Berkery Noyes 2012 Information Industry Mergers and Acquisitions Trend Report

Berkery Noyes has just released its Information Industry report for full year 2012, which covers merger and acquisition (M&A) trends over the past three years.

Click here to view the industry’s median multiples, as well as transaction data from the rest of the report.

For a comparative analysis of specific deals, visit MandAsoft.com, Berkery Noyes’ online M&A transaction database.


INFORMATION INDUSTRY: The Production and Provision of Content


2012 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The most active acquirer in 2012 was WPP Group, plc with 42
transactions. WPP’s largest transaction during the year was its
announced acquisition of AKQA for $540 million.
• There were 465 financially sponsored transactions in 2012 with
an aggregate value of 49.70 billion, representing 14 percent of
the total volume and 31 percent of the total value, respectively.

2012 KEY TRENDS

• Total transaction volume in 2012 increased by three percent
over 2011, from 3,317 to 3,412.
• Total transaction value in 2012 decreased by 10 percent over
2011, from $171.41 billion to $153.53 billion.
• The median revenue multiple moved slightly from 2.0x in 2011
to 1.9x in 2012. The median EBITDA multiple fell from 11.5x in
2011 to 10.0x in 2012.
• Four of the Information Industry’s top ten highest value deals were
backed by fi nancial sponsors in 2012, compared to two in 2011.

M&A MARKET OVERVIEW

Berkery Noyes tracked 9,529 transactions between 2010 and
2012, of which 3,028 disclosed financial terms, and calculated
the aggregate transaction value to be $353.99 billion. Based on
known transaction values, we project values of 6,501 undisclosed
transactions to be $86.04 billion, totaling $440.03 billion worth
of transactions tracked over the past three years.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments
combined in this report during the last 36 months were 1.8x
revenue and 10.7x EBITDA.

The largest transaction tracked by Berkery Noyes since 2010
was HP’s acquisition of Autonomy plc for $10.24 billion in 2011.
Based on value, the largest acquirer, either directly or through
an affi liated business between 2010 and 2012, was Microsoft
Corporation with 12 transactions. Microsoft’s highest value deal
in 2012 was its acquisition of Yammer for $1.20 billion.