As promised almost seven months ago, Havas Interactive Inc. formerly Cendant Software, formerly CUC Software has finally landed its new chief executive.
Hubert Joly will take over the helm of the Torrance software company on July 1, with the directive of expanding Havas’ international presence and Internet endeavors. Joly comes from Electronic Data Systems, where his posts included vice president of EDS Europe and chief executive of EDS France.
One of the largest and fastest-growing companies in the U.S. software industry, Havas Interactive makes educational and entertainment software under such well-known brand names as Blizzard Entertainment and Knowledge Adventure.
In January, Havas, a subsidiary of French conglomerate Vivendi SA, acquired Cendant Software in a deal valued at close to $1 billion.
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Well-timed to cash in on the current homeopathic craze, the first e-commerce venture to come out of Weider Health and Fitness, publishers of fitness magazines including Shape and Muscle & Fitness, is taking off.
Woodland Hills-based eNutrition, which sells vitamins, nutritional supplements and minerals, has seen triple-digit order volume and revenue growth each month since officially launching in March. (Admittedly, not an impossible feat when starting from scratch.)
“Getting in on this niche with the brand-name power of Weider behind us was a no-brainer,” said eNutrition CEO Randy Gale.
A massive ad campaign for the company will be featured in Weider publications starting in September. The company already has strategic partnerships with Internet portal Excite and MSNBC.
eNutrition is also backed by Marina del Rey-based Guidance Solutions Inc.
DirecTV Inc., the nation’s leading satellite television service, has invested $50 million in XM Satellite Radio Inc., a new type of radio station that directly beams 100 channels of music, news and entertainment to listeners in their car or at home via satellite all over the country.
“This investment is part of our push to firmly establish ourselves as an entertainment platform, be it for television, radio or Internet,” said DirecTV spokesman Bob Marsocci.
General Motors Corp. plans to factory-install AM/FM/XM radios in its cars and trucks in the near future.
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Encino-based Artistdirect Inc., a broad-interest Internet music news and e-commerce company, recently closed $15 million in equity financing from investors that include Chase Capital Ventures and a Bear Sterns Asset Management Group venture entity.
According to President Marc Geiger, the investment will in part go toward aggressively pursuing Artistdirect’s intention to become “the ultimate” digital music distribution hub.
Sara Fisher can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
