Tuesday, June 10, 2014


Adconion Acquired By Amobee For $209M
Los Angeles-based online advertisig company Adconion is being acquired by Amobee, Amobee said late Tuesday, paying approximately $209M for the company, excluding debt. The companies said that Adconion is being valued at $235M in the deal. Amobee also is acquiring online ad company Kontera Technology, in a separate deal worth $150M. Amobee said it will use the buys to strengthen its digital marketing technology and solutions.
posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2014(Full story)

Airpush Moves Into New Venice Offices, Complete With Hot Tub
Think your startup has got the perks? Fast growing, mobile advertising startup Airpush, which has quietly grown to nearly $100M in revenues, has something probably no other startup has in the office: a hot tub. The company said it has moved into a new office in Venice, which it calls "LA's most respectable tech neighborhood". The company--which, amazingly, had grown to that nearly $100M with only remote workers and no physical office--said its new loft offices are nearby Snapchat, Whisper and Go (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2014(Full story)

Elon Musk's Vision Of Flying Cars, Submarines
Los Angeles, high technology mogul Elon Musk is no stranger to grand visions (electric cars? spaceships?)--many of which he's been able to turn into reality. So, his latest idea--making flying cars, and cars that can also be submarines--may not be all that far fetched. Musk, who is CEO of Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and also runs electric car maker Tesla Motors, said at an event yesterday in London that he's interested in building a flying car at Tesla, just for fun. (More info...)
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CheckAlt Buys Business Unit From Diebold
Los Angeles-based payment processing technology developer CheckAlt, which is led by Shai Stern, said this morning that it has acquired a subsidiary of Diebold, in the area of item and payment processing. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. CheckAlt said it acquired Diebold's ERAS subsidiary, which provides item and payment processing solutions for regional banks, community banks and credit unions. The company said the move will help extend its imaging and item processing capabilities. (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2014(Full story)

Another Nearly $100M Exit In LA: Media Temple
Add another, big exit to the list of the growing list of companies in Southern California: Media Temple, the premium hosting provider founded by Demian Sellfors. The company was actually acquired in October, however, no financials on that acquisition were announced at the time. However, thanks to the IPO filing of acquiring company GoDaddy last night, we now know how much was paid for Media Temple: $94.48M in cash. Southern California has had a string of large, multi-million dollar exits in rece (More info...)
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ViaSat Buys NetNearU
Carlsbad-based ViaSat, the developer of satellite and wireless networking systems and technology, said late Monday that it has acquired NetNearU, a developer of a network management system for Wi-FI and other Internet access networks. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. According to ViaSat, NetNearU will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, and continue to operate in its Texas location. ViaSat said it expects the transaction to be accretive to the company.
posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2014(Full story)

Donald Sterling To Microsoft Mogul Steve Ballmer: Not So Fast
It looks like the plan by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy the Los Angeles Clippers has hit a big, new roadblock: Donald Sterling. In a statement, Donald Sterling said Monday evening that the Los Angeles Clippers is "not for sale" and he will fight the highly publicized deal to sell the team to Ballmer for $2 billion. Sterling also said he will sue the NBA for $1 billion to prevent the sale of the team, which the NBA has been attempting to force since Sterling's racist remarks were wide (More info...)
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Local Corporation Adds Local Startup Veterans As Board Members
Irvine-based Local Corporation, which offers up local advertising technology, has added two veterans of the local startup industry--David M. Hughes and John M. Payne--as new board members. Hughes is CEO of The Search Agency, and Payne is currently CEO of SimpleAir, and is well known for his CEO roles at Zumbox, Breach Security, CircleUp, Preventsys, and Stamps.com, among other companies. In conjunction with the appointments, longtime Local Corporation CEO Heath Clarke has resigned from the board (More info...)
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Shopzilla Wraps Up Bizrate Into Connexity Brand
Los Angeles-based comparison shopping site Shopzilla said Monday that it is wrapping up its Bizrate Insights, Audience Discovery, and Activation Services all under one, single brand under the Connexity name. Shopzilla said it will also join the units with Aisle A, which is the company's shopping data and targeting arm for retailers and brands. All of the various units provide targeting and advertising services and technology to customers. Shopzilla is owned by private equity company Symphony Te (More info...)
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QLogic Chairman HK Desai Passes Away Suddenly
ALiso Viejo-based storage networking equipment maker QLogic Corp.'s Executive Chairman--and former CEO--HK Desai, has passed away, the company said Monday. According to QLogic, Desai died Sunday night after a sudden cardiac arrest. He was 68. Desai had been at QLogic since August of 1995, and was instrumental in guiding the company, having been first interim CEO in 1995 and serving as CEO of the company until 2010, when he became Executive Chairman. HK Desai took the reigns at QLogic shortly aft (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2014(Full story)