<ul class="summary-list"><li>Nextstar <keyword id="11894119" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="media" source="Orion">Media</keyword> Group announced its acquisition of <keyword id="11917406" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-hill" source="Orion">The Hill</keyword> for $130 million on Friday.</li><li>The Hill has been a political <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> staple for nearly two decades. </li><li>Nexstar is known for having one of the largest networks of <keyword id="11917407" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="local-news" source="Orion">local news</keyword> outlets in the US.</li></ul>Political news hub The Hill has sold to <keyword id="11917408" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nexstar-media-group" source="Orion">Nexstar Media Group</keyword>, a local television news company, for $130 million.The Hill, which positioned itself as a "centrist" perspective on <keyword id="11893346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics" source="Orion">politics</keyword>, had been growing its digital audience. "Only a few years ago The Hill was a print publication struggling to survive," James (Jimmy) Finkelstein, the Hill's owner, wrote in a message shared to the publication's <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1428814428946976769/photo/1">Twitter on Friday</a>. Finkelstein bought out a controlling stake in the publication in 2014 - two decades after his father Jerry Finkelstein co-founded the publication in 1994 - according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/business/the-hill-sale-nexstar-media.html">New York Times</a>.More recently, The Hill had become "highly profitable," according to Finkelstein. The publication's profits were increasing 50% year-over-year and revenue was also on the rise, he wrote. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-new-york-times-makes-hires-for-newsletter-project-2021-7">Read more: The New York Times has launched its long-awaited Substack competitor</a>The Hill's business model relied primarily on advertising, with direct, programming, and licensing revenue supporting the Washington D.C. publication, Nexstar said. The Hill had nearly 48 million monthly users and over 2 billion total pageviews in 2020, per Comscore, with over 100 journalists at the time of this acquisition, according to Nexstar.Finkelstein had been shopping around for potential buyers <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/03/the-hill-sale-ukraine-finkelstein-093576">for a while</a>, and held conversations with Nexstar in the spring, <a href="https://www.axios.com/the-hill-nexstar-acquisition-e1906f1d-6b85-4219-8074-e5ae47e23155.html">Axios reported in June</a>.Nexstar's acquisition will fold The Hill into its portfolio of 199 local news stations and 120 local websites and said it is looking at opportunities to expand The Hill's reach with potential collaborations with NewsNation, Nexstar's cable news network formerly known as WGN America. "The accretive acquisition of The Hill's independent, political digital media platform marks continued progress with Nexstar's 'content-first strategy' and reflects our organization-wide commitment to deliver trusted, unbiased, fact-based journalism that engages and informs our audiences across all screens and devices," Tom Carter, Nextstar's president and COO said in a statement announcing the acquisition. "It has been an honor to lead and transform The Hill into the premier news outlet that it is today," Finkelstein said in the prepared statement. "We are confident that Nexstar will continue to accelerate this tremendous growth."Nexstar's acquisition also marks Finkelstein's departure from The Hill. Finkelstein, who had been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-miller-racist-hysteria-blocked-help-afghans-ex-pence-adviser-2021-8">affiliated with former President Donald J. Trump and many of his associates</a> over the years, will be moving onto "new ventures."This story was updated to clarify Finkelstein's father was co-founder of the publication.

The Hill is sold for $130 million to local news powerhouse Nexstar

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="77894" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Genetic-testing">genetic testing</keyword> company <keyword id="11050415" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="invitae">Invitae</keyword> is set to receive a $1.2 billion investment led by <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword>.</li><li>Invitae also announced it will acquire a genomics company, Genosity, in a $200 million deal.</li><li>The firm turned in revenues of $280 million and a net loss of $602 million for the full year 2020.</li></ul><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/nvta-stock">Invitae</a> stock surged as much as 7% on Monday after a report out of the Wall Street Journal said Softbank plans to lead a $1.2 billion investment in the San Francisco-based genetic testing company.The investment will come in the form of convertible debt and allow Invitae to expand its current genetic testing operations, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/softbank-to-lead-1-2-billion-investment-in-genetic-testing-company-invitae-11617597250">per WSJ.</a>The convertible debt notes have an initial conversion price of $43.18 per share. Invitae shares closed at $39.19 on Thursday.The Inviate stake is the second sizeable investment from Softbank into a medical sciences company in the past few months.The Japanese conglomerate also invested $900 million into the convertible debt of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/pacb-stock">Pacific Biosciences</a>, a next-generation DNA-sequencing systems firm, back in February.Invitae announced plans to acquire the genomics company <a href="https://www.genosity.net/">Genosity</a> on Monday as well. The genetic testing company plans to use Genosity's holdings to enhance its personalized oncology offerings.Under the terms of the deal, Invitae will spend $200 million on the acquisition, consisting of approximately $120 million in cash and $80 million in Invitae shares. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.Softbank is the second big name to come out in support of Invitae.In a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/03/08/cathie-wood-says-invitae-is-an-under-appreciated-stock.html">CNBC interview</a> in March, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-ark-invest-etf-bio-tesla-portfolio-reddit-profile-2021-2">Cathie Wood</a> of Ark Invest said Invitae "is probably one of the most important companies in the genomic revolution."Wood argued Inviate is "investing aggressively to be the leader in the diagnostics testing space" and that a "move towards personalized testing is going to give a few companies the lion's share of the market." Despite the recent support from big names like Wood and Softbank, Invitae continues to struggle with profitability. The company turned in revenues of roughly $280 million in 2020 while posting a $602 million net loss, according to the <a href="https://ir.invitae.com/financials/sec-filings/sec-filings-details/default.aspx?FilingId=14752672">annual 10-K SEC filing</a>.Invitae traded up 3.29%, at $40.45 per share, as of 3:43 p.m. ET on Monday.<div type="image" title="Invitae chart 4" height="653" width="827" msid="81921324" hostid="261"></div>

Invitae surges after report says Softbank will lead a $1.2 billion investment in the genetic-testing company

