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Hootsuite has agreed to acquire Talkwalker to expand its social media monitoring and analytics tools.

Why it matters: The consolidation comes as brands juggle a growing number of platforms for digital marketing and seek better returns on investment, Kerry writes.

Zoom in: Hootsuite and Talkwalker have partnered since 2015, making Talkwalker's tools available in Hootsuite's platform for joint customers. 

Hootsuite CEO Irina Novoselsky tells Axios that Talkwalker's analytics tools have become increasingly crucial for brands as they prioritize performance-based marketing. 

Luxembourg-based Talkwalker was founded in 2009 and acquired by private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners in 2018. Vancouver-based Hootsuite was founded in 2008 and is VC-backed.

Hootsuite declined to disclose deal terms. But Marlin Equity Partners is maintaining a stake in Talkwalker, implying it was a mix of cash and stock.

Goldman Sachs served as the financial adviser to Talkwalker.

By the numbers: Hootsuite has over 200,000 paid customers, including more than 6,000 enterprise customers.

Talkwalker has over 2,500 clients, including more than 500 enterprise customers. The overlap is about 250 clients.

Talkwalker's roughly 400 employees are joining Hootsuite's team of about 1,000 employees.

Catch up quick: Novoselsky started as CEO last January. Prior, she was CEO of CareerBuilder and earlier in her career worked at Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global Management.

Hootsuite went through a series of layoffs prior to Novoselsky joining. The company cut 30% of its staff, about 400 people, in August 2022. It laid off about 50 people in late 2022 and another 70 people in January 2023.

Hootsuite's most recent equity funding round was $60 million in 2014 at a valuation between $700 million and $750 million, per Bloomberg. It received $50 million in debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking in 2018.

1 big thing: Media manager merger

An illustration of young people checking their phone and their "likes" on social media

Data: Yahoo Finance; Chart: Axios Visuals

Hollywood loves nothing more than a cliffhanger, and Shari Redstone keeps providing, Dan Primack writes.

The latest is a WSJ report that Paramount Global is in talks to acquire Skydance Media, an independent studio backed by KKR and RedBird Capital Partners, for around $5 billion in stock.

But that only would come after Redstone's National Amusements, Paramount's control shareholder, receives $2 billion in cash.

All the while, Apollo Global Management would remain rebuffed.

Or, as the WSJ puts it: "Redstone would get cash while investors with nonvoting shares would get stock in the combined company and wind up with a diluted shareholding."

2. The BFD: Paramount deal progress

JARS AI has raised $3 million in seed funding to build a platform for creating and watching interactive shows, CEO Chris Kruger exclusively tells Kerry.

Why it matters: The funding is a bet on using generative AI for fun consumer experiences.

How it works: JARS AI is a web-based platform for creating personalized shows using several large language models. It offers a set of narratives called "JARS" and generates episodes based on submissions shared in a live chat.

One show dubbed "JARS Tank" riffs off "Shark Tank," where JARS AI users submit startup ideas for a character to pitch. Others include "Nature World AI," "Love AIsland" and "Yes Chef AI."

The goal is for the "creation of the media to be as entertaining as the output," Kruger says.

It just launched a feature that lets users record episodes and share them elsewhere.

Catch up quick: Kruger previously worked as director of AI at Peloton.

In 2023, he joined San Francisco-based incubator program South Park Commons and met his co-founder, Steffen Holm, who previously worked as a machine learning engineer at SoundHound and serves as CTO.

Zoom in: Gradient Ventures led and was joined by Bessemer Venture Partners and South Park Commons. The seed round closed in February.

JARS AI previously raised $500,000, primarily from South Park Commons.

Kruger says he will likely raise a Series A round by early 2025.

What's next: JARS AI plans to grow from just the two co-founders and some contractors to a team of six, Kruger says.

3. "Shark Tank," brought to you by AI

Illustration of a movie clapper with binary code in place of the stripes

Go deeper in our full database in the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• CLLCT, a media outlet led by former ESPN reporter Darren Rovell that covers the sports collectables industry, raised $4m from a group that includes David Blitzer's Bolt Venture and Gabe Plotkin's Tallwoods Capital. https://axios.link/446p3Y5

• Libretto, a tool for monitoring and testing AI prompts, raised $3.7m in seed funding co-led by XYZ VC and The General Partnership. www.getlibretto.com

• Digi Communications of Bucharest agreed to sell part of its Spanish fiber optic networks for €750m to a group led by Macquarie. https://axios.link/4aJQLfb

• EuroLeague, the top men's pro basketball league in Europe, hired LionTree to find a minority investor. axios.link/4cNtL0w

• Canal+, Vivendi's (Paris: VIV) pay-TV unit, raised its buyout offer for South Africa's MultiChoice to $1.9b. axios.link/3VKggc1

• Warner Music Group (Nasdaq: WMG) dropped plans to bid at least €1.65b to buy French digital music firm Believe (Paris: BLV). https://axios.link/3vwFJLu

• TKO Group (NYSE: TKO) says it offered around €4.4b for MotoGP rights-holder Dorna Sports, which last week accepted a lower, €4.2b bid from Liberty Media (Nasdaq: FWONA). Sellers included Bridgepoint and CPP Investments. https://axios.link/4cMK6Ti

4. Deal flow

• Philip Moyer, a former Google Cloud executive, was named CEO of Vimeo. https://axios.link/4aHcQef

• Elena Novokreshchenova was named global CEO of freemium at DAZN. She was most recently managing director Europe digital at Entain. https://axios.link/3PPZt3q

• Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient, was appointed to the board of MINT, an enterprise SaaS product for advertisers. https://axios.link/3VMgAXz

• Norby Williamson a longtime top executive at ESPN, left after 40 years. His most recent title was executive editor and head of event and studio production. https://axios.link/3TRrxoo

• Kate Shindle will not seek re-election for another term as president of Actors' Equity. https://axios.link/3U6RVMc

5. Movin' on up (or out)

🍿 2024 global box office forecast up slightly, still below last year (THR)

"Gower Street is projecting theatrical revenues this year will hit $32.3 billion, up from the $31.5 billion they originally forecast. That is still below the $33.9 billion earned worldwide last year and $10 billion below the box office peak of $42.3 billion hit pre-pandemic," Scott Roxborough writes.

🎢 Disney's parks are its top money maker — and it plans to spend $60 billion to keep it that way (CNBC)

"In 2023, experiences was the best-performing part of Disney's business, accounting for 36% of the company's total revenue but 70% of its operating income. Meanwhile, Disney's entertainment division, which includes its theatrical and streaming businesses, represented 45% of revenue but just 11% of operating income," Sarah Whitten writes.

🎾 Saudis gain clout in women's tennis as MBS expands sports hub (Bloomberg)

"Saudi Arabia is making big bets on global sports, including golf and football, as part of a drive to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons by becoming a hub for entertainment, travel and industries of the future," Christine Burke writes.

6. Channel surfing

an illustration of a hula dancer figurine on top of a vintage television set

🎥 Programming note: Tim is headed to Las Vegas today for CinemaCon, a weeklong convention for Hollywood studios and movie theater owners. Say hi if you'll be in town!

@tim_bays: "The Fall Guy" at Caesars Palace. Excited to see an early screening of Ryan Gosling's latest masterpiece to kick off my week in Vegas.

@kerrymflynn: "Dancing Queen" by ABBA. This song was on repeat this weekend for an ABBA-themed bachelorette in Scottsdale.

✏️ Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Katie Lewis for copy editing this newsletter.

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April 08, 2024

1 big thing: Media manager merger