Populis, an Ireland-based online media publisher formerly known as GoAdv until just after its take-private from the Alternext stock market, has continued its acquisition strategy by buying Germany-based blog service Mokono for €8.2m ($11.4m).
Burda Digital Ventures (BDV), the corporate venturing unit of Burda Digital had owned a minority stake in Mokono since 2007. "The Mokono team has been successful in developing truly innovative business models for digital media," said Harald Ebrecht of venture capital firm Acton Capital Partners, which managed the investment for BDV after it became independent in 2008.
Batley Capital was exclusive financial adviser to Populis on this transaction, while law firm Latham & Watkins advised Florian Wilken and Vasco Sommer-Nunes, the co-founders of Mokono.
At the start of the year, Populis bought Blogo, a blog network in Europe and South America for €6m from Dada, the Italian web publisher part owned by RCS MediaGroup, an international multimedia publishing group listed on the Italian stock exchange.