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="685487" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Spotify">Spotify</keyword> is buying Megaphone, a <keyword id="1590914" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Podcast">podcast</keyword> <keyword id="6358815" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech">tech</keyword> company, for $235 million, it announced Tuesday.</li><li>Megaphone makes tools for podcasters to host their audio and insert ads into their podcasts. It also aims to help brands better target their ad spending.</li><li>Spotify said the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will allow brands to advertise on Spotify-exclusive and Spotify-original podcasts.</li><li>Spotify will also make Streaming Ad Insertion — a tool that gives data on ad reach, listening frequency, and anonymized audience data — to third-party podcasters to the first time, via Megaphone.</li><li>The deal signals a major push on podcast advertising for Spotify, which has spent big money attracting top podcasters to its platform, and now hopes to monetize a booming industry.</li></ul>Spotify announced Tuesday that it is buying podcast advertising and publishing platform Megaphone for $235 million, further expanding its efforts to monetize a booming industry.The acquisition will let brands advertise on Spotify's original and exclusive podcasts, and let podcast publishers make more money from their audio, Spotify said. Megaphone, headquartered in Virginia and founded in 2015, is a podcast tech firm which makes tools for podcasters to host their content and insert ads into podcasts. It also aims to help brands better target their ad spending.Spotify said that it would extend new advertising tech it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-launches-dynamic-podcast-ad-insertion-targeting-measurement-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">unveiled in January</a> — called Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) — to third parties for the first time, via Megaphone. SAI allows podcast advertisers to measure ad reach, recall, listening frequency per user, and anonymized audience data like age and gender."This means that podcast publishers can offer more-valuable podcast audiences to advertisers based on confirmed ad impressions," the company said.Spotify said the closing of the deal was subject to customary regulatory approvals."We are still in the early chapters of the streaming audio industry story, but it is absolutely clear that the potential is significant," said <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-content-head-dawn-ostroff-on-podcasting-ads-originals-2020-8">Dawn Ostroff</a>, Spotify's chief content and advertising business officer."We look forward to Megaphone joining Spotify on our mission to accelerate smarter podcast monetization for advertisers and podcast publishers powered by a scaled audience and state-of-the-art <keyword id="6355118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="technology">technology</keyword>," said Ostroff.Brenden Monaghan, CEO of Megaphone said: "We are incredibly excited to join Spotify to help advance the podcast medium for publishers and advertisers alike. We believe that Megaphone and Spotify's shared value in innovation will drive the podcast ecosystem forward around the world. "Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-acquires-joe-rogans-podcast-show-analysis-2020-5?r=US&amp;IR=T?r=kd-sub-sub">Joe Rogan's blockbuster deal with Spotify is the streaming giant's biggest signal that it wants to dominate podcasting. Here's what it means for other show personalities and advertisers.</a>Spotify said in its statement that its Q3 earnings showed "22% of our total monthly average users engaged with podcasts last quarter and that podcast advertising revenue is up nearly 100% year over year."Since 2008, Spotify has gained <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/company-info/">320 million users worldwide</a>, including 144 million subscribers, stretching across 92 markets.The audio-streaming subscription service has more than <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/company-info/">1.9 million podcast titles</a> including hits from Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, and Joe Rogan's "The Joe Rogan Experience," which will be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-rogan-experience-podcast-spotify-exclusive-2020-5?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">exclusively available on the platform next year</a>.Spotify and Megaphone's deal comes at a time when the podcast industry is booming, and advertisers are taking notice. In November 2019, a <a href="https://www.podcastone.com/SuperListeners">study</a> from Edison Research and the PodcastOne network showed that 70% of podcast listeners — who listened for five or more hours a week — considered buying a new product or service after hearing about it on a podcast.Spotify is now considering a separate paid subscription service specifically for podcasts, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-considers-podcast-only-subscription-plan-service-2020-11">survey the company recently sent out</a>.Spotify isn't the only company hoping to boost its podcast business through acquisitions: both Apple and Sony have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-wondery-deal-sony-acquisition-podcast-industry-2020-11">held talks to buy Wondery</a>, the world's largest independent podcast producer, Bloomberg reported Friday.Additional reporting by Lauren Johnson.

Spotify is buying podcast advertising firm Megaphone for $235 million, its latest attempt to stand out in a booming industry

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="80487" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="walmart">Walmart</keyword> has chosen a private equity firm and two billionaire brothers behind a <keyword id="584650" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gas-station">gas station</keyword> chain as preferred bidders in the sale of its UK supermarket chain <keyword id="6400626" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="asda">Asda</keyword>, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/billionaire-brothers-in-pole-position-to-buy-asda-in-6-5bn-swoop-12084315">Sky News reported</a>.</li><li>The bid comes from TDR Capital and brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who own the Euro Garages gas station chain.</li><li>Walmart has owned Asda, which has 600 stores, for 21 years.</li><li>A deal could draw the attention of competition regulators because of potential domination of the gas station industry, Andrew Taylor, co-founder of merger and competition advisory firm Aldwych Partners, told <keyword id="6355515" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="business">Business</keyword> Insider.</li></ul>Walmart has reportedly chosen two billionaire brothers behind a gas station chain as preferred bidders for its $8.4 billion UK grocery business Asda, following a board meeting on Saturday.While there isn't yet a formal deal, sources <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/billionaire-brothers-in-pole-position-to-buy-asda-in-6-5bn-swoop-12084315">told Sky News</a> that a bid launched by private equity firm TDR Capital and brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who own the Euro Garages gas station chain, is the leading contender.The deal is expected to value Asda, the UK's third-largest supermarket chain, at around £6.5 billion ($8.4 billion).It would return Asda, which has been owned by Walmart for 21 years, to UK ownership. But it could draw attention from competition regulators because of potential domination of the gas station industry, Andrew Taylor, co-founder of merger and competition advisory firm Aldwych Partners, told Business Insider.The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is "likely" to look into whether the transaction could reduce competition in areas where both Asda and Euro Garages operate, Taylor said. "While the CMA is unlikely to block the deal, it may require some divestments."Euro Garages owns <a href="https://www.eurogarages.com/pdf/EG2019.pdf">nearly 6,000 gas forecourts</a> across 10 countries, and recorded $20 billion ($25.8 billion) in revenue in 2019.Walmart chose the bid over one by US private equity firm Apollo, sources told Sky. A third private equity firm, Lone Star, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/09/22/lone-star-drops-race-buy-asda/">dropped out of the bidding earlier this month</a>.Asda is the UK's <a href="https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/grocery-market-share/great-britain">third-largest</a> supermarket chain with more than 600 stores. It also offers financial services and mobile phone contracts.Last year, the CMA <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-blocks-merger-between-sainsburys-and-asda">blocked a merger</a> between Asda and Sainsbury's, the UK's second biggest supermarket, over concerns that it would lead to increased prices in stores, online, and at gas stations. The regulator also feared the deal would worsen the quality and range of products.

