Italy

News Byte

Ngmoco Hires Former Mattel Exec to Head Up Marketing

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on October 13, 2011 at 8:00 am PT

Following the recent appointment of a new COO, San Francisco-based Ngmoco continues to fill out its executive team. It has hired Michael Staskin as CMO to lead global marketing and communications, including the launch of Mobage, a mobile games platform. Previously, Staskin was VP of Marketing at Sisal, a gaming and lottery company in Italy; before that, he held several positions for Mattel. He will be based in San Francisco.

News Byte

Kobo Opens New Chapter in Europe

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on April 11, 2011 at 12:01 am PT

Toronto-based Kobo, the e-reading service going up against Amazon, Apple and others, is expanding into Europe. It plans to launch local content versions starting in Germany and Spain in May, and then expand to France, Italy and the Netherlands. Kobo, which isn’t focused on selling hardware, turned one in December and has sold millions of e-books in at least 100 countries.

News Byte

Spanish Private-Sales Site Privalia Expands to Germany Via Acquisition

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on March 7, 2011 at 3:46 pm PT

The online private-sales retailer Privalia, which operates in Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico, is buying Germany’s Dress for Less. Reuters said that according to its sources, Privalia paid between $210 million and $280 million. On Monday, Privalia raised roughly $123 million from private equity firms General Atlantic, Highland Capital Partners, Index Ventures and Insight Venture Partners to fund the transaction, which also included debt and shares. Together, Privalia is forecasting that they will achieve triple-digit revenue growth this year to around 400 million euros. In December, eBay purchased Germany-based brands4friends for $200 million.

News Byte

LivingSocial Acquires Stake in Europe's Let's Bonus

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 13, 2011 at 7:28 am PT

LivingSocial has acquired a majority stake in Let’s Bonus, which operates a daily deals site in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico. With the stake, LivingSocial now offers steep discounts via email for spas, restaurants and other services in more than 170 markets, serving 16 million subscribers in 10 countries, compared to its archrival, Groupon, which serves 50 million subscribers in 40 countries. LivingSocial did not disclose how much it paid or how big of a stake it purchased. The company recently raised more than $180 million in capital from Amazon and others.