IAMP and El Sitio (LCTO) to merge

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      C+

NEW YORK, Oct 30--Latin American pay television and Internet provider Ibero American Media Partners and Internet portal El Sitio have agreed to merge to develop programming and content aimed at Spanish and Portuguese pay-television, radio and Internet audiences. Ibero, or IAMP, which is jointly owned by Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Venezuelan media giant Cisneros Group, is the parent of Cisneros Television Group. The combined entity, Claxson Interactive Group (CIG), will begin trading under a new ticker symbol once the transaction closes. Each El Sitio common share currently outstanding will be exchanged for one new common share of Claxson Interactive Group. The current El Sitio shareholders, including IAMP, which has an approximately 18% fully diluted ownership stake, will own 41.5% of CIG's common shares.

 

 Primedia (PRM) and About (BOUT) to merge

   *  Amount:         $690 million

   *  Terms:            45.2 million shares

   *  Premium:        49%

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      B+

NEW YORK, Oct. 30--Primedia and About announced that the two companies have signed an agreement to merge, the combined entity expected to form a leading targeted media company which will provide a vast array of marketing solutions to advertisers and an unprecedented level of niche content to users. With Primedia a leading traditional media company in the delivery of highly targeted niche print and video products to consumers and About a leading on-line company in the delivery of niche content, the combination creates enormous scale with Primedia's leading off-line position. Shareholders of About will receive 45.2 million shares of Primedia, or 2.3409 Primedia shares for each About share, valuing the transaction at approximately $690 million. For more analysis, see Kelly Black's DealTracker.

 

 PurchasePro (PPRO) to acquire Stratton Warren

   *  Amount:         $15 million

   *  Terms:            cash and stock

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        E-commerce enablers

   *  Scorecard:      B-

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 30--PurchasePro, an enabler of business-to-business e-commerce solutions for companies of all sizes, announced that the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Stratton Warren, an inventory management and purchasing solution provider primarily in the hospitality industry. The acquisition will provide PurchasePro with immediate access to Stratton Warren's customer base that purchases more than $5 billion each year, as well as further enhancing PurchasePro's recurring revenue business model. PurchasePro will pay less than $15 million in stock and cash.

 

 Marketing Services Group (MSGI) to acquire Perks.com

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            100% stock

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Advertising/Marketing

   *  Scorecard:      B-

NEW YORK, Oct. 30--Marketing Services Group , a provider of integrated marketing solutions, announced that it has executed a Purchase Agreement to acquire 80% of Perks.com, an offline and online loyalty, retention and performance improvement solutions provider, in a tax free exchange of shares. With the Perks.com acquisition, Marketing Services Group will now be able to offer a complete range of marketing solutions for companies looking to maximize the value of customers, employees, dealers or distributors, and brokers through incentive and loyalty marketing programs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

  Worldly Information Network acquires three financial newsletters

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      C+

NEW YORK, Oct. 30--Worldly Information Network, an online provider of global financial information, announced that it has made its first three acquisitions of high quality, print financial newsletter companies: Global Investing, Gerald Perritt's Mutual Fund Letter, and Prudence & Performance, including both their online and offline properties. Global Investing tracks, analyzes, and recommends international stocks on a monthly basis; Gerald Perritt's Mutual Fund Letter is a monthly publication that focuses on mutual funds and their performance; Prudence & Performance focuses on the performance of funds, stocks, and portfolios and is published monthly. Worldly Investor Network expects the acquisitions of these newsletters to significantly increase subscription levels to its host of financial email newsletters.

 

 GoCollect.com acquires ByWeb

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        E-tailers

   *  Scorecard:      B-

CHICAGO, Oct. 30--GoCollect.com, a participant in the online business-to-consumer gift and collectibles market, announced that it has acquired ByWeb, an application service provider (ASP) which rents online software for a low monthly fee to Web-enable suppliers, retailers and sales agents with no transaction-based fee. With the acquisition of ByWeb, GoCollect.com now expands its business-to-consumer offering with a business-to-business service to better serve the gift and collectibles industry.

 

 PentaSafe Security Technologies acquires Baseline Software

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Security

   *  Scorecard:      n/a

HOUSTON, Oct. 30--PentaSafe Security Technologies, an IT security software company, announced the acquisition of Baseline Software. The acquisition of Baseline Software provides PentaSafe with exclusive access to the best practices content from Baseline's security policy guide, Information Security Policies Made Easy, which is used by companies worldwide and will serve as the foundation for the newly announced VigilEnt Policy Center security policy management application.

 

 Intellinex acquires Teach.com

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Internet services

   *  Scorecard:      B+

NEW YORK, Oct 30--Intellinex announced that it has agreed to acquire Teach.com, a provider of online business skills and PC skills training courseware. The Teach.com acquisition accelerates Intellinex's growth as a leading provider of eLearning solutions, strengthening Intellinex's position as a one-stop provider of corporate learning solutions in the rapidly growing global market for online and multimedia corporate learning and performance-based education. Terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.

 

 JP Kids acquires react.com

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Content/Communities

   *  Scorecard:      C-

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 30--JP Kids, one of the nation's leading independent quality kids' media companies, has purchased react.com, an award-winning online destination for teens, from Parade Publications. The acquisition of the popular teen site, react.com, will add to JP Kids' distinctive slate of converged media properties.

 

 Mindsurf acquires HiFusion

   *  Amount:         Undisclosed

   *  Terms:            n/a

   *  Premium:        n/a

   *  Industry:        Speed/Bandwidth

   *  Scorecard:      B+

BALTIMORE, Oct 30--MindSurf, a mobile computing infrastructure company for the K-12 market segment, announced it has acquired HiFusion, an education technology company offering filtered, age-specific content and communication tools for student, parent and teacher communities. Through the acquisition of HiFusion, MindSurf, which is a joint venture between Aether Systems and Sylvan Ventures, gains an established sales force of more than 75 professionals enabling the company to immediately promote its wireless education solution to schools nationwide as well as a highly skilled technical development team located in Northern Virginia. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.