Full-Year - 2009 - Education Industry

Berkery Noyes has published its Education Industry M&A Trends Report 2009, which compiles statistical information on mergers and acquisitions across the PreK-12, Postsecondary, and Corporate and Professional sectors.

Full-Year - 2009 - Finance Technology and Information Industry

First half to second half, 2009 M&A activity in the Financial Technology and Information segment ("Fintech") exhibited several signs of stabilization. Activity as measured by aggregate volume showed a modest 2% increase from 1st Half 2009 to 2nd Half 2009 while median enterprise value/revenue multiples increased by 6%. According to John Guzzo, Managing Director for Fintech, the stabilization of multiples in the 2nd Half "...signifies increased confidence in the future growth of targets and the sector." Peter Ognibene, also Managing Director for Fintech, expects that "as financial market institutions begin to recover and increase vendor spend, content and IT firms servicing the space begin to show improved results which leads to a more robust M&A environment."

Full-Year - 2009 - Healthcare Industry

Revenue multiples in the Pharma and Healthcare Information Technology market experienced a significant half-to-half gain as exhibited by the 81% increase in the median enterprise value/revenue multiple from 1.1 in 1st Half 2009 to 2.0 in 2nd Half 2009. This rise brings the median enterprise value/revenue multiple within 76% of its peak in 1st Half 2008.

Full-Year - 2009 - Private Equity Industry

Private Equity M&A activity in the Information Industry experienced a significant half-to-half gain in aggregate value and a slight half-to-half increase in aggregate volume. Aggregate value increased 8 fold from approximately $2 billion in 1st Half 2009 to approximately $16 billion in 2nd Half 2009. Volumetrically, activity increased by 8.3% from 96 deals in 1st Half 2009 to 104 in 2nd Half 2009.

Full-Year - 2009 - Software Industry

Software Industry M&A activity experienced a significant half-to-half gain as exhibited by the 83% increase in the median EV/revenue multiple from 1.2 in 1st Half 2009 to 2.2 in 2nd Half 2009. This rise brings the median EV/revenue multiple back to its 2007 level.2nd Half 2009 exhibited a moderate increase in both aggregate volume and aggregate value, versus 1st Half 2009. Half-to-half, aggregate value increased by 17% from approximately $18 billion to $21 billion, and aggregate volume increased by 5% from 341 deals to 358.

Full-Year - 2009 - Information Industry

Information Industry M&A activity experienced a significant half-to-half gain in aggregate value and a slight half-to-half increase in aggregate volume. Aggregate value increased by 115% from approximately $27 billion in 1st Half 2009 to approximately $58 billion in 2nd Half 2009. Volumetrically, activity increased by 5% from 651 deals in 1st Half 2009 to 686 in 2nd Half 2009.

Full-Year 2009 - