9.16.14

Entertainment:

·         Spike buys a TV drama about the Silk Road, an illegal online marketplace

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/gary-oldman-tony-krantz-deep-web-series-spike-835006/

·         Scripps Networks agrees to supply channels to Dish Network’s streaming video service

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/scripps-networks-offers-channels-dish-streaming-service-834957/

·         Huayi Brothers, the Chinese film company, is spending $130MM to start a US subsidiary

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/huayi-brothers-spending-130-million-to-start-u-s-based-subsidiary-834896/

·         Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass reunite for another Jason Bourne film

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/universal-reuniting-matt-damon-paul-greengrass-for-another-jason-bourne-film-834821/

·         Social 25 honors 25 people in the upcoming Social Media Week in LA

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/social-25-honorees-include-sophia-bush-endemol-unit-beats-all-def-digital-834421/

·         Judd Adatow’s pilot ‘Love’ gets a two season commitment from Netflix

o   http://www.thewrap.com/judd-apatow-love-netflix-paul-rust-lesley-arfin/

·         Rihanna slams CBS for pulling her song ‘Run this Town’ from certain NFL games

o   http://mashable.com/2014/09/16/rihanna-cbs-nfl/

·         Leica strips its display from its digital camera in its 60^th anniversary return to basics

o   http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/16/6182703/leica-m-edition-60-announced

Tech:

·         Video analytics is slated to be the next frontier for big data as video data stored in the cloud is increasing

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/09/video-big-data/

·         Fastly, a content delivery network, raised $40MM in its series C led by August Capital

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/fastly-growing-quickly-snags-40m-as-vcs-give-generously/

·         Uber is no longer banned in Germany

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/uber-germany-ban-lifted/

·         Roku has announced that it has sold over 10 million units

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/roku-tops-10-million-media-streamers-sold/

·         Google’s Chromecast now works with Twitch, Disney Channel, and iHeartRadio

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/16/googles-chromecast-now-supports-twitch-disney-channel-and-iheartradio/

·         Clear Channel is rebranding itself as iHeartMedia

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/16/radio-giant-clear-channel-rebrands-as-iheartmedia-amid-digital-land-grab/

·         Flipboard adds interactive mobile ads into its personalized magazines

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/15/flipboard-fuses-interactive-mobile-ads-into-its-personalized-magazines/

·         The German Justice Minister wants Google to disclose exactly how it ranks search results

o   http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-wants-google-to-reveal-its-search-algorithm-2014-9

Deals:

·         JibJab acquired Make Believe Studios, the makers of the ‘Hello Santa’ app

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/15/jibjab-acquires-make-believe-studios-makers-of-video-calling-app-hello-santa/

·         Mobli, the Tel-Aviv based photo and video sharing platform, acquired Pheed to boost its monetization capabilities

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/mobil-pheed/

·         Stratasys, a 3D printing company, is acquiring GrabCAD for roughly $100MM

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/3d-printing-company-stratasys-is-buying-grabcad-for-around-100m/

·         Russia’s Internet group, Mail.ru, has acquired 48% of the country’s biggest social network, VKontakte, for $1.47B

o   http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/16/russia-mailru-group-vkontakte-idUSL6N0RH28K20140916

·         Orange offered to acquire the Spanish telecommunications provider, Jazztel, in a $4.4B deal

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/orange-close-to-acquiring-spanish-rival-for-3-89-billion/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Mergers%20&%20Acquisitions&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

Business:

·         University of California is on the verge of creating a venture fund of up to $250MM

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/16/university-of-california-proposes-uc-ventures-a-fund-of-up-to-250m/

·         Sears is working on repairing its troubled finances, and has borrowed a $400MM short term loan from its Chief Executive, Edward Lampert

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/sears-turns-to-its-chief-for-a-loan/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Hedge%20Funds&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body&_r=0

·         The Airbus Group, a European aerospace and defense company, intends to sell several of its defense and space businesses

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/airbus-seeks-to-sell-some-defense-and-space-operations/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Mergers%20&%20Acquisitions&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

·         Blackstone is starting a new $16B buyout fund called Blackstone Capital Partners VII

o   http://online.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-group-hits-fundraising-trail-for-16-billion-fund-vii-1410830693

·         Kiss raises $1MM for renovation of the Oregon Military Museum

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/6251572/kiss-raises-1m-for-oregon-military-museum

Exec Moves:

·         Larry Wasserman is now the CFO of Skydance Productions

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/skydance-productions-names-larry-wasserman-cfo-835039/

·         CAA promoted 4 staffers across its marketing, sports, and TV departments

o   http://deadline.com/2014/09/caa-promotes-carly-allen-kristin-whalley-ali-gallagher-santini-reali-834738/

·         Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, has left the Cisco Systems board

o   http://recode.net/2014/09/15/salesforce-ceo-benioff-leaves-cisco-board/

Retail:

·         PoachIt, a smart shopping tool, raised $1.8MM from Robert Sillerman, Roland Berger and others

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/16/smart-shopping-tool-poachit-scores-an-additional-1-8-million/

Startups:

·         Bellabox, Australia’s largest beauty box service, raised $2.7MM from Allure Media

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/15/bellabox-australias-largest-beauty-box-service-raises-2-7m-from-allure-media/

Government:

·         Obama to announce the expansion of military and medical resources in West Africa to help fight the Ebola epidemic

o http://www.cnbc.com/id/102002979

Other: