Flat M&A activity in first half, values down 65 percent
By Erina Lin, Wednesday 2 July 2008 at 19:43 :: Media Ownership :: #1870 :: rss
Online media and technology, and marketing and interactive, were the two bright spots in the overall cloudy media M&A market for the first half this year, according to a review by Jordan Edmiston Group, Folio reported.
The number of M&A transactions in the media, information, marketing services and related industries reached 404 during the first six months of 2008, up 1.8 percent from 397 during the same period in 2007. However, deal values totalled US$23.2 billion, plummeting 64.8 percent from $65.8 billion last year.
In the marketing and interactive services sector, the number of transactions reached 144, growing 24.1 percent from 116 during the first half last year. Online media and technology deals were also up 21.7 percent, from 120 to 140 during the first six months of this year. The two sectors altogether accounted for 72 percent of total number of deals so far this year, according to Folio.
In terms of deal value, the sector with the biggest decline was educational and professional publishing, down 98.6 percent, while the number of deals also dropped about half, Folio reported. Activities in exhibitions and conferences decreased in both number of deals and value during the first half, down 26 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
The top five transactions so far this year included Reed Elsevier’s $4.1 billion acquisition of ChoicePoint, Hellman & Friedman’s $2.4 billion acquisition of Getty Images, CBS Corp.’s $1.7 billion acquisition of the CNET Networks, Taylor Nelson Sofres’ $1.4 billion acquisition of GfK, and AOL’s $850 million acquisition of social media network Bebo, according to Jordan Edmiston Group, Folio reported.
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