United Kingdom – Global market research company Kantar Group has announced that it has plans to sell its media measurement arm Kantar Media to global alternative investment firm H.I.G. Capital.

The transaction’s purchase price of approximately $1b is anticipated to be primarily paid in cash, along with certain non-cash consideration, including separation-related investments by H.I.G. Capital, and an earn-out.

The contemplated deal will mark a new chapter for Kantar Media as it embarks on a new phase of growth and innovation, with a renewed focus on delivering cutting-edge insights to clients across the content and advertising landscapes.

The proposed acquisition by H.I.G. Capital comes at a pivotal moment for Kantar Media. The company, which operates in over 60 markets, is positioned to shape the measurement ecosystem with a broad portfolio of solutions that spans audience measurement and data analytics as well as media planning and validation.

Patrick Béhar, who will continue to lead the business as Kantar Media CEO, said, “Over a year ago, I joined Kantar Media from Sky to accelerate the transformation of Kantar Media into an agile, technology-centric company, shaping the measurement industry through advanced cross-media solutions. This transaction would give us the resources and support to further accelerate our growth trajectory and strengthen our position as the global leader in media measurement and analytics.”

He added, “With H.I.G.’s expertise in scaling businesses and driving performance, we are more confident than ever in our ability to deliver innovative, data-driven solutions that meet the evolving needs of our growing client base all over the globe. Today is a fantastic moment for Kantar Media, its teams, its partners and its customers as we embark with H.I.G onto the next stage of our transformation.”

Meanwhile, Chris Jansen, chief executive at Kantar, added, “We set up Kantar Media to be operationally independent in 2023, to allow it to consolidate its global leadership position in audience measurement. Today’s proposed partnership announcement with H.I.G. Capital positions Kantar Media to continue its investments in technological and geographical leadership and we wish Patrick and his team the very best for the future.”

He added, “Following the proposed sale, Kantar will be even more focused on helping both global and local brands to grow through a unique combination of IP, data assets, and increasing the rapid deployment of AI. Kantar remains the world’s leading data and marketing analytics company.”

Lastly, Nishant Nayyar, managing director at H.I.G Capital stated, “Kantar Media has a long-standing reputation for delivering essential data and trusted insights to the global media industry. We are confident that as an independent business under the leadership of Patrick, the company will continue to thrive and lead the way in media measurement and analytics innovation.”

Singapore – Global food delivery company Delivery Hero, has confirmed that there are negotiations regarding the potential sale of its subsidiary brand, foodpanda, within select markets in Southeast Asia. 

In a statement, the company plans to sell its activities under the foodpanda brand in Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand.

The negotiations are currently in their preliminary stages and it is still uncertain and subject to various open points whether this will lead to a definitive agreement. The purchase consideration for the entire transaction is still under negotiation.

Regarding this news, media sources report that it caused shares in foodpanda to lift as much as 13.5%, with Delivery Hero focusing on reaching profitability while maintaining growth as investor confidence in the company started to wane after a pandemic-driven boost.

Just recently last month, Niklas Oestberg, CEO of Delivery Hero, notably said that Asia was the segment where the company saw the most opportunity to invest.

As of current, potential buyers of the business are still unconfirmed and undisclosed by the Delivery Hero Group. However, several news outlets claim to report that tech platform and super app provider Grab could pay the equivalent of as much as a billion euros for the unit.

Manila, Philippines – ShopeePay, Shopee’s in-app digital wallet, will be running its cashless festival for the second time, this time, for its 4.4 platform sale. 

The special sale, called ‘ShopeePay Cashless Festival’, aims to encourage Filipino app users to shop, buy load, and pay bills through the digital wallet. The previously held cashless festival by Shopee was in February, while the currently ongoing festival will run up to 25 March.

All Shopee users who will pay via ShopeePay during the event will get to enjoy free shipping for a minimum spend of ₱149 on various categories. There will be sitewide free shipping vouchers redeemable for today for a minimum spend of ₱199, which will be released throughout the day in limited quantities. Meanwhile, there will be another all-day sitewide free shipping slated on 4 April. 

ShopeePay users can also enjoy exclusive ₱1 deals and different offers from local fast food brands, such as Jollibee, McDonald’s, and Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as Domino’s. Furthermore, on the festival’s slated last day 25 March, there will be flash deals for load buying throughout the day. Shoppers can get ₱20 load for only ₱10, and ₱50 load for only ₱37.

By using ShopeePay, shoppers can earn more coins cashback that they can use to get discounts on their next shopping spree.

Singapore – Promo and discounts platform ShopBack has started its annual end-year shopping festival, ShopFest, for 2020 for its nine Asia Pacific markets.

ShopFest will be running from 1 September to 31 December, covering the key end-of-year shopping dates around APAC including 9.9, 11.11, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. 

During ShopFest, alongside being able to use exclusive deals and earn cashback from both online and offline retailers, users will be able to run some of the platform’s new features: vouchers, product comparison, and ShopBack challenges.

Vouchers can be redeemed using the cashback balance in the user’s bank account, or purchased via credit card.

Meanwhile, the product comparison feature is a product aggregation service for users to search and compare products from ShopBack’s merchant partners. The feature is also said to enable viewing of price history and the option to set price alerts to assist in more informed purchasing decisions.

With challenges on the other hand, it is an added feature for users to receive bonus cashback and other attractive rewards via completion of specific tasks and challenges.

Henry Chan, co-founder and CEO of ShopBack said, “Many consumers look forward to the year-end shopping season, however, it can be overwhelming for the consumer as more and more online retailers participate each year. At ShopBack, we wanted to create a unified platform to seamlessly connect these brands and consumers, and at the same time help consumers cut through the noise and better navigate through the various sale events and deals.”

The newly integrated features are said to roll out across ShopBack’s nine markets at different times over the next year.