Mergers and Acquisitions Weekly Watch

In recent mergers and acquisitions news, Giphy will expand into mobile and Rakuten continues its quest to grow its digital content.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Giphy to Acquire Nutmeg

20150323_M&A Giphy

  • Buyer: Giphy, a search engine for gifs
  • Target: Nutmeg, a gif messaging app
  • Consideration: Not disclosed
  • Date Announced: March 19, 2015

This is Giphy’s first acquisition but given the popularity of gifs, it will likely not be its last. The Nutmeg development team is expected to join Giphy, which is typical in an acquisition as the development team can assist with any necessary integration in addition to continued growth of the acquired product. This acquisition is intended to help Giphy expand in mobile, bringing gifs to sms. Sorry emojis, you’re about to meet your match.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Rakuten to Acquire OverDrive

20150323_M&A Rakuten

  • Buyer: Rakuten, an internet services company
  • Target: OverDrive Holdings Inc., operator of OverDrive Inc., an ebook and audiobook content marketplace
  • Consideration: $410M cash
  • Date Announced: March 19, 2015

This is one of several acquisitions Rakuten has made in the last few years in attempt to grow its digital content. Rakuten acquired Viber (a chat and calling app) in 2014, Viki (a global video platform) in 2013, and Wuaki (a Netflix-like global video platform) in 2012.

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