Buongiorno is buying moble content and entertainment firm Dada.net for for €28.5m (£25m), with an additional maximum possible earn-out of €2.5m.
Dada, which currently owns 87 per cent of Dada.net, has already arranged the buy-back of 13 per cent of the capital owned by Sony Music Entertainment. As part of the acquisition, Buongiorno also picks up seven Dada.net subsidiaries, which between them generated €76m in revenues in 2010.
Buongiorno says the acquisition is fully in line with its strategic objectives of growing the business through both market share in traditional b2c and b2b services, and through new service development, particularly in the smartphone and app store sectors.
Dada.net develops a range of mobile apps and services, and social and digital music services. 40 per cent of its revenues come from N. America. The company employs around 150 people and operates in 16 countries. The transaction is expected to result in around 150 new employees joining Buongiorno’s team, including Massimilano Pellegrini, Dada.net’s CEO, who will join Buongiorno’s executive team. Buongiorno has undertaken to maintain Dada.net headquarters in Florence, to keep the employment level unchanged for a period of at least 18 months after the closing date, and to draw upon the professional competencies and expertise of Dada.net’s employees.
The cash price that Buongiorno will pay to Dada.net will be funded by liquidity and new lines of credit, for which the company has already obtained the commitment of the financing banks. The transaction is expected to be closed within 90 days following the signing date. 
Of the agreed sale price of €28.5m, €27.5m, plus the net financial position, which Dada will aim at maintain at +€5.5m, will be paid upfront, with a further €1m paid subsequently, no later than 24 months after the closing date.
“We are proud to announce the acquisition of Dada.net, which enables us to strengthen the global leadership of an Italian company in a sector of great economic and social importance – solutions for the mobile connected life,” says Buongiorno CEO, Andrea Casalini. “The acquisition cements our position as an aggregating company that has shown its ability to attract the best talents in the market, also through M&A transactions.
“Dada.net is an acquisition of great importance, since it is not only complementary in terms of products and geographical footprint, but it also brings to Buongiorno the excellent skills of innovative product, primarily in the internet mobile market (sic) and enables us to win the competition in a highly challenging environment at a global level. We are also proud to welcome the professional team of Dada.net and to take advantage, together with these professionals, of the opportunities offered to us in this era of the mobile connected life. We believe that this will also translate to great satisfaction for our shareholders.”
