Brexit trade deal passes into UK law, Amazon set to acquire podcast maker Wondery, Apple loses copyright battle against security research firm Corellium, and more

Brexit trade deal passes into UK law

The UK’s Brexit trade deal with the European Union passed 521 to 73 on December 31, the eve of its deadline. The bill comes four years after the initial decision by the UK to leave the EU and after months of tense negotiations. The agreement has received a provisional approval from the EU but will undergo further examination by the European Parliament at a later date.

At a high level, the deal agreed starts a new business and security relationship with the UK’s largest trading partner (Brussels) after months at a stalemate over topics such as fishing quotas, allocation of state aid, and legal oversight of any deal struck. The agreement also preserves Britain’s tariff- and quota-free access to the European bloc’s consumers, which will protect the UK from Brexit’s most stern consequences as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic. A summary of the deal, as published by the UK government, can be read here.

 Amazon set to acquire podcast maker Wondery

On Wednesday, Amazon announced its plans to purchase podcasting startup Wondery. As part of the deal, Wondery will join Amazon Music to help Amazon secure a place in the increasingly competitive podcasting market. In September, Amazon Music added podcasts to its library in hopes of competing with companies like Spotify and Apple, which hold significant, dominant ground in the podcasting world.

Wondery, which was founded in 2016, boasts an impressive catalog of original content, including podcasts such as “Dirty John” and “Dr. Death.” According to Wondery, their platform hosts more than 10 million unique listeners per month. With this acquisition, Amazon hopes to expand their library of original audio content beyond Amazon Music and Audible’s current offerings.

 Apple loses copyright battle against security research firm Corellium

In a ruling that has vast implications for iPhone security research and copyright law, a federal judge in Florida has tossed Apple’s claims that Corellium violated copyright law with its software. Corellium’s software helps researchers finds bugs and security holes in Apple products as well as allow its customers the ability to run “virtual” iPhones on their desktop computer.

The judge ruled that Corellium’s creation of virtual iPhones does not infringe copyright law largely because it was designed to improve the security of iPhone users. Technically, Corellium did not create a competing product, rather a research tool for a small pool of customers. In the lawsuit, Apple argued that the software could be used to hack iPhones and that Corellium sells their produce indiscriminately. “Weighing all the necessary factors, the Court finds that Corellium has met its burden of establishing fair use,” judge Rodney Smith wrote in Tuesday’s order. “Thus, its use of iOS in connection with the Corellium Product is permissible.”

Qualtrics files for IPO

Two years after the German software giant SAP acquired Qualtrics, SAP has filed to take its Qualtrics subsidiary public. Qualtrics, an “experience management” (XM)  SaaS platform, in its filing has set an undisclosed number of shares to trade between $20-$24. The reason for the IPO is still unclear, but it would make Qualtrics a semi-independent subsidiary.

According to VentureBeat, based on the filing, “Qualtrics has more than 12,000 customers and 3,300 employees. The company reported revenue of $723 million in the fiscal year 2020 ending in September, up 36% compared to the same period for 2019.” In the S-1, Qualtrics said, “leveraging the success we have had with SAP, we intend to continue growing Qualtrics into one of the biggest and most valuable enterprise software companies in the world. Going public will give us the speed, agility, and autonomy necessary to continue accelerating our leadership of the XM category.”


 New Business For Sale

For sale is a portfolio of digital products in the online courses niche and a web hosting service. Launched in 2008 as a web hosting service initially, the business has pivoted to cover the complete coding education ecosystem including, courses, hosting, certifications and programming exercises, while also building a network of course providers that pay a percentage of their profits to the business. The acquisition presents a great opportunity for a new owner to not only take over a business that covers the entire ecosystem of web development, but also one that has proven resilient in the COVID-19 environment.
Some key highlights:

  • Strong traffic statistics with over c.2M page views in the LTM
  • Impressive usage statistics with c.1.8M students taking courses and over 404,000 reviews with an average course rating of c.4.4 stars on Udemy
  • Revenue growth of c.11% YoY with the business generating revenues of c.$1.6M over the LTM

Request a prospectus from the link above to learn more.

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 OTHER NEW LISTINGS
 Affiliate – Educational College Exam Preparation Resource – $26K Gross/Mo

  • Authoritative Affiliate business in the College Exam Preparation niche
  • Detailed content library with over 95 informative articles
  • Impressive revenue growth of c.154% CAGR from 2017 to 2020(e)
  • Lean and scalable cost structure driving high net margins of c.94%

Yearly net profit: $288,000
Asking price: $939,000

Until next week!
The FE International Team