Business to Business News

 The Federal Trade Commission finally approved Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of Internet ad server DoubleClick after eight months of review for possible antitrust violations. But the deal has yet to be signed by the European commission. Google being the most popular search engine also has a lock on the Internet text ad market with its AdWords and AdSense programs. Doubleclick dominates in the third party banner ad server market. The advantages of the Google-DoubleClick deal:
1. With the doubleclick acquisition, Google will have a very powerful influence on the overall Internet advertising market to the loss of both content publishers and advertisers, big and small. Size is considered as the junk e-mails received everyday tells the story.
2. Google’s doubleclick deal will give access to enormous amount of confidential data of both publishers and advertisers giving it greater power.
3. The saturation of ad is causing click through rates for text ads to trend lower and because of this the pressure on Google to maximize revenues from its assets is increasing. Unlike Microsoft which has a more diversified revenue stream, Google on the other hand is a one-trick pony i.e. it generates revenue from text ads. If Google wants to rise up revenues then it would be to try a bundle or engage in tying of course only with the selfless motive of benefiting consumers, publishers and advertisers. When Window’s operating system was bundled with Microsoft’s internet explorer it was finito for the Netscape browser.

Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco is all set for a new front in its planned international expansion by preparing to open a first ever ‘Tesco Express’ convenience store in China. The move expected to happen anytime next month will mark the small store format’s roll-out right across the country, considered one of the world’s most rapidly growing economies. The first Tesco Express is slated to be unveiled in Shanghai via a joint venture with Tin Cao. The supermarket giant is already running over 50 Hymall-branded hypermarkets with Tin Cao.
Tesco recorded its lowest ever sales growth for almost a decade in Britain over Christmas. The finance director, Andrew Higginson advised analysts to look at Tesco as a global business entity. Tesco unveiled its first ever Tesco-branded store in Beijing a year ago. The group has centred its US expansion plans on the roll-out of ‘Tesco Express-style’ format under the brand Fresh & Easy and could start close to 1,000 sites through the west coast of America.
Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy had stated a couple of months ago he wished overseas business of the group to generate at least fifty per cent of its revenue within the next decade or so.
 

At a time when the subprime loan fiasco is wreaking havoc on the economy, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to settle a case against a group of marketers supposedly targeting “subprime consumers.”  As a part of this settlement, EDP Technologies Corporation has to pay over $2.2 million along with others for consumer compensation. As per the FTC the defendants had promoted a specific kind of prepaid bank-issued Visa and Mastercard debit cards through their Web sites, emails and pop-up ads. They were also accused of charging high fees without approval to consumers’ bank accounts. They had marketed unrelated short-term loans including SuperAutoSource.com and SuperCashSource.com.

Apart from the heavy penalty, the defendants have also been ordered to sell a car and deposit the net proceeds derived from the sale. All the funds will be utilized to pay associated fees, expenses, and liabilities. The defendants have also been disqualified from debiting any consumer’s account without permission. They must explicitly disclose all fees connected with attaining the debit and credit cards. Industry watchers believe that the FTC had been tracking numerous such players in the lead generation sector for quite some time.
 

HSBC has made a deal with the Federation of National Retail Newsagents regarding rolling out numerous free ATMs in convenience stores all across the UK. This is in association with hardware provider VocaLink. At present, the bank has a comprehensive network of 3,500 ATMs in the UK. The bank has decided to grow the number by at least 500 in 2008. Some of these ATMs are planned for grocery stores, newsagents and off-licenses. HSBC intends to concentrate on isolated areas that are not too well served by local ATM estate. The customers will be able to withdraw cash as well as deposit money and pay their bills.

HSBC is taking this initiative with the intention of reaching out to the customers who are not located near any branch. Almost 98 per cent of cash withdrawals occur via the ATMs. If HSBC customers used ATMs of other banks then the banks charge an interchange fee on each other. Thus any bank, which has more number of ATMs than its rivals, will definitely get an interchange dividend.   So this is a crucial decision taken by HSBC. However individual deployments will also depend on the fact whether shopkeepers want their existing fee-charging ATM replaced by a free one.

Scottish Newcastle who are Britain’s leading brew manufacturers owning brands like Foster’s beer, Newcastle Brown ale and Strongbow cider, and also having 37 and a half percent stake in United Breweries Limited, accepted the offer from Carlsbery and Heineken on Friday.

Under the agreement the share holders will receive 800 pence in cash for each S&N share. The deal will result in break-up of Scottish & Newcastle assets; Carlsberg , Danish brewing giant will control the French, Greek, Chineese and Viatnamese operations of the country while Heineken the Dutch brewing giants will get control of the UK and Ireland, Portuguese, Finish, Belgian, US and Indian operations of Scottish & Newcastle.

Carlsberg will also benefit by the transfer of the British firm’s share of Baltic Beverages Holding AB, a fast growing company in Russia. Carlsberg is paying 54.5 percent and the balance amount will be borne by Heineken.
On the deal, Mr. Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen said “This is a truly transformational transaction for Carlsberg creating the world’s fasted growing global brewer. We now have full control of our destiny in Russia and other BBH territories and I am truly excited about the new opportunities this will present us”

Chairman and CEO Mr. Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said “This is a significant strategic step for Heinken It gives us undisputed leadership in Europe and creates significant opportunities in profitable markets to grow the premium Heineken brand. Our ability to create value from mature markets coupled with the step-change in revenue growth will drive our future expansion.

However, unions are seeking job guarantees from Heinken, as it will get UK operations, for the 3,300 staff of S&N. But till now there is no comment on the said matter.

