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M&A Activity Across the Media and Tech-Enabled Services Sector was Red-Hot

jegi q3 2015 ma report

New York, NY October 1, 2015 – Overall M&A activity across the media, information, marketing, software and tech-enabled services sectors was red-hot during the first three quarters of 2015, with 1,758 transactions announced at a total value of $106.2 billion year to date. Both deal volume and value showed solid gains over the same period in 2014, when 1,636 deals totaled $96.8 billion in value. With the M&A market continuing its surge, deal activity inched closer to a level not seen since the pre-recession period in 2007, according to The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI) (www.jegi.com (link is external)), the leading independent investment bank across these core markets.

Large Deals in 2015 YTD

Twenty transactions in these sectors surpassed $1 billion in value through Q3 2015, including the:

  • Fidelity National Information Services $5.1 billion acquisition of financial software and services provider SunGard
  • Verizon $4.8 billion acquisition of digital media company AOL
  • Cox Automotive $4.5 billion acquisition of DealerTrack Technologies, a provider of web-based marketing solutions to the automotive retail industry
  • Media General $3.1 billion acquisition of diversified consumer media company Meredith
  • Audi, BMW and Daimler $3.1 billion acquisition of Nokia’s HERE, a provider of maps and location content for navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising applications
  • Verisk Analytics $2.8 billion acquisition of Wood Mackenzie, a global energy, metals and mining research and consultancy group
  • QVC $2.5 billion acquisition of zulily, the online retailer of merchandise for women, children and housewares
  • SS&C Technologies $2.5 billion acquisition of Advent Software, a provider of vertical applications for the financial services industry
  • McGraw Hill Financial $2.2 billion acquisition of SNL Financial, a provider of analysis and business intelligence on financial institutions
  • Expedia $1.7 billion acquisition of online travel site Orbitz
  • LinkedIn $1.5 billion acquisition of Lynda.com, a provider of online educational videos for individuals to learn business, software, technology and creative skills
  • Nikkei $1.3 billion acquisition of global business news provider The Financial Times
  • TPG Capital, Fosun Industrial Holdings and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec joint $1.2 billion acquisition of consumer entertainment shows creator Cirque du Soleil

Software & Tech-Enabled Services

With overall M&A activity booming, the Software & Tech-Enabled Services sector has been leading the charge. Given the rapid advances in global technology, coupled with the increasing convergence of media, marketing, data and technology, companies are investing heavily in growing their software and technology capabilities through M&A.

The most active sector by far, Software & Tech-Enabled Services accounted for more than half of the deal volume and value, with 1,091 transactions totaling $58.1 billion. The chart on the left in the included PDF shows a breakdown of deal volume by sub-sector within this red-hot sector.

Application software was the most active sub-sector, with nearly one-third of the Software & Tech-Enabled Services sector deals. Other active sub-sectors were IT services & distribution (17% of the deals), mobility (12%), IT outsourcing (10%) and information management (9%).

The chart on the right shows a further breakdown of the segments within the application software sub-sector. Vertical applications accounted for the highest deal volume (31%), followed by enterprise resource planning (18%), customer relationship management (15%) and business intelligence (13%).

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Full article available at http://bit.ly/1jkdrt0 (link is external)

Full JEGI press release, attached.