Media Deals Set New Record, First 9 Months Top All of '06

The U.S. ad market may or may not be in a recession (see today's commentary). The general economy appears to be slowing down. The housing market looks like it's on the precipice. And the stock market is exhibiting bubblish volatility. Amid all these economic uncertainties, the marketplace for media mergers and acquisitions set a new record during the first nine months of 2007, as compared with any preceding year it has tracked, media industry investment banker Jordan Edmiston Group Inc. said in a third quarter report released early this morning.

With 637 transactions totaling more than $95 billion in value, New York-based JEGI said the first three quarters of 2007 already have matched all of 2006 in terms of the number of deals, and the deal value has far surpassed full-year 2006's total of $60.6 billion by 64%.

The marketing services and online media sectors - including deals like Microsoft's $5.7 billion acquisition of aQuantive - dominated the action, representing a combined 414 transactions valued at $36 billion, or 65% of all media and information deals and 38% of total deal value.

"The robust growth in Internet advertising spend has made online ad networks and technology providers attractive growth acquisitions, and a number of them changed hands in 2007," the report stated.

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