Walmart has reportedly picked 2 gas-station billionaire brothers as preferred bidders for Asda, its $8.4 billion UK grocery chain

<keyword id="6355199" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-industries">Reliance Industries</keyword> on Friday said its wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL) has acquired over 51 per cent stake in Asteria Aerospace for Rs 23.12 crore. "RSBVL has acquired equity shares of Asteria Aerospace for a cash consideration of Rs 23,12,49,584. The said investment represents 51.78 per cent holding in the equity share capital of Asteria," Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said in a BSE filing. The investment will further enable the group's initiatives in emerging technology, it added.
 RSBVL proposes to make a further investment of up to Rs 125 crore, subject to Asteria achieving agreed milestones, and is expected to be completed by December 2021, it said.
 "Post the further investment, the shareholding of RSBVL will increase to 87.3 per cent of the equity share capital of Asteria," it added.
 On Thursday, RSBVL had said it has picked up 85 per cent stake in NowFloats Technologies for a cash consideration of Rs 141.63 crore.
 Asteria, incorporated in India in June 2011, is a full-stack drone technology company with in-house drone manufacturing capabilities, and also offers software solutions to provide actionable insights from aerial data, intending to deliver "drone-as-a-service" digital platform.
 An early stage company, Asteria had a turnover of Rs 1.96 crore in 2018-19. SR RVK

Reliance Industries is getting into drones with its new purchase

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/56436412.cms" /> 
 
At an undisclosed valuation, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Real+estate+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Real estate </a>portal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PropTiger&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PropTiger</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Housing.com&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Housing.com</a> have merged in an all stock deal. 
 
The company, in a statement, confirmed that global online real estate advertising company REA Group will invest $50 million in the joint entity while Softbank will put in $5 million. 
 <keyword id="1871874" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PropTiger">PropTiger</keyword> CEO Dhruv Agarwala will be leading the company and both the companies will be working and running separately. 
 
"India is an important part of our international growth strategy. The joint entity will have access to REA Group's expertise and know-how from its operations across the globe,” said REA Group CEO Tracy Fellows. 
 
This deal comes in roughly a year after Tiger Global backed Commonfloor got acquired by online classifieds firm Quikr. 
 Reportedly, in the tie up, new projects showcased on the <keyword id="1960231" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> platform online, will leverage PropTiger's offline services including site-visit arrangement, price negotiations, paperwork assistance, home-loan offers to complete the deal. While PropTiger will provide an upfront marketing fee to promote New Projects on Housing.com, it will also share a part of the transaction fee on successful sale of a property. 
 
After the ouster of Housing's founder Rahul Yadav, most of the company cofounders quit the startup. However at the same time, under the leadership of Kothari the company has revamped its top management and appointed more experienced talent on its board including former Google and Amazon top executive Vivek Jain as its chief product and technology officer and Keerthi Kiran as the head of new real estate projects. 
 
PropTiger on the other hand says it distinguishes itself in the market by offering customers an end-to-end service from house discovery to final purchase, including arranging site visits, assisting with home loans and property registrations. 
 
The company's other investors include SAIF Partners and Accel Partners. News Corp acquired 25% stake in Elara in November 2014 for $30 million and increased its stake to about 30% in June 2015.

PropTiger and Housing.com merge at an undisclosed valuation; raise $55 million from REA, Softbank

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An appeals court has ordered <keyword id="11914386" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="donald-trump" source="Orion">Donald Trump</keyword>, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. to sit for depositions in a NY probe.</li><li>The 3 Trumps will be asked about what AG <keyword id="12338139" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="letitia-james" source="Orion">Letitia James</keyword> has called persistent fraud at the Trump Organization.</li></ul>An appeals court has ordered Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. to sit for depositions in a sprawling New York probe of the Trump Organization.<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22039225-people-of-ny-v-trump-organization-2022-00814">Thursday's decision</a> by the First Department Appellate Division, sitting in Manhattan, upholds a state court decision ordering the Trumps' prompt compliance with 5-month-old subpoenas demanding their testimony.A four-judge appellate panel found that the 3 Trumps were lawfully called to testify in a probe by NY Attorney General Letitia James."Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump must comply with our <keyword id="11899820" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="law" source="Orion">law</keyword>ful investigation into his financial dealings," James said in a press statement. "We will continue to follow the facts of this case and ensure that no one can evade the law."Over the course of her 3-year civil inquiry, James has alleged persistent financial fraud at the Trumps' international real estate and golf resort business. She issued subpoenas for the 3 Trumps' testimony in January.In trying to quash James' subpoenas, Trump lawyers have argued that their testimony could be used against them in parallel criminal probes by the AG and the Manhattan District Attorney's office.The Trump lawyers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-have-tough-time-fighting-ny-subpoenas-in-appeals-court-2022-5">have also argued</a> that James herself was biased against Trump, as evidenced by numerous press statements in which she vowed to sue the former president and take down his business.But in its decision, the appellate panel found James' civil probe was "lawfully initiated.""The civil investigation was initiated in March 2019 after testimony before Congress by Michael Cohen, former Trump Organization senior executive and special counsel, in which Cohen alleged that respondent The Trump Organization, Inc. had issued fraudulent financial statements," Thursday's decision said."This sequence of events suggests that the investigation was lawfully initiated at its outset and well founded, apart from any parallel criminal investigation undertaken by the District Attorney." The appellate court also shot down the Trumps' claims that James is conducting a politically motivated, "selective prosecution." "A claim of selective prosecution requires a showing that the law has been administered 'with an evil eye and an unequal hand,'" the decision read, citing case law in upholding New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's prior ruling ordering the Trumps be deposed.Instead, James' probe began "after public testimony of a senior corporate insider and reviewed significant volumes of evidence before issuing the subpoenas," the decision said."Appellants have not identified any similarly implicated corporation that was not investigated or any executives of such a corporation who were not deposed. Therefore, appellants have failed to demonstrate that they were treated differently from any similarly situated persons." A lawyer for the Trump family, Alan Futerfas, said he is still reviewing the appellate decision and has not made a decision on whether to file a further appeal. James has identified Donald Trump as the "sole beneficiary" of Trump Organization profits and as a target of her probe.Ivanka Trump, identified by James as a probe witness, is a former executive vice president of development and aquisitions and the point person for negotiating financing from principal Trump lender Deutshche Bank.Donald Trump, Jr., who is also considered a witness, is a current executive vice president and manages the Trump Organization with his brother, Eric, who has already been deposed by James.In what may be a sign of things to come in future depositions by his brother, sister and father, Eric invoked his 5th Amendment right <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eric-trump-weisselberg-invoked-5th-amendment-rights-500-times-2022-1">more than 500 times </a>when he sat for a James deposition in October, 2020.The three are being compelled to testify in a civil probe, which means it could result in a lawsuit by the AG seeking restitution for any ill-gotten gains and potentially the dissolution of the business.Lawyers for James' office have characterized her probe as winding down, though several ancillary legal matters are still ongoing.Donald Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/letitia-james-substantial-evidence-trump-organization-investigation-2022-5">has sued James in federal court</a> in hopes of shutting the probe down, and he is appealing an order by Engoron <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-must-write-check-to-ny-ag-letitia-james-2022-5">holding him in contempt of court</a> for failing to fully comply with a separate James subpoena demanding his personal business documents.

