M&A Deal Summary

Paramount Acquires CNet Networks

On June 30, 2008, Paramount acquired internet software and services company CNet Networks from TCV for 1.8B USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Paramount’s 1st transaction in the Internet Software and Services sector.
  • This is Paramount’s 2nd largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Paramount’s 5th transaction in the United States.
  • This is Paramount’s 1st transaction in California.
Investment Fate
  • CNet Networks was divested to a consortium of strategic buyers in 2020 for 500M USD.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2008-06-30
Target CNet Networks
Sector Internet Software and Services
Buyer(s) Paramount
Sellers(s) TCV
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition
Deal Value 1.8B USD

Target

CNet Networks

San Francisco, California, United States
CNet is a portfolio of brands that reach close to 100 million unique visitors monthly, advising passionate consumers about everything they love. Its portfolio reaches diverse global audiences in technology, B2B, gaming, and entertainment. These iconic properties include the world’s largest tech media brand CNET, as well as GameSpot, ZDNet, Metacritic, TVGuide.com, Chowhound, and more. CNet was formed in 1994 and is based in San Francisco, California.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Paramount

New York, New York, United States
Category Company
Founded 1986
Sector Media
Employees21,900
Revenue 29.7B USD (2023)
DESCRIPTION

Paramount is an international media company that delivers premium content to audiences across traditional and emerging platforms worldwide. Its business segments include Entertainment, Cable Networks, Publishing, and Local Broadcasting. Paramount was founded in 1986 and is based in New York City.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 5 of 12
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 1 of 2
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 4 of 7
State (California) 1 of 2
Country (United States) 5 of 7
Year (2008) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 2 of 5
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-09-06 SignStorey

Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Fairfield, CT, SignStorey is a retail television network solution to be deployed at more than 2,000 supermarkets nationwide. Its retailer partners, including Albertsons, Pathmark and Price Chopper, see value in the company's unique approach to creating an enhanced shopping experience that provides a combination of useful information to the consumer and high-impact advertising messages.

Buy $72M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2010-05-13 EcoMedia

Manhattan Beach, California, United States

EcoMedia LLC, an organization that brings together public institutions and municipalities with private industry advertisers and local media to generate funding for projects to improve the environment.

Buy -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

TCV

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1995
PE ASSETS 21.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION

Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) is a private equity and venture capital firm focused on investments in growth technology companies. TCV looks to provide capital for growth, recapitalizations, acquisitions, and buyouts of technology companies in sectors such as internet, financial technology, infrastructure & communications, and software. TCV targets opportunities in North America and looks to commit between $10 and $500 million of equity capital per transaction. TCV was formed in 1995 and is based in Palo Alto, New York City, and London.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 34 of 83
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 3 of 21
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 20 of 43
State (California) 18 of 32
Country (United States) 31 of 73
Year (2008) 3 of 3
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 24
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2008-06-03 MarketAxess

New York, New York, United States

MarketAxess is an electronic trading platform that enables fixed-income market participants to efficiently trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments using MarketAxess' patented trading technology. MarketAxess was founded in 2000 and is based in New York City.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2008-10-25 Wize Commerce

Gurugram, India

Wize Commerce is a comparison shopping engines including Guenstiger, Argep and Nextag, and provide services to a wide ecosystem of partner sites that use our e-commerce platform. Wize Commerce was founded in 1998 and is based in Gurugram, India.

Buy $830M
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