Friday Five: Microbrews, Social Gaming, More M&A Activity
It's Friday the 13th, so horror film aficionados and those deeply consumed with urban lore are probably champing at the bit to leave the office and begin their evening, whether at home or out on the town. I considered tossing in a headline or two about Jason Voorhees in this week's Friday Five, but for now at least, I'll resist that temptation.
- While fictional murderers won't take up any more space on this blog entry, another Friday topic of regular interest, beer, will take center stage. BusinessWeek penned an interesting article on Castle Harlan's $655 acquisition of United Malt Holdings, resulting in an 80% internal rate of return on CH's $90.5 million equity investment. An interesting statistic from the piece is the fact that the sales of microbrews in the US increased 9% in the first half of 2009, following a 6.3% increase in 2008. It appears that high-end beer may be the one market that was immune to the recent recession.
- Social gaming continues to be the buzz this week. We previously blogged about EA's acquisition of PlayFish. Since that time, Playdom announced that it raised $43 million on a $260 million pre-money valuation from an investor syndicate that included NEA, Norwest and Lightspeed. And now another social gaming company is jumping on the good news train with the yesterday's announcement that Wooga closed on a $7.5 million round from Balderton Capital.
- Global Entrepreneurs Week kicks off on Monday, November 16, and runs for the balance of the week. I'm not exactly sure what the events of the week will entail, though those interested can register at the host website.
- BusinessWeek gets two entries in this week's headlines with an interesting article on how the tough economic conditions of the recession should provide for fertile grounds for new startups. There is certainly makes sense that tough economic conditions create a Darwinian atmosphere for startups, which forces some entrepreneurs to focus on profitability very early in the game. In terms of short-term exits, though, it seems more plausible that boom times create far greater opportunities for all startups, whether elite or run of the mill. Then again, I'm a corporate attorney, not a market analyst, so take that comment with the appropriate grain (or tablespoon) of salt.
- Quick M&A hits: HP announced its intention to acquire 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash. Google confirms its acquisition of Gizmo5. Logitech to buy LifeSize for $450 million. Are you starting to feel the warmth emanating from the rapidly heating acquisition market? I'm certainly tossing out my hand warmers for the time being.
Have a great weekend!
