Twitter hopes for an Instagram moment 10 Sep 2013 Facebook leaned on a chunky acquisition of the picture-sharing app to prove its mobile chops, just as Marissa Mayer did with Tumblr to restore Yahoo’s image. Buying ad seller MoPub is Twitter’s biggest deal and may have the same uplifting effect as investors await an IPO.
Boutiques, bulge bracket hit the other’s weak spot 2 Aug 2013 Moelis and Rothschild scooped the big bragging rights to this week’s $35 bln Publicis-Omnicom deal. But BofA, Morgan Stanley and others can at least feast on the bigger payday financing the $2.5 bln Saks takeover. That’s money the boutiques are leaving on the table – for now.
Mad Men bring the negative campaign to M&A 2 Aug 2013 WPP boss Martin Sorrell says Publicis-Omnicom is a lopsided merger that will lose staff and clients. Publicis’ CEO deplores “anxious” rivals. The unusual public sniping is entertaining. But as in advertising, that’s not really the point. Both sides have something to sell.
WPP can sit out this bout of adland M&A 29 Jul 2013 A merged Publicis Omnicom would overtake the UK group as the largest advertiser. That must gall WPP boss Martin Sorrell. But he could poach clients, and charge more in a consolidated market. The benefits of gatecrashing this deal, or finding a consolation prize, look dubious.
"Equality" in Big Ad merger may be hard to sustain 29 Jul 2013 Publicis and Omnicom have formed a neat merger of equals, with co-CEOs, a balanced board, parallel listings and head offices. As a combination of autonomous units, no single culture can dominate. Day one will be fine. There is still a risk that paralysis or conflict comes later.
Ad men’s $35 bln bet: size matters in digital age 28 Jul 2013 Publicis and Omnicom are merging to create the world’s largest advertising group. Cost savings look modest. Some clients could defect. But this is a way to adapt to the digital revolution: the Franco-U.S. duo will be better equipped to stand up to giants like Facebook and Google.
Mobile advertising will boom in 2013 18 Dec 2012 Internet firms moaned for years that users were spending lots of hours on the Web, but marketing dollars weren’t following from print and TV. Time and the growth of broadband have closed this gap. The boom in smartphones now provides similar fuel for mobile advertising.
Share price mystery clouds Focus Media buyout 15 Aug 2012 The Chinese media group’s U.S. shares ran up 8 percent the day before it announced a $3.5 billion management buyout. Regulators are already twitchy after alleged insider trading around CNOOC’s $15 billion bid for Nexen. This may fuel fears that China has a problem with insiders.
Aegis finds a Japanese sugar daddy – finally 12 Jul 2012 The UK media buyer and major shareholder Vincent Bollore have accepted a 3.2 bln stg cash bid from Japan’s Dentsu. It’s a happy ending for the perennial takeover target. But given negligible cost savings, the 45 pct premium is chunky. To stack up, execution must be near-perfect.
Will Microsoft learn through self-flagellation? 3 Jul 2012 The software giant squandered shareholder treasure for years to break into internet services, gaming and consumer electronics. Writing down the $6 bln it blew on aQuantive should mark a turning point where Microsoft at long last returns to its knitting and focuses on enterprise.
Google rejoins tech’s governance race to bottom 12 Apr 2012 Zynga and Facebook show little regard for common shareholders. Google is copying its rivals’ shenanigans by adding a third class of non-voting shares eight years after leading the dual-stock charge. That’ll entrench insiders and enable the future abuse of minority shareholders.
Early start on mobile ads brings hope for Pandora 13 Sep 2011 The Internet radio service is growing by leaps, but giants such as Clear Channel have now entered the fray with similar offerings. That isn’t good for a company still losing money. But being out in front of the trend toward mobile advertising is still an opportunity for Pandora.
Google shrugs off economy and sets bar for rivals 14 Jul 2011 What weak economy? The Web search giant's secondquarter net revenue and earnings both jumped more than a third yearonyear. Android, Google's surging mobile platform, is picking up 550,000 users daily. And a suddenly thriving social network is a warning shot for competitors.
AT&T not only telco worry for antitrust watchdogs 28 Mar 2011 A brewing spat between Google and Facebook over whether to allow its nextgeneration handsets to download contact info from the social network sounds like an esoteric geek debate. But it raises big questions about Google's growing mobile dominance and the temptation for abuse.
U.S. public radio needs new funding model 10 Mar 2011 Impolitic remarks by an NPR executive and a political push by Republicans have jeopardized the broadcaster's federal money. The government should support the arts but, all things considered, it may be time for a new approach. A $3 bln endowment could set a path to independence.
Old U.S. media firms storming back with new life 7 Feb 2011 Amid the hoopla surrounding Rupert Murdoch's launch of a nextgeneration iPadbased publication last week, oldfashioned television and magazines put up some impressive numbers. The Daily may represent the future of media, but financially speaking that day looks some ways off.
Only advertisements live up to Super Bowl’s hype 4 Feb 2011 A 30second commercial on the year's biggest U.S. TV event now costs up to $3 mln. That's 500 pct more than it was 25 years ago even though the audience has grown by just 24 pct. The hyperinflation may be warranted, though. These days, most viewers don't tune in for the game.
Google’s $100 mln babysitter may be worth it 24 Jan 2011 After handing him millions of shares over a decade as CEO, Google is paying Eric Schmidt handsomely over four years to stick around as chairman. It's no fortune compared with his nearly $6 billion of stock. But he's needed to balance cofounder Larry Page, the new CEO.
Google sets surprising example for CEO succession 20 Jan 2011 Usually it's the founders that step aside for professional managers. But Google's young cofounders did that a decade ago. Eric Schmidt's adult supervision is no longer needed and Larry Page is ready to run things again. This adds a fresh blueprint for a new crop of geniuses.
Will 2011 be the year Facebook’s value gets real? 28 Dec 2010 Though the social network doesn't need money to grow, an IPO should come next year. Trouble is, trading in unlisted shares suggests it's already worth some $40 bln. To justify that number requires some astonishing, if just about possible, growth assumptions.