Appeals court orders Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Jr. to sit for depositions in Trump Organization probe

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d7fa8242e22af19fd41f345-2400/rtr2k7h9.jpg" border="0" alt="randall stephenson AT&amp;T att" data-mce-source="Brendan McDermid/Reuters" data-mce-caption="AT&amp;T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson" /></div></div></div><ul><li>Activist hedge fund Elliott Management reportedly pursued its <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/att-stock-price-elliott-management-stake-new-plan-proposed-divestitures-2019-9-1028508829" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent investment</a> in <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/t-stock">AT&amp;T</a> after catching wind that CEO Randall Stephenson was making plans to leave the firm. </li><li>According to a new report from the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-t-chief-laid-plans-for-his-exit-that-set-off-an-activist-challenge-11568414629">Wall Street Journal</a>, Elliott's head of US Equity Activism Jesse Cohn told other investors that the firm wants a say in who will lead the telecommunications giant when Stephenson steps down. </li><li>The fund decided to go public with its investment after AT&amp;T promoted John Stankey to president and chief operating officer, the WSJ reported. </li><li><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/att-stock-price-elliott-management-stake-new-plan-proposed-divestitures-2019-9-1028508829">Elliott unveiled its $3.2 billion stake in AT&amp;T last week</a> with a 23-page report expressing concerns about the company's leadership and past acquisitions of Time Warner and DirecTV. </li><li><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/">Visit the Markets Insider homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><hr /><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/t-stock">AT&amp;T</a> CEO Randall Stephenson's rumored departure from the firm reportedly triggered activist hedge fund Elliott Management's interest in the company.Jesse Cohn, Elliott's head of US equity activism, told other investors the hedge fund wants a say in who will run the $270 billion telecommunications giant when Stephenson steps down, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-t-chief-laid-plans-for-his-exit-that-set-off-an-activist-challenge-11568414629">according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal</a>. Cohn called Stephenson last Sunday just before <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/att-stock-price-elliott-management-stake-new-plan-proposed-divestitures-2019-9-1028508829">Elliott released a 23-page report detailing concerns</a> over AT&amp;T's leadership and previous purchases of Time Warner and DirecTV, the WSJ found. According to the report, Cohn laid out similar concerns about AT&amp;T's strategy to Stephenson during their phone call, which were expanded on the next day when Elliott published its report. Elliott said AT&amp;T's shares have been underperforming for a "prolonged period" and that the company's M&amp;A strategy was to blame. Cohn also told other investors he wants AT&amp;T to look at selling DirecTV and other assets, according to the WSJ. AT&amp;T purchased DirectTV for $49 billion in 2015.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-oil-attack-what-happens-next-implications-for-investors-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The biggest oil-supply disruption in history has upended the entire energy market. These 3 drivers could dictate what happens next.</a>AT&amp;T's board promoted longtime employee and Stephenson ally John Stankey to president and chief operating officer in early September, which sparked Elliott to announce its investment, according to the WSJ. Stephenson spent years trying to transform the legacy telecommunications company into a sprawling media empire through aquisitions. Elliott believes that purchases were misguided. "AT&amp;T has yet to articulate a clear strategic rationale for why AT&amp;T needs to own Time Warner," the firm said. While it is too soon to tell whether AT&amp;T can create value with Time Warner, we remain cautious on the benefits of this combination." Shares of AT&amp;T jumped 4.5% last week after Elliott published its letter to the company's board. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/t-stock"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d7fbeeb2e22af1fed3b8aa3-1468/screen shot 2019-09-16 at 125646 pm.png" border="0" alt="AT&amp;T Shares" data-mce-source="Markets Insider" data-mce-caption="AT&amp;T Shares" /></a></div></div></div>

AT&T CEO's rumored exit reportedly triggered activist hedge fund Elliott Management's recent investment

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53a1a67feab8ea9a72291b20-1200-924/marissa-mayer-cannes-lions-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Marissa Mayer Cannes Lions">APMarissa Mayer speaks at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity</img></div></div></div>Yahoo just reported third quarter earnings and the news is that, for now, Marissa Mayer has stopped the bleeding.
Yahoo beat expectations on both the bottom and top lines.
After traffic aquisition costs, revenues for the quarter were $1.09 billion, a 1% increase from the third quarter a year ago.
Yahoo's earnings per share for the quarter were $0.52, soundly thumping expectations of $0.33.
It helped that Yahoo bought a lot of its own stock during the quarter. First it repurchased approximately 8 million shares of its common stock for $282 million during the quarter. Then it bought another 23.5 million shares from an unnamed financial institution. 
Yahoo stock is up 3% in after-hours trading.
<a href="https://investor.yahoo.net/ReleaseDetail.cfm?&amp;ReleaseID=877356">Here are the full results.</a>
The numbers, in brief:
<ul>
<li>EPS: $0.52 vs. $0.33 EPS estimate.</li>
<li>Revenue: $1.09 billion vs. $1.04 billion estimate. That's 1% growth y/y.</li>
<li>Search revenue ex-TAC $450 million, up 4% y/y.</li>
<li>Display revenue ex-TAC $396 million, down 5% y/y.</li>
<li>Mobile GAAP revenues were $200 million.</li>
</ul>

MARISSA MAYER STOPS THE BLEEDING: Yahoo Beats Expectations With Q3 Earnings 

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:350px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5170348eecad046872000003-3707-2780/larry-page-google-4.jpg?maxX=350" border="0" alt="Larry Page google" width="350" /></div>AP Images<keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> CEO Larry Page </div>Google reports Q1 earnings at 4pm today.
We'll have live coverage, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sai">so make sure to come back for that.</a>
Wall Street <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ae?s=GOOG+Analyst+Estimates">expects</a> Google to post $10.69 of profit per share, and $14.04 billion revenues.
JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth has a great list of topics and data points to look for when the news hits.
Quoting from his latest note…
<ul>
<li>"Google core search trends including the ongoing transition from desktop to mobile"</li>
<li>"Cost-per-click and Google Sites traffic aquisition costs metrics, both of which surprised to the upside in 4Q"</li>
<li>"Management’s commentary on Enhanced Campaigns around advertiser response, adoption timing, and financial impact"</li>
<li>"Updated Product Listing Ads feedback"</li>
<li>"Android/Nexus device sales and strategy"</li>
<li>"A Motorola update including more detail on Google designs in the product pipeline"</li>
<li>"Any update on C shares timing and management's latest thoughts on returning capital."</li>
</ul>

