge from data. "With the combination of Oracle and DataScience.com, customers will be able to harness a single data science platform to more effectively leverage machine learning and big data for predictive analysis and improved business results," said Amit Zavery, executive vice president of Oracle Cloud Platform, in a statement.
* Weber Shandwick Inc., a wholly owned unit of Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc., acquired Cappuccino, a full-service digital marketing and technology agency based in São Paulo, Brazil. Effective immediately, the companies will combine Cappuccino's specialization in digital content, technology production and strategic planning with Weber Shandwick's public relations and integrated marketing capabilities. Cappuccino's digital expertise includes content creation, social media, mobile, paid distribution, search engine optimization, UX and design/development, the company said May 15. Weber Shandwick is a global communications and engagement company in 78 cities with a network extending to 129 cities around the world.
* Alphabet Inc. unit Google Inc. acquired Cask Data Inc., a company that specializes in building and running big data solutions for enterprise customers. Cask Data will become part of Google Cloud, and continue to develop and release open source Cask Data Application Platform, according to an official May 14 blog post.
* 8x8 Inc. purchased MarianaIQ, a Silicon Valley, Calif.-based startup, as part of the strategic investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The MIQ team, including founders Soumyadeb Mitra and Venkat Nagaswamy, will now join 8x8, according to a May 15 news release. 8x8 is a provider of cloud phone, meeting, collaboration and contact center services with more than a million business users worldwide.
* New Media Investment Group Inc. on May 11 closed the acquisition of substantially all of the publishing and related assets of the Akron Beacon Journal from Black Press Ltd. for $16 million. Separately, New Media closed the sale of substantially all of the publishing and related assets of GateHouse Media Alaska Holdings Inc. to Black Press, according to a May 14 news release. The Akron Beacon Journal, which has a daily circulation of more than 68,000, also offers a digital source of news for the local market, Ohio.com.