Two acquisitions today that were for the most part executed so Silicon Valley companies could buy their way into the UK (and Ireland) market.
Red Robot Labs / Supermono
Freshly funded location-based mobile gaming company Red Robot Labs has acquired UK-based indie gaming company Supermono Studios.
Red Robot says it will act as parent company, but let Supermono run an independent game creation and marketing business.
Founded almost a year ago, Red Robot Labs will thus expand to the UK market and set up shop in London. The company has also attracted Phil Harrison, General Partner at London Venture Partners and a former exec at Sony Computer Entertainment as a company advisor.
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Appirio / Saaspoint
Cloud solutions company Appirio, which just raised funding from Salesforce.com and other strategic backers, has acquired Saaspoint, a provider of cloud consulting services.
Saaspoint brings Appirio experienced cloud consultants, as well as a physical presence in the UK and Ireland, in an effort to aggressively expand across Europe.
Founded in 2005 by early Salesforce.com employees, Saaspoint boasts offices in the UK and Ireland, and has served more than 100 global customers including companies such as British Gas, Dell, eBay, Paypal, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and UBM.
The transaction is expected to close later this month, subject to customary closing conditions.