S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of U.S. companies' media and communications deal announcements and completions from May 20 to May 25.
* FloSports, a subscription-based over-the-top service dedicated to sports such as wrestling, swimming, volleyball and cycling, acquired The Rugby Channel from Rugby International Marketing LLC. FloSports will now be able to stream all matches previously under The Rugby Channel, bringing 51 new competitions annually to FloRugby.com, according to a May 24 news release.
* Townsquare Media Inc. completed the sale of its mobile amusement subsidiary North American Midway Entertainment LLC, or NAME, to North American Fairs LLC. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, North American Fairs will acquire all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of NAME's parent company, Heartland Group LLC, from Townsquare Media for a total cash consideration of $23.5 million. Additionally, Townsquare will have the right to receive 15% of any sale proceeds if NAME is sold, in whole or in part, in the next 10 years. The company expects to hold the net cash proceeds from the sale on its balance sheet, pending reinvestment. NAME owns and operates amusement attractions at about 150 fairs per year across the U.S. and Canada, according to a May 24 news release.
* Tronc Inc. on May 23 completed the sale of all assets related to its for-sale-by-owner real estate marketplace business ForSaleByOwner.com to Michigan-based In-House Realty LLC. The closing purchase price consisted of $2.5 million in cash, subject to a post-closing working capital adjustment, of which $700,000 is being held in escrow as security for specified indemnity obligations.
* DHI Group Inc. completed the sale of its Hcareers hospitality business to Virgil Holdings Inc. for about $16.5 million in cash. The company will use the proceeds from the transaction in accordance with its stated capital allocation strategy, including the reduction of the balance on its revolving credit facility, support of strategic initiatives and potential return of capital to shareholders. Houston-based private equity firm Genesis Park led the funding.
* Electronic Arts Inc. said it acquired gaming technology assets and personnel from GameFly Inc. The deal will enhance EA's capabilities and expertise in cloud gaming. The acquired team is based in Israel. EA said cloud gaming allows the streaming of entertainment to more devices in more regions around the world.
* Salem Media Group Inc. is selling Christian Contemporary Music Station KGBI 100.7 FM, in Omaha, Neb., to the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. The University of Northwestern-St. Paul already operates 20 noncommercial Christian Contemporary radio stations in the Midwest. Pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission, the parties expect to close the transaction in the third quarter.
* Sony Corp. will take control of EMI Music Publishing as it looks to profit from the surge in popularity of digital streaming services. The Japanese consumer electronics company said subsidiary Sony Corp. of America would acquire Mubadala Investment Co.'s 60.2% equity interest in DH Publishing LP, which owns and manages EMI Music Publishing, for $1.9 billion. The deal almost doubles the size of Sony's music catalog. EMI Music Publishing brings the rights to publish 2.1 million musical compositions to the 2.3 million copyrights already held by Sony, which include titles by The Beatles and contemporary stars such as Justin Timberlake.
* Adobe Systems Inc. agreed to acquire e-commerce platform Magento Inc. for $1.68 billion. The seller is a company backed by funds of private equity firm Permira Holdings Ltd., which acquired Magento from eBay Inc. in 2015. Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager Hillhouse Capital Management Ltd., which invested in Magento in 2017, is also selling its stake to Adobe. The target will allow commerce to be integrated into Adobe Experience Cloud, which will serve both business-to-business and business-to-consumer customers globally, Adobe said.
* Microsoft Corp. said May 20 that it purchased Semantic Machines Inc., a conversational artificial intelligence startup, for an undisclosed amount. The company will now establish a conversational AI center in Berkeley to work on language interfaces.
* Menlo Park, Calif.-based Accel-KKR LLC has completed the acquisition of Sageworks Inc. Sageworks is a provider of financial software and information products to U.S. financial institutions.
