Hanoi, Vietnam – Local bank VPBank in Vietnam has announced that it was permitted to go through with the acquisition of OPES Insurance, aimed at expanding its business lines to non-life and health insurance, paired with its current life insurance business collaborated with AIA Vietnam. This announcement was held during the bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Hanoi last 29 April.

Through the meeting, VPBank also shared that it will be contributing VND20t towards its securities arm of ASC – a subsidiary obtained earlier in the year, to tap into the investment banking and wealth management segments.

Moreover, the bank will be lifting its foreign ownership limit to 30% of the chartered capital to accommodate the private placement to the foreign investor accordingly. The proceeds obtained from the share issuance will be utilised to enhance VPBank’s financial and management capabilities, in order to extend the operation scale of the bank to serve growing credit demand.

Sydney, Australia – Global insights and consulting company Kantar has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Blackwood Seven, the AI-enabled marketing ROI firm based in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

The integration of Blackwood Seven’s capabilities is expected to bolster Kantar’s marketing ROI analysis expertise. Kantar Australia will be integrating Blackwood Seven’s unified marketing measurement solution powered by Hamilton.AI for a range of uses including budget setting, competitor analysis, reducing customer acquisition cost, and in measuring brand equity and minimising customer churn. The deal is scheduled to be completed by the end of April.

Straford Rodrigues, head of media and marketing effectiveness at Kantar Australia, said that clients need a solution that brings together the insights they need for both strategic and tactical media investment decision-making futureproofed against cookie deprecation.

“I am thrilled to have Unified Marketing Measurement and Optimisation as a new Kantar Analytics solution to answer incremental client questions in the marketing effectiveness space. In this world of increasing media proliferation, there is a critical need among advertisers and marketers to measure effectiveness and ROI at a channel/publisher level for both on and offline media. This solution will help tease out performance effects by the channel at a granular level,” Rodrigues said.

Kantar‘s new marketing effectiveness solution, Unified Marketing Measurement, and Optimisation, learns from the effects of past media investments, modeling a multitude of scenarios to optimize future media plans down to individual publisher levels. Australian businesses can benefit from the offer immediately.

Rodrigues added, “Combining this with our current marketing ROI solutions and global analytics expertise means we can quickly scale our sophisticated marketing effectiveness offer benefiting a greater number of Australian clients.”

Meanwhile, Kantar Australia’s head of analytics John Cucka said the practice has seen tremendous growth since launching in 2019.

“The Athena platform evaluates long-term brand contributions and the Hamilton.AI platform will integrate touchpoint modelling into traditional marketing mix modelling, giving a portfolio that delivers across marketing decision-making needs.”

Singapore – Singapore-based tech company The Parentinc has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Webtretho and Bé Yêu, a women and parenting communities platform in Vietnam.

Founded in 2002, Webtretho is an online destination for women in Vietnam with millions of visitors every year. Webtretho’s mission to elevate women and enrich their lives has enabled the company to build one of SEA’s prominent user-generated content platforms where members share knowledge and experience in a wide range of topics including parenthood, and pregnancy, childcare, beauty, healthcare, and entertainment.

Webtretho also operates Bé Yêu, a well-known Vietnamese social network aimed to provide a discussion platform for expectant parents and families looking to raise their children better.

Roshni Mahtani-Cheung, group CEO and founder of The Parentinc, said that they are extremely thrilled to welcome the team at Webtretho and Bé Yêu into their family. Cheung added that Webtretho is a household name in Vietnam trusted by almost every young mother over the last two decades.

“Combining that with The Parentinc’s deep technology and commercial capabilities will bring a new era of innovation to help Vietnamese parents have healthier pregnancies and raise healthy families. We are deeply humbled by the opportunity to be able to partner with the Webtretho and Bé Yêu team to further our joint mission in such big strides,” Cheung said.

Meanwhile, Nikki Assavathorn, The Parentinc Cluster Country Head of Thailand and Vietnam, shares, “The Parentinc is the number one parenting community in 11 markets across the world. We are very excited to partner with the Webtretho team to now be the number one parenting community in Vietnam as well.

Assavathom added, “Combining Webtretho’s audience in Vietnam and The Parentinc’s technology will provide our advertising partners an unprecedented way to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time.”

Phan Thanh Huong, CEO of Webtretho, commented, “This is a new phase of growth for Webtretho and our Vietnam team. I am delighted by this new development in the business and I very much look forward to this partnership with Roshni, Nikki, and The Parentinc team.”

Singapore Nium, the global platform for modern money movement, has acquired Socash, a Singapore-based alternative payments network platform in a definitive agreement. The acquisition provides Nium with the team and technology to enable multiple forms of local payment acceptance for digital commerce, especially in emerging markets. Cash is still a preferred method of payment across the Asia Pacific and Latin American markets, and the acquisition of Socash allows Nium to accept cash for transactions online – bridging the physical and digital worlds. 

