Media & Entertainment Acquisitions in Maryland

CloserStill Media has acquired Billington CyberSecurity, the U.S.-based organiser of leading public-sector cybersecurity conferences and year-round leadership programs. The deal (terms undisclosed) strengthens CloserStill's North American events portfolio and expands its cybersecurity and government-focused event offerings; Billington's leadership team will remain in place.

Dispatch Media, Inc. (The Dispatch) has acquired the legal publication SCOTUSblog and will integrate cofounder Amy Howe and her team into The Dispatch. The Dispatch said it will invest in staff and product development to expand its Supreme Court coverage while continuing to offer SCOTUSblog content for free and adding member-only offerings.

Featured.com, a Scottsdale-based expert insights platform, has acquired Help A Reporter Out (HARO) from Cision. The deal—backed by investors including Great North Ventures—will revive HARO's original daily-email format and integrate the service into Featured's offerings to strengthen journalist–expert connections and monetize via newsletter ads.

Bluestone Equity Partners made a strategic growth investment in Volo Sports, the largest provider of social and recreational sports leagues and events in the United States, to support expansion of its operations, technology, and M&A capabilities. As part of the investment, Bluestone’s Walker Brumskine will join Volo’s board and the deal represents Bluestone’s sixth investment from its inaugural $300 million fund.

Manhattan West Private Equity completed a growth equity investment in Volo Sports, the U.S.'s largest tech-enabled adult social sports and events network. The capital will support Volo's continued expansion into new metropolitan markets, product enhancements, and growth of its community and nonprofit youth-program efforts.

K1 Speed, the global indoor electric karting operator, acquired Autobahn Indoor Speedway’s 11 U.S. venues, consolidating the domestic indoor karting market and expanding K1’s footprint into four additional states (Maryland, New York, Wisconsin and Alabama). The deal was executed as part of K1 Speed’s broader growth program (supported by a new investment partnership with Verlinvest) to accelerate domestic and international expansion and reach new markets.

H.I.G. Capital (via an affiliate), joined by Francisco Partners and RBmedia management, agreed to acquire RBmedia, the world’s largest audiobook publisher, from KKR. The investors said the transaction will support RBmedia’s next phase of growth — with management remaining shareholders and employees receiving payouts tied to their ownership stakes.

VNUE, Inc. (OTC: VNUE) agreed to acquire live-streaming platform StageIt, adding over $9 million in gross revenue and hundreds of thousands of users; StageIt will become a wholly owned subsidiary pending closing and audit. The acquisition brings livestreaming, ticketing and creator monetization capabilities and engineering talent to support VNUE's Soundstr music recognition technology and its set.fm/DiscLive product suite.

Microsoft announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion in cash. The deal brings an extensive portfolio of game franchises and multiple development studios (over 2,300 employees across the group) into Microsoft’s Xbox business and will add Bethesda’s future games to Xbox Game Pass.

OverDrive, the KKR-owned digital reading platform based in Cleveland, acquired the assets of RBmedia’s RBdigital library business across North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. The deal transfers RBdigital’s library platform to OverDrive to expand its catalog and features for libraries—bringing additional audiobooks and potential magazine content—while RBmedia retains its publishing businesses.

RBmedia, a KKR-backed global spoken-audio company, acquired Potomac Talking Book Services (PTBS), an audiobook production organization specializing in services for the blind and people with reading disabilities. The acquisition expands RBmedia’s accessibility and audio-production capabilities by adding PTBS’s recording, editing and fulfillment expertise and its catalog of over 10,000 recorded titles.

RBmedia, a KKR-backed global spoken-audio platform, has acquired GraphicAudio, a leading producer of full-cast dramatized audiobooks with a catalog of over 1,300 titles. The purchase brings GraphicAudio's immersive production capabilities and branded partnerships into RBmedia's growing portfolio of audio brands to expand content offerings and reach more listeners globally.