GroupM in talks to acquire Foxymoron

GroupM is the world largest advertising media company in terms of billing. It was formed in 2003 by WPP Group to serve as the parent company of WPP media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Vocanic. It handles over 32% of the world media billings making it the world largest media investment management operation. Foxymoron was started in 2008 as a summer project between four friends and turned into a digital media and marketing company.

Global media firm GroupM is in talks to acquire Foxymoron for about $30 Million, as it seeks to establish dominant position in India. If the deal becomes successful then it will be the latest buyout transaction in the nascent, but fast growing Indian Digital, social media, and marketing sector. Global Media giant JWT is also scouting for potential acquisitions in the space.

Foxymoron provides an across the board range of services, including, end to end digital services, including design and development and social media services. The potential transaction is part of GroupM strategy to establish an even stronger footprint in the country, where it already has a dominant presence. India’s online advertising market is poised to exceed Rs 3500 crore in revenue in 2015.

Spend on video ads will grow at a compounded annual rate of 56% while contributing 12% to the overall market share of digital advertisements. The principal sources of acceleration in 2015 are China, where GroupM predicts ad growth will get back on track to just fewer than 10%, the US, forecast to pick up to 3.9, the Brazil, the UK, Japan and India. Acquisitions have been an important growth strategy for GroupM, which also acquired Chinese Social media agency Teein last year.

News Corp buys VCCircle

News Corporation is an American multinational mass media corporation headquartered in New York City. It was the second largest media group in 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world’s third largest in entertainment in 2009. VCCircle is an Indian Information services group with presence in online business news, data, events, and training for private equity and venture capital fund managers.

VCCircle currently employs about 100 people and is owned by the New Delhi headquartered Mosaic Ventures Private limited with offices in Noida, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The company is recently acquired by News Corp. This was the third investment of News Corp in India. It had previously invested in financial advisory start-up firm BigDecisions.com and realty portal PropTiger.com. News Corp had acquired all networks of VCCircle which includes VCCircle.com, Techcircle.in, VCCEdge, and VCCircle Training.

The VCCircle acquisition builds on News Corp recent digital investments in India. In November, News Corp acquired a 25 percent stake in PropTiger.com, India’s leading online residential real estate platform. In December, News Corp acquired Big Decisions.com, which aims to help Indian consumers make smarter financial decisions through interactive, decision making tools powered by sophisticated algorithms and data.

News Corp also has a presence in India through its Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal, and Harper Collins Publisher Business. News Corp is a global, diversified media, and information Services Company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers throughout the world. The company comprises business across a range of Media. 

HTC to launch Desire eye with 13 MP cameras

HTC formerly High-Tech Computer Corporation is Taiwanese manufacturer of Tablets and Smartphones headquartered in Taiwan. HTC has launched its new suite of imaging products at its event in New York. The new range consists of HTC Desire Eye Smartphone with two 13 MP cameras, HTC RE hand-held cameras, HTC eye Experience enhanced imaging software, and Zoe collaborative video editing community.

The Desire Eye smartphone sports a 13 MP camera on the front as well as on the backside armed with BSI sensors and comes with intelligent dual- LED Flash on both cameras. It has a 5.2-inch full HD screen, a 2.3 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, a 2 GB RAM, and Android Kit-Kat operating System. It features a dual-color, waterproof unibody design with a dedicated two-step camera key for focus.

HTC EYE experience takes mobile imaging software into a new league with unique features. The HTC Eye experience helps in video-conferencing, enables face tracking for up to four people in the same room, and allows each face to face to be cropped and positioned on the screen for maximum clarity. It also gives the option of screen sharing bringing desktop functionality to smartphone based video chat along with Split capture function. It combines photos and videos taken from front and back cameras into one split-screen image or video.

RE is a small handheld camera. RE features a built-in grip sensor that instantly activates the camera on pick up, eliminating the need of a power button. There is a single shutter button, which allows one tap to capture photos and a longer press for recording video. The app will also back everything up to phone or cloud automatically. In addition, RE will offer real-time video streaming to YouTube. The RE app will be available on both Android and iOS.

HTC also introduced its new Zoe collaborative video editing app, which allows users to mix photos and videos into stylish highlight reels, themes, and soundtracks that can be shared. Zoe is available free of charge on Android now and coming on iOS later this year. However, price for HTC Desire Eye are not disclosed but it is the first phone in mobile industry with 13 MP front and rear cameras.