Here's What To Look For When Google Reports Q1 Earnings Later Today

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/544679ae69bedd3b433ecd6b-1200-924/yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-11.jpg" border="0" alt="Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/palazzochigi/15306584496/in/photolist-pnxQmy-p59htp-pjAfif-p594s5-p58nrW-p58mKW-pmALFJ-oSWW5i-oSWW9B-p8qeBw-paqktL-paqksd-paqkjY-oLYUCz-oswJnM-okV4hS-nYnMHz-ohBQs2-paAjoc-paypUd-ohBQu6-odPbDQ-nfq9PR-nwDKs1-nwNzvT-nwPYmj-nwPYcG-nfj1mo-nfiP7r-nyzrha-nfj1cf-nwxjSG-nwxk4y-nfiP9F-nfiS3Z-nwvuAc-nfiPo8-nuKMrq-nuVLWo-ndH36E-nvenwy-nt9PLS-ndH79m-nwYrfc-nstasK-mHbqwz-mJGyuF-mPcKXP-mJbUZj-kTn3aX">Yahoo/Flickr</a></img>Activist investors Starboard Value - the people who took on AOL and Olive Garden's parent-company - have issued a new letter to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
It the letter, Starboard's Jeff Smith asks Mayer to avoid making any kind of big aquisitions.
He mentions Business Insider's report that Yahoo has, in the past, had some interest in acquiring <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-has-surprising-interest-in-buying-a-cable-channel-yahoo-sources-say-2015-1">cable networks</a>.
More details to come in live updates to this post.
For now, here's the letter:
Marissa A. Mayer, President and CEO&#xa0;
Yahoo! Inc. 701 First Avenue Sunnyvale, California 94089
cc: Board of Directors
Dear Marissa,
We appreciate the constructive and on-going dialogue we have had with you, your management team and certain members of the Board of Directors (the "Board") regarding the extremely compelling opportunities to create value at Yahoo! Inc. ("Yahoo" or the "Company"). However, we have recently become increasingly concerned due to the growing number of media reports indicating Yahoo's interest in doing large-scale acquisitions. The latest reports speculate that Yahoo may be considering an acquisition of cable assets including Scripps Networks Interactive and Time Warner's CNN. Our concerns that these media reports may have some truth are exacerbated as it has now been more than sixty days since the IPO of Alibaba, and Yahoo is now free to disclose its intentions with regard to its shares of Alibaba. However, to date, no announcement has been made regarding Yahoo's plans for a tax-efficient separation of its non-core minority equity interests.
On a related note, within the past week, new speculation has emerged that Yahoo is considering a cash-rich split-off as a structure to separate its non-core minority equity interests. The resurfacing of rumors about a cash rich split-off at this juncture is particularly troubling given your acknowledgment at our meeting with you on October 27th that this option would be clearly inferior to a spin-off structure or other available alternatives to unlock the full value of the stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. As we have repeatedly explained, we believe a cash-rich split-off to separate Yahoo's non-core minority equity interests has serious shortcomings:
i) The market value of the 'active trade or businesses' Yahoo would receive as part of the consideration in exchange for its interests in Alibaba or Yahoo Japan would be difficult to ascertain objectively, and could be of questionable value to Yahoo shareholders;
ii) The total consideration that Yahoo would receive in exchange for the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes would likely be lower than the valuation that those assets would garner if they were traded as separate public entities;
iii) Yahoo would retain a substantial amount of cash which could then be used for large and potentially value destructive acquisitions, such as those speculated about in the media; and
iv) It would introduce unnecessary transaction complexities and execution risks given the required third party participation. As we have made clear in our prior discussions and letters, separating the non-core minority equity interests in the most tax-efficient, value maximizing, and shareholder friendly manner must be Yahoo's top priority. Recent discussions with large shareholders of Yahoo, some of whom have reached out directly to us to express their serious concerns with the rumors pervading the market, corroborate our belief that shareholders expect the Company to execute a tax-efficient separation (i.e. spin-offs) of both the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan stakes.
Further, we continue to believe that Yahoo must significantly reduce costs to improve profitability in its core business and should be considering a combination with AOL. A combination with AOL, structured properly, could accomplish all of these goals by allowing for: (i) a tax-efficient separation of the non-core minority equity investments; (ii) tremendous cost synergies of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion; and (iii) a strong growth platform given AOL's progress in mobile and video advertising.
We understand that you are not in a position to comment on media speculation. However, we expect that you and the Board will heed the advice of shareholders by expeditiously announcing your intentions regarding both of Yahoo's non-core minority equity investments and other actions to enhance shareholder value.
Should you instead choose to proceed down a different path by pursuing large acquisitions and/or a cash-rich split, both of which have been speculated, such actions would be a clear indication to us that significant leadership change is required at Yahoo. We hope our concerns are unfounded and would like to continue our constructive dialogue. We eagerly await the conclusion of your review and the announcement of your intentions.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey C. Smith Managing Member Starboard Value LP

Yahoo Shareholder Warns Marissa Mayer To Hand Over Billions Of Dollars To Shareholders - Or Else

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/47702982.cms" /> 
Making India green is the Centre’s one of the prime objectives. And taking the initiative to a new level is SunEdison, the largest renewable energy development company in the world by generation capacity. As per a news report by The Economic Times, SunEdison has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mumbai-based Continuum Wind Energy. While currently only 20 GW of wind farms operate in India, this buyout will help achieve Modi’s ambitious target of generating 100 GW renewable energy by 2022. 
 The Belmont, California headquartered SunEdison, which is listed on <keyword id="6357328" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASDAQ">Nasdaq</keyword>, will take over 242 MW of operating wind assets that Continuum owns and operates in Maharastra and Gujarat as well as 170 MW of assets under contruction. The company also has 1000 MW of plants in development across 6 states. This will be the third wind buy for SunEdison - In May, they acquired two renewable energy portfolios, including the domestic portfolio of around 100 MW of Spain-based FersaEnergias Renovables, SA. 
 
 
Sun Edison has not disclosed the deal value in any official communication, but sources close to the transaction said Continuum Wind Energy has been valued at Rs 3,720-3,900 crore ($620-650 million), inclusive of its debt. The equity value alone has been pegged at around Rs 1,920 crore ($320 million). Analysts tracking the sector estimate that the company should close FY15 with Rs 400 crore of revenue. The deal is expected to close in the next 6-8 weeks. 
 "India is a core market for SunEdison and offers tremendous growth opportunities in both wind and solar energy. We made a commitment to Prime Minister Modi that we will deliver 15.2 GW of renewable energy by 2022. We are putting our money where our mouth is," Pashupathy Gopalan, President of SunEdison, Asia Pacific told ET on a call from <keyword id="6355117" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="South-Africa">South Africa</keyword>. 
 Originally founded by an investment banker turned green energy entrepreneuer <keyword id="252259" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Bansal">Arvind Bansal</keyword> and his IIM-Ahmedabad classmate Vikash Saraf of Essar Group, Continuum Wind Energy was controlled by <keyword id="48670" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Morgan-Stanley">Morgan Stanley</keyword>'s infrastructure focussed private equity fund -- Morgan Stanley Infrastructure (MSI). MSI, a $4 billion global platform, is part of the global <keyword id="6354241" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-Services">financial services</keyword> firm's direct private investment group. In 2012, MSI had invested $200 million (Rs 1200 crore) into the company through a convertible instrument to buy a majority stake. Till date they have already deployed around $160 million, said sources. 
 