Dr. Vijay Mallaya, chairman of UB Group said, “ While The UB Group has had an excellent and productive relationship with Scottish and Newcastle Plc, we welcome the fact that Heinken will be a potential shareholder of United Breweries Limited on terms that are yet to be discussed.”

According to UB group’s president and chief financial officer, Mr. Ravi Nedungadi, he dosent think that this development will trigger an open offer, and that Heinken will probably get the share holding in UB.
 

The expected auction and subsequent sale of Clarion Events that has attracted quite a bit of media attention finally seems to be on course. The firm that is largely known for organising The London International Horse Show held at Olympia, is all set to clear the final hurdle in the process, if sources are to be believed.
The business takes care of over 50 events globally, including several prestigious art/antiques fairs at Olympia and Earls Court. In 2007, Hg Capital, a private equity firm that owns Clarion Events, had hired investment bank Close Brothers to seek advice on a strategic review of their business, which could be disposed off for anywhere between £120m and £150m.
Buyout groups Bridgepoint along with Veronis Suhler Stevenson and Exponent that has earlier invested in the popular Times Educational Supplement all have managed to make it through to the last stage of the ongoing auction process, according to reliable sources.
Ocean Media, backed by AAC Capital Partners and European Capital, providing equity & debt capital, have also been part of the process, although it is still not clear whether they’re in the last round of bidding.
Clarion was bought out by its management in 2004 for nearly £50m. The deal was executed by Simon Kimble as well as Hg Capital from the Earls Court and Olympia property group. People in know of the matter informed Mr Kimble was very much keen on leading a secondary buyout of the business.
 

The London 2012 Business Network was released at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium to a  packed house of more than 600 business people. A spokesperson for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) confirmed that it would contain all kinds of contracts, including IT. The contractors having any kind of IT requirement, will advertise it via the website. It can be a small-scale IT maintenance, software or hardware, or any form of IT supply.

The entire network is divided into three segments: first, there is a division for information on forthcoming opportunities; second, a segment for business events; and, thirdly, a “CompeteFor” service, which the organization identifies as a “business dating agency” that is equipped to match companies to numerous openings for supplying London 2012 contractors. The ODA and the London Organising Committee are expecting an allocation of almost £6bn of work as part of a projected 75,000 future business opportunities. Around one fifth of these opportunities will to go through the CompeteFor system.

As per ODA chairman John Armitt, the ODA has already let contracts worth over £1bn. Most of these contracts have been taken by small and medium-sized companies amongst which almost half of them are outside of London. Business minister Stephen Timms believes that CompeteFor system will make businesses grow and develop their business for prosperity.

The Cloud has taken over a German hotspot aggregator that is known for supplying Wi-Fi services to four-star and five-star hotels all across that country. This UK-based hotspot service provider has over 3,500 access points in Germany. With the acquisition of GlobalAirNet AG it further adds 5,300 access points located in over 300 hotels. Taken as a whole, The Cloud can now boast of more than 25,000 hotspots all across the UK, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Netherlands. The Cloud already was a market leader in the UK and Sweden.

The Cloud believed that Ganag’s service quality in room and hotel Wi-Fi coverage is very high. This acquisition provides the brand and credentials from which it intends to expand its operation to the European hospitality sector. This is a crucial step in terms of Cloud’s consolidating their operations in the German market.  Hotels in Germany with Ganag hotspots include the Marriott, Crowne Plaza chains, Swiss Hotel. Mr Achim Moehrlein, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Ganag, will be the Managing Director of The Cloud’s combined German business. The Cloud has not yet divulged the details of the price it had to pay for this major business acquisition.

Nominet announced that the Nominet Foundation will support education, research and development initiatives. It will form a foundation to fund research and educational programs in the UK Internet arena. Nominet is a not-for-profit organization and thus, any excess income should be utilized for the advantage of the UK Internet community. The organization has already chalked up plans to fund certain kinds of projects though it is still open to various others. Projects on online safety for children is one of them along with community projects to enhance internet access and utilization.

Academic research projects regarding security will be welcomed eagerly as it has become a burning issue for UK stakeholders. However, the Nominet Foundation will not divert any funding from Nominet’s work on the UK’s Internet infrastructure and systems. Nominet Foundation has robust support from Labour MP Alun Michael. The Foundation has a target to launch in the Summer of 2008 with an initial donation of £5 million. It has already started the process of setting up the organization and creating the governance structure. applications for projects seeking funds will be invited later. Lesley Cowley, Nominet’s chief executive confirmed that they have a budding, flourishing .uk registry and the capability to fund valuable projects and the foundation is looking forward to some worthwhile work.

TradeDoubler has acquired the IMW Group, which owns The Search Works, which is the biggest autonomous search engine marketing company in the UK. The IMW Group comprises of The Search Works and The Technology Works. The deal is worth £56m and promises to launch TradeDoubler as one of the leading online marketing firms in Europe. As a result of the deal, TradeDoubler has expanded the assortment of marketing services that it can offer all across Europe. It has now added search engine marketing to its existing bouquet of affiliate marketing and online display ad offerings.

This move can be a result of Google’s endeavor towards the affiliate space especially the cost-per-acquisition ads. Or more simply, it can mean that the company is interested in expanding its array of services in order to cater to both merchants and affiliates. Nick Hynes, CEO of The IMW Group believes that there is a natural likeness between TradeDoubler’s products and services with the search management technology offered by them. There is also a strong cultural affinity between both the companies. The irony here is that earlier this year, TradeDoubler was almost on the verge of being taken over. AOL pulled out at the last moment in order to get support from the company’s shareholders.