Socash brings together financial institutions and digital commerce merchants into a thriving network that allows consumers to deposit, withdraw, and make payments with cash from more than 30,000 local shops, cafes, and grocery stores.

Together, Nium and Socash become the full-stack, platform-of-choice for global merchants with capabilities for local acceptance, multicurrency accounts, foreign exchange, and global payouts.The acquisition is expected to close in third quarter of 2022, subject to customary regulatory closing conditions.

Pratik Gandhi, co-founder and COO of Nium, said that the Socash team has built an impressive platform that bridges payments in the digital space with payouts in the physical world.

“When compared to current in-app payment costs, we estimate Socash saves up to 30 percent in commissions paid. With this acquisition, Nium can offer a lower-cost payment processing alternative for digital merchants, spanning local payment acceptance through to global payouts,” Gandhi said.

San Francisco, USA – Social media giant Twitter has announced that they will be acquired by multi-billionaire CEO of Tesla Elon Musk for US$44b, based on US$54.20 per share in cash. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.

This follows after Elon Musk announced that he had previously bought a 9.2% stake in the company and invited to be part of the company’s board. However, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal clarified back then that Musk won’t be joining the board.

Speaking about his acquisition of Twitter, Musk said, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”

He added, “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

Meanwhile, Agrawal commented, “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, said, “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”

Bengaluru, India Digital commerce giant The Flipkart Group has announced the acquisition of ANS Commerce, a full-stack e-commerce enabler that helps brands sell online. Through this acquisition, Flipkart continues its efforts to strengthen the Indian e-commerce ecosystem by investing in the capabilities of technology enablers that will address the needs of the rapidly growing and evolving digital retail market in India. 

Following the acquisition, ANS Commerce will continue to function as a stand-alone company, led by its current management team.

As of 2017, ANS Commerce has established a full stack of offerings for brands across the value chain, including brand store technology and performance marketing tech and services, marketplace connectors, and storage and facilities maintenance capabilities. Working with companies, mid-market, and D2C brands, supports their move to digital commerce for more than 100 clients.

On their Kartify platform, the company’s product solutions assist brands and enterprises in creating digital brandstores/storefronts, improving return on ad spends, and managing end-to-end logistics and warehousing processes. The D2C segment, which is quickly developing in the Indian market as businesses strive to interact with consumers who demand direct connection, is a significant emphasis for the organization.

Ravi Iyer, SVP and head – corporate development at Flipkart, said that at Flipkart, they are committed to developing and nurturing the internet consumer ecosystem, including developing and encouraging technological innovation that helps drive the Indian digital economy. 

“Our efforts focus on ensuring that businesses, including MSMEs and smaller brands, can leverage the opportunities that e-commerce offers, to provide greater value and deeper experiences for Indian customers who are rapidly adopting digital commerce,” Iyer said.

Iyer added, “Our association with ANS Commerce started last year when they were part of Flipkart’s tech startup accelerator program, Flipkart Leap, and we are pleased to welcome the team to the Flipkart Group.”

Meanwhile, Vibhor, Amit, Nakul and Sushant, co-founders of ANS Commerce, shared, “ANS Commerce was created to enable businesses to leverage the massive opportunity of e-commerce in India. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a dramatic change in consumer behaviour, and as a result, brands have also pivoted in their approach on how to engage with consumers.”

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. 

Hong Kong — The game software and venture capital company, Animoca Brands has acquired Darewise Entertainment, a game developer founded by veterans of the AAA games industry that is currently developing a high-quality blockchain MMO game ‘Life Beyond’. Through the buyout, Animoca Brands will be assisting Darewise Entertainment to fast-track development and publishing in the Web3 space.

Darewise Entertainment is a European game studio made up of accomplished game developers with deep experience in various highly successful AAA games, namely Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and Fable series, amongst others. The co-founders of Darewise, ex-Ubisoft game director Benjamin Charbit and ex-Ubisoft and ex-Crytek tech lead Samuel Kahn, will continue to operate the company after the acquisition.

The collaboration will facilitate planned growth, accelerate game development, and combine expert AAA video game development with blockchain integration, NFTs, and play-and-earn capabilities.

Darewise Entertainment’s first game, Life Beyond, is currently in development. It is a fast-paced and ever-evolving modern persistent massively multiplayer online game Powered by Web3 and blockchain technologies, ‘Life Beyond’ seeks to pioneer the emerging genre of the play-and-earn MMO. Its guiding principles are the true ownership of digital assets, a player-driven social in-game economy, and decentralised governance.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented, “Bringing on board Darewise Entertainment is incredibly exciting. Its game Life Beyond is an MMORPG of great beauty and scale that will be a strong addition to the open metaverse. Benjamin and Samuel have built a world-class team that is creating a play-and-earn game universe that is intricate, sophisticated, and deeply engaging.”

Meanwhile, Charbit said that they are incredibly proud to join Animoca Brands and add their AAA games experience to the company that has been so instrumental in the development of Web3 gaming.