Both MSI and the erstwhile promoters are cashing out post the takeover but Bansal and the senior management will stay on for a minimum transitory period of 3-4 years running the operations, said officials in the know. 
 
"Our aspirations of growth is mutual. With a large strategic like SunEdison, we will now be able to finance our growth and not worry about giving exits like we would have had to with PE partners," said Bansal. "We have in-house development capacities and we build our own projects instead of buying them on a turn-key basis. That's what help us stand out." 
 <keyword id="273896" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Raja-Parthasarathy">Raja Parthasarathy</keyword> and SG Shyam Sundar the two MDs and Co-Heads, MSI in India were not available for comment till the time of going to press. Back of the envelope calculation shows, MSI will make 1.66 times return in 3 years in dollar terms --- commendable considering the sharp depriciation of the rupee in the same period. The founder duo are expected to make a rake in 4.6 times their initial investment, said analysts. 
 
Buoyed by the government's push towards green energy, SunEdison has charted out an ambitious play in India. Gopalan said, of the 15 GW that his company plans to install in India, 10 GW will be solar with the rest predominantly wind. "Solar may be the number 1 resource in India but we are yet to see the best of wind. There is enough room for growth," he added. Earlier this year, the company signed an agreement with Adani Enterprises for a $4 bn JV to build solar panels in Gujarat. 
 
SunEdison has been scaling up especially in wind. Globally too, they are adding to their wind portfolio significantly through large buyouts. Last November, it agreed to take over First Wind, one of the largest wind power developers in the United States, for $2.4 billion - making it the largest player in one shot. That aquisition will expand SunEdison's project installation pipeline for 2015 by an estimated 500 megawatts. 
 MSI and Bansal had mandated investment banks in 2013 to secure additional equity funding of close to $200 million from PE or strategic players. However discussions then with global utility firms like GDF and some from <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> and <keyword id="3739" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thailand">Thailand</keyword> did not progress much. More recently, talks with Malaysia's SWF Khazanah and IFC - an existing lender of the company - had also evaluated the prospect of coming on board. 
 
Other than being a cleaner option and a massive employment generating opportunity, prospects of renewable energy has improved considerably since the economics of green power has improved considerably. Wind power is almost close to grid parity as it almost comparable to imported coal in terms of cost. The prices of turbines and other equipment have also come down over the last few years. So have the prices for solar panels. 
 Foreign investors too are also becoming for perceptive to the opportunities. Earlier this February Sembcorp Utilities, a wholly owned subsidiary of <keyword id="158901" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sembcorp-Industries">Sembcorp Industries</keyword>, Singapore's leading utilities and marine group, took a controlling 60% stake in <keyword id="836163" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Green-Infra">Green Infra</keyword> - a leading renewable energy platform -- from its private equity owners IDFC Alternatives for Rs 1051 crore. This was their first investment in the space in India, after backing two coastal thermal coal projects in Andhra Pradesh since 2011. This was also the first and only FDI into the power sector in India in the last one year of the <keyword id="6387077" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi-government">Narendra Modi government</keyword>.

