2012: M&A Deals Hit $76 Bil, Marketing Segment Leads Efforts
While dollar volume in deal-making in media mergers and acquisitions rose in 2012, the average prices for those deals declined.
New York-based investment banker, Berkery Noyes, says
total dollar volume climbed 17% to $76 billion last year. But the price for those deals -- in terms of revenue multiples and the cash flow multiple -- went lower.
Median revenue multiple
sank to 1.3 times the price of those deals from 1.8 times. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped to 7.5 times from 9.8 times the price.
The overall number
of transactions saw just a slight improvement -- 3% to 1,611 deals. But deals are up 22% from deals made in 2010. The biggest category again was in the marketing segment, at 504 deals -- about the
same versus a year ago. Internet media was next at just over 400 deals.
Digital marketing/agency deals were the major reason the marketing segment tallied some upswings. Last year, that was
highlighted by WPP Group's big transaction of AKQA, a San Francisco-based digital agency, for $540 million. WPP was also the most active buyer in the field.
Internet media was down 10% in
volume of deals to just over 400 -- but the overall dollar value of the segment climbed 81%. One of the largest was Permira’s acquisition of Ancestry.com, a portfolio company of Spectrum Equity,
for $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
The biggest area of growth for media was in the exhibitions, conferences, and seminars segment, which grew 82% over 2011. The entertainment segment
climbed 18% -- with film studio deals a big part of this, up 42% over a year ago. The biggest of these: Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of Lucasfilm for $4 billion.
The consumer
publishing segment climbed 20% -- but overall value dropped 38% versus a year ago, mostly due to smaller mid-size company acqusitions.
Recent MediaDailyNews Articles
-
How Social Is Transforming TV May 21, 5:46 p.m.
Live from OMMA Video, Viacom Media Networks is unveiling its findings from “When Networks Network: TV ... -
Chicago Awards O'Hare Digital Signage Biz To Clear Channel Airports May 21, 4:30 p.m.
The Chicago City Council has awarded Clear Channel Airports a five-year contract, with the option for ... -
NDTV Challenges WPP, Tries To Revive Lawsuit In NY May 21, 4:26 p.m.
New Delhi Television is trying to revive its $1 billion lawsuit against Nielsen, WPP and a ... -
Horizon Taps Gambelli As Chief Investment Officer May 21, 4:18 p.m.
Former NBC senior advertising sales executive Marianne Gambelli has landed at Horizon Media as its executive ... -
Ad Council Raises Autism Awareness May 21, 3:41 p.m.
The Ad Council has partnered with Autism Speaks and two agencies, BBDONew York and LatinWorks, to ... -
CBS Scores Big Victory In 18-49 Demo May 21, 3:11 p.m.
Just two days before the finish of the TV season, CBS claims a big victory among ... -
TiVo Boosts Revs, Data Efforts May 21, 2:54 p.m.
TiVo made gains for its first-quarter revenue results with higher cable operator subscriptions.The time-shifting and technology ... -
Updated: Out-Of-Home Trading Platform Integrates With Mediaocean, Posterscope Backs Move May 21, 8:07 a.m.
(Editor's Note: Posterscope denies it is backing ADstruc. A Clarification has been published here.) While ... -
Networks' Top Goal: Ad Dollars Trump Studio-Produced Shows May 21, 8:06 a.m.
With Netflix and Amazon writing hefty checks, it bears watching whether networks will increasingly pick up ... -
Budweiser Bows New Campaign, Topped With Responsible-Drinking Blimp May 20, 5:26 p.m.
Summer is a time of concerts and festivals and beach-going, all of which carry the attendant ...
Be the first to comment on "2012: M&A Deals Hit $76 Bil, Marketing Segment Leads Efforts"
Leave a Comment