“Over time it became obvious that we’re a Web3 company at our core and that blockchain offers the means to achieve our vision. It took visionary entrepreneurs like Yat to leap ahead and build such an impressive ecosystem, paving the way for everyone else. As we watched Animoca Brands set out the blueprint of the open metaverse with projects like The Sandbox, REVV, and Phantom Galaxies, we knew that we would benefit enormously from its Web3 expertise and network. We are thrilled to be a part of this endeavour,” Charbit said.

Hong Kong — Game software and venture capital company Animoca Brands have announced its buyout of 100 per cent of the issued capital of Eden Games S.A.S. from Engine Gaming & Media. Eden Games is a highly respected and successful racing game studio with prized IPs such as Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, F1 Mobile Racing, and the Gear.Club franchise, among others.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented, “With its quarter of a century of expertise in building high-quality motorsport video games, Eden Games will enhance and accelerate the development of the REVV Motorsport ecosystem and add powerful value to the REVV community and the racing metaverse.”

David Nadal, co-founder and head of studio of Eden Games, said, “We are excited to start the next chapter of Eden Games by joining Animoca Brands. We look forward to producing new experiences that challenge the status quo within the motorsport genre and venture into new frontiers such as Web3 alongside a leader in the space.”

Eden Games was founded in 1998 and is based in Lyon, France. The company has strong experience in developing award-winning racing games across the mobile, console and PC platforms and over 13 million game boxes sold and over 60 million app downloads worldwide.

The game development studio also has long term partnerships with more than 30 established brands in the automotive industry, including BMW, Bugatti, Porsche, Lotus, Pagani, and many others.

Animoca Brands will leverage the expertise and capabilities of Eden Games to work on existing and new titles in the REVV Motorsport ecosystem and to bring to market a series of new blockchain-based racing games.

The new games will provide additional utility to the NFT Race Passes and the other assets obtained by swapping assets from Animoca Brands’ F1 Delta Time, which ceased operations in March 2022.

Sydney, Australia – Global communications intelligence company Cision has completed the acquisition of real-time media monitoring company Streem.

The acquisition was first announced last December 2021. Through this deal, Streem customers will benefit from the global reach of Cision, while continuing to receive the same local support and expertise they have relied on since the company’s launch in 2017. The customers will also continue to access the company’s existing media monitoring and insights platform, supported by its local product and engineering teams.

Cision said that the Streem brand, platform, and local service will continue in the Australia and New Zealand market. It will also continue to operate as an independent brand, with operations and people, including Streem’s CEO Elgar Welch and CTO Antoine Sabourin to remain in place. 

Stephen Boyes, Cision’s CRO, noted that Streem has established itself as the customer-preferred media intelligence platform in the ANZ market. 

“We are excited that they are now part of the Cision family and that our ANZ customers can benefit from a full suite of monitoring, distribution, insights, and social media solutions,” said Boyes.

Meanwhile, Welch said, “The closing of this deal gives us the opportunity to create the ANZ region’s leading media intelligence offering. Streem is best positioned to deliver on every customer’s need through a single platform and local team.”

Cision is a portfolio company of Platinum Equity, which acquired the business in 2020. The Streem transaction marks the second add-on acquisition Cision has completed in 2022.

In a joint statement, Platinum Equity’s partner Jacob Kotzubei, and managing director Matthew Louie, said, “We are delivering on our promise to invest in Cision’s growth, expand its product offering and extend its geographic reach. We will continue working with the team to pursue more opportunities to drive growth organically and through acquisitions.”

London, United Kingdom – Media investment analysis company Ebiquity has announced that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire MediaPath Network and a definitive agreement to acquire Media Management Inc (MMi).

MediaPath is a leading global media consulting company specialising in agency selection processes, media performance measurement, and media benchmarking; while Media Management is a US-focused media audit services firm providing clients with transparency and accountability across all media channels for national and local media, and agency performance validation.

Speaking about the acquisitions, Nick Waters, global CEO at Ebiquity, said, “These moves mark a major milestone for Ebiquity. MediaPath and MMi are both highly respected companies operating in our space. Susanne and Thomas share our values and our vision for what the media industry can be and how we can serve it. Both businesses bring great teams, fantastic clients, and high-quality technology enablement.”

Meanwhile, Susanne Elias, founder of MediaPath, commented, “Using technology for innovation and delivery of our services to our clients has been a key driver for us and that now combined with Ebiquity’s global reach, broad service offerings as well as highly skilled team of media specialists creates stellar opportunities for our combined businesses, clients and teams all over the world.”

Lastly, Thomas Bridge, founder at MMi, stated, “MMi is excited to join the Ebiquity family, expanding our coverage domestically and internationally for our clients. This step further reinforces MMi’s commitment to our team and our clients in continuing our work in driving third-party media accountability.”

Both deals were signed on 29 March 2022. MMi is expected to complete on or around 4 April 2022, while MediaPath is expected to complete on or around 22 April 2022.