One step for SunEdison, a giant step for making India greener

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c13bb5b404f4d1024533163-1200/shaz ryan 2.jpg" border="0" alt="Shaz &amp; Ryan 2" data-mce-source="Muzmatch" />MuzmatchShahzad Younas and Ryan Brodie of Muzmatch.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Muzmatch is the first global matchmaking app for Muslims.</li><li>It was founded by 34-year-old Shahzad Younas, a former Morgan Stanley banker, and 25-year-old iOS engineer Ryan Brodie.</li><li>The app says it is close to hitting one million users, and claims 200,000 people have got married after meeting on Muzmatch.</li><li>Younas and Brodie told Business Insider they have declined attractive aquisition offers as they aim to become "the biggest app for Muslims worldwide."</li></ul>With pun-filled taglines like "Halal, is it me you're looking for?" and "You had me at halal," <a href="https://muzmatch.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2qiyzJXh3wIVgrTtCh3HoQmuEAAYASAAEgJNy_D_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Muzmatch</a> may seem like just another quirky dating app - but there's much more to it than that.Muzmatch is targeted at finding marriage partners for Muslims around the world - and it claims to be close to hitting one million users globally.Operating in nearly every country (though it's most popular in the UK, US, and Canada), the location-based app shows users the most relevant people near them based on a "sophisticated algorithm" which considers a number of different factors based on the information they provide in their profiles.Muzmatch was the brainchild of 34-year-old Shahzad Younas, a former Morgan Stanley banker who told Business Insider he left his job in June 2014 to learn how to build apps after he had the idea for the company."I thought, 'Why is nobody doing an app for the Muslim market?'" he told Business Insider. "We didn't have anything, we were still on websites."As a Muslim himself, he said he understood "the market, the audience, and the problem" - something other companies had a lack of expertise in."For Muslims, marriage is such a big part of your life," he explained. "We don't really date, we marry."He added that the Muslim market was generally "at least five years behind the mainstream market and dating apps" with mainly web-focused platforms - so he decided to make Muzmatch mobile-only.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/onda-app-private-members-clubs-luca-del-bono-2018-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This new app gives access to hundreds of private members' clubs around the world for $120 a month</a>In April 2015, initially using nearly $200,000 of his own savings from his nine-year banking career, he launched the first version of the app from home, and grew it to 50,000 users around the world in less than a year."They just heard about it going to mosques, hanging out, literally spreading the word by any means," he said. "I thought, 'There's clearly a demand here,' but it was just me doing all of it."Luckily, he came across iOS engineer Ryan Brodie, 22 at the time and now 25, on LinkedIn in April 2016."He's kind of like me, an engineer, can code, and had some startups himself, so it was perfect," Younas said. "We literally had a three-hour phone call where we ripped the whole thing apart... and then Ryan wanted to come on board."Brodie, who had successfully started and sold two companies in the events and consumer tech space, said even as a non-Muslim he immediately saw the opportunity for Muzmatch - and it was an added bonus that both men knew how to build and improve apps.Starting from scratch, the pair revamped and relaunched the company in August 2016. By halfway through 2018, they had 500,000 registered users."Even in 2019 it's very hard and expensive to build an app, but the unique thing we had is, while we might not have had a huge amount of money at the time, we knew how to make the product," Brodie told Business Insider.<h2>Blurred photos, nicknames, and chaperones</h2>It's free to sign up on Muzmatch, initially using just your date of birth and gender. You can then start swiping through people near you.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c362417e04d624ffe7a2413-1200/muzmatchpp - in situ 3.jpg" border="0" alt="muzmatch_PP in situ 3" data-mce-source="Muzmatch" />MuzmatchMuzmatch.</div></div></div>"To get initial users on board, we appreciate they might not want to fill out 30 different fields," Brodie said, adding that once you make your first match, you're then asked to give more information for your profile, such as your sect and ethnicity.One profile, for example, might state: "Modest dress, sometimes prays."When users get a match, they get a prompt to get a conversation going.They can also choose to go "premium" for £20 a month in return for extra features, such as unlimited swipes (there's a daily cap for free users), more advanced search filters and preferences, the ability to reset or change past swipes, and being at the front of the queue for users aroung you.It might sound straightforward, but there are a number of things that make Muzmatch different than its competitors.Firstly, users have the option of blurring their photos or using a nickname."If [you choose to do this and] you match someone, they still can't see your photos [or name], and it's up to you when you reveal them," Brodie said.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-eligible-singles-in-london-happn-dating-app-2017-4?r=UK&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">These are the 18 most-wanted singles in London, according to the dating app Happn</a>Younas added that after profile signup, the app also prompts users to "keep things Halal.""For us, it's a lighthearted way to remind users of what's expected, he said. "We're not a casual app, it's not a photo 'yes, no.' There's so much more to it."The whole point of our app is we want serious people looking for marriage, serious about a relationship, so people invest a lot of time and energy into the whole process."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c362433bd77303de87ebb87-1200/muzmatchpp - in situ 5.jpg" border="0" alt="muzmatch_PP in situ 5" data-mce-source="Muzmatch" />MuzmatchMuzmatch.</div></div></div>The duo added that this type of "oath" is starting to be introduced to other mainsteam apps, like OK Cupid.Muzmatch also claims to be the only one in the world with a chaperone feature, which allows a friend or relative to be present in a chat."There's an Islamic principle where when a guy and a girl are getting to know eachother there should be a third party present," Younas explained. "For [some users] it's important - if it didn't have that feature, they wouldn't use it."Brodie added that a dedicated team manually approve each profile to confirm users are who they say they are, and users also have the option to provide "positive feedback" on another user after they match and have a conversation, with enough positive praise resulting in profile badges."We want users to feel comfortable, but equally we need people to feel that, actually, this is a more serious place, it's not just for messing around," Brodie added.<h2>"Halal, is it me you're looking for?"</h2>This is a message that's clear not only on the app, but also through Muzmatch's marketing campaigns.In October 2018, it launched ads on the London underground with catchy phrases like "Halal, is it me you're looking for?"It launched a second campaign in January with similarly tongue-in-cheek taglines.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c36239a630d9b17d76c5a0d-2400/you had me at halal.jpg" border="0" alt="You Had Me At Halal!" data-mce-source="Muzmatch" />MuzmatchThe latest campaign from Muzmatch.</div></div></div>Younas said the company wanted to put out a positive message that was also humorous."It's a side that, especially for the Muslim segment, doesn't get portrayed that often," he said. "Sadly it's nearly always negative. [We wanted] to do things a bit differently, freshen things up a bit."He added that the reaction to the ads has been "overwhelmingly positive," with plenty of attention on Twitter and Instagram."Obviously there were a few EDL [English Defense League, a far-right, Islamophobic organisation] types who basically don't like any sort of Muslim reference," he added. "We had a bit of that, but that was 1% of the feedback we had."<h2>Support from Silicon Valley</h2>And the strategy certainly seems to be paying off.In the summer of 2017, Muzmatch was accepted into Silicon Valley-based accelerator Y Combinator, who have backed the likes of Airbnb, Dropbox, and Reddit and provide a network of resources and support for startups - as well as investment."They invest $120,000 for 7% of the company," Younas explained. "13,000 companies apply, 800 are flown out to San Francisco for an interview, and 100 are accepted. It's harder to get into than Harvard."He added that Muzmatch was the first Muslim-centric startup to ever be backed by Y Combinator.Also in summer 2017, the duo <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/muzmatch#section-overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised just under $2 million in seed investment.</a>They confirmed to Business Insider that they've even turned down attractive acquisition offers because they believe in the future of the business.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c36279fbd7730506a36c05b-1200/brodie younas sky news muzmatch.png" border="0" alt="brodie younas sky news muzmatch" data-mce-source="Sky News" data-mce-caption="Brodie and Younas on Sky News, October 2018." />Sky NewsBrodie and Younas on Sky News, October 2018.</div></div></div>Part of this is because the duo believe they have a sustainable business model."People doubted we could monetise this market at all, but the model we have works," Brodie said.Younas added: "Even though most users don't end up upgrading, because of the scale we're at, the people who do more than cover our costs and make sure we can invest in the platform."<h2>'Muslims don't date'</h2>However, he also believes the interest in Muzmatch is due to the fact no other company has been able to cater to this market before."Probably more so with other faiths, people are more open to marrying outside of the faith, but generally for Muslims people stick to their faith," he said."You've got things like JSwipe for Jewish people, Christian Mingle for Christians, but for [Muslims] we have to remember that generally people don't date. They use the app to find someone to have a few initial chats with and have coffee a couple of times, and then they get the family involved."He added traditionally, Muslim parents would call women called "aunties" who would charge thousands to match up their son or daughter with someone in the community. However, now young Muslims are meeting people and having conversations themselves."In places like India [the aunties] take a percentage of the wedding, so it's crazy, they make a lot of money. [We have made] it so much more affordable for people, and [are] empowering the person doing the search. Nobody knows apart from them the kind of person they'll get on with."He added: "People are getting younger and younger when they're finding Muzmatch. They're getting the experience of meeting people, talking to people, having that social interaction."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c362482e04d62500e1b6a82-1200/shaz ryan 4 1.jpg" border="0" alt="Shaz &amp; Ryan 4 (1)" data-mce-source="Muzmatch" />MuzmatchShahzad Younas and Ryan Brodie of Muzmatch.</div></div></div><h2>Reaching the world's 1.8 billion Muslims</h2>Now, Younas and Brodie are cofounders in the business, which they're looking to grow right away with at least 10 new hires."We've grown to the stage where we're going to hit one million members very soon, mostly by word of mouth," Younas said, adding that the company is growing even faster than digital mobile-only bank Monzo, which reports to have 20,000 new sign-ups a week."Now we're looking at how do we get to five million, 10, 20? For us, there are 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. We reckon 300 to 400 million of those are single and eligible in terms of our app - that's a massive user base."In order to do that, the company has recently conducted a project localising the app in different places around the world. It's now live in 14 different languages, including Arabic and Turkish."The core mission is to be the biggest app for Muslims worldwide," Brodie added. "We want to be a standout brand for Muslims around the world."Younas added that so far, the company knows of 20,000 people who have got married after meeting on Muzmatch."We have something called Wedding Bell, where every time someone leaves the app it sends us a Slack alert with the comment they put in [about why they left]. People who met on Muzmatch say [things like] 'thank you, Muzmatch' and 'met someone, got married.' It's nonstop. We get about 100 a day."The company also regularly features "success stories" on <a href="https://muzmatch.com/blog/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its blog.</a><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c36258fbd773059bb10fe52-1200/v2-success2.png" border="0" alt="v2 success_2" data-mce-source="Muzmatch" data-mce-caption="Rasheed (left) and Ayah (right) are just one of many couples who have met on Muzmatch and shared their story with the company." />MuzmatchRasheed (left) and Ayah (right) are just one of many couples who have met on Muzmatch and shared their story with the company.</div></div></div><h2>'Our users aren't on Tinder and the other apps'</h2>For those still not convinced the likes of Muzmatch can compete with giants like Tinder, Bumble, and Happn, Younas said: "The key thing with Muzmatch is we're not a Tinder competitor."Our users aren't on Tinder and the other apps - they don't serve their need. From the off, this is not a hookup app. The Muslims who do want to hook up aren't essentially our customers."However, since starting the app, Younas believes he's already seen a shift in how Muslims are approaching dating."Three generations ago, your parents would decide who your partner was going to be and that would be that, you'd go along with it," he said. "With the second generation, your parents would still be involved, talk to the families, but they'd show you people and you'd meet them and both have the decision."Now, we have parents coming to us saying 'We don't know anyone, families aren't as connected as they used to be, can you help us find someone for our son or daughter?' and we say 'no - get them to sign up.' In a sense, the son or daughter are now saying 'I want to find someone on my own terms.'"Attitudes are changing so quickly. Through technology, this is how people are finding partners." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marie-kondo-on-organizing-your-home-2016-1">Japanese lifestyle guru Marie Kondo explains how to organize your home once and never again</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/9YKyVh1j-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

An ex-Morgan Stanley banker and a 25-year-old engineer created the first global matchmaking app for Muslims, and it's about to hit one million users

<table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5110173f6bb3f7e75200000e-400-300/bluefin-2.jpg" border="0" alt="bluefin labs" /></div>JP Maheu, CEO of Bluefin Labs</td></tr></table><keyword id="6354616" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> has acquired <a href="http://bluefinlabs.com/">Bluefin Labs</a>, a social TV analytics company that was founded in 2008, sources say.
Although we don't know the exact acquisition price, we were told this is Twitter's biggest acquisition to date. 
(Presumably these sources were excluding Twitter's early stock aquisition of Summize, which would now be worth ~$800 million.)
Prior to <keyword id="1550362" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bluefin-Labs">Bluefin Labs</keyword>, Twitter's highest acquisition (as far as we can tell) was TweetDeck for $40 million in May 2011.
Since Bluefin Labs has raised $20.5 million to date, we assume the price is between $50 and $100 million (or higher), a healthy return for its investors, Time Warner Investments, SoftBank Capital, Acadia Woods Partners, Bedrocket Media's Brian Bedol, Jim Pallotta, Redpoint Ventures, Dan Gilbert, Lerer Ventures, Kepha Partners and the National Science Foundation.
Twitter's move into social TV makes a lot of sense. It hired a Head of TV last fall and there's a strong correlation between people watching shows and tweeting about them. Just look at last night's Super Bowl. With the help of a lengthy blackout, it was the most social event to ever air. According to Bluefin Labs, the event racked up <a href="http://lostremote.com/beyonce-bests-the-power-outage-in-tweets-per-minute_b36500">30.6 million mentions on Twitter</a>, Facebook, and GetGlue, up from 12.2 million one year prior.
In addition Twitter has been dubbed the <a href="http://adage.com/article/digital/twitter-tv-guide-tv-rating/237910/">new TV Guide by Ad Age</a>, and it secured a multi-year partnership with Nielsen in December to produce the <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press-room/2012/nielsen-and-twitter-establish-social-tv-rating.html">first-ever social TV ratings</a>.
The ratings will use a standard metric and reflect how many times a program is mentioned on Twitter. They'll be available for commercial use during the fall 2013 TV season.
Earlier this year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-twitter-just-bought-bluefin-labs-2013-2#">Twitter's UK team published a report about how its users interact with TV.</a>
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-twitter-just-bought-bluefin-labs-2013-2#">A few slides from the deck offer a strong hint as to why Twitter is making this deal: </a>
The relationship between Twitter and television is strongly symbiotic. Twitter users love talking about what is happening on TV, TV viewers love using Twitter to see other viewers‘ opinions.
Twitter is increasingly acting as the second screen to TV. In this publication we explore the links between these two screens. Twitter is the shortest distance between you and what interests you most. 
This interest is expressed in a huge volume of conversation. 400 million Tweets are sent every day. As a result when events happen in the real world, they happen on Twitter. 
More and more we’re ?nding this is true for TV. When stand-out moments happen on TV, spikes in related conversation happen on Twitter. In fact, according to Second Sync, 40% of all UK Twitter traffic at peak TV viewing time is about TV.
Through the two distinct phenomena of discovery and engagement, Twitter and TV drive each other in a complimentary cycle. For example, a hashtag on air can boost engagement by organising viewers to tweet and interact. In the other direction, a TV-related Trend, or Tweet in a user’s timeline, can drive discovery.
Twitter is a real-time, public mirror for both broadcast content and advertising. Every programme - and every ad - has a Twitter presence.
Integration of Twitter into TV content can further stimulate engagement and discovery.
Simply adding hashtags on air - or in ads - helps to organise and steer the conversation.
In advertising, we’re seeing that deeper integration of Twitter not only drives discovery and engagement but also drives increases in brand recall scores and other marketing goals
In the eyes of advertisers, Twitter is arguably the most important social network. Again, if you look at last night's <a href="http://marketingland.com/game-over-twitter-mentioned-in-50-of-super-bowl-commercials-facebook-only-8-google-shut-out-32420">Superbowl, 50% of ads that ran mentioned Twitter</a>. Only 8% mentioned Facebook; none mentioned Google +. 
Bluefin Labs offers detailed reports about which brands are discussed most on social media. It can provide Twitter the ammo it needs to hook advertisers by showing who needs to spend money to up their social media status, and who needs to spend money to maintain their place at the top.
We've reached out to both Twitter and Bluefin Labs and will update if either has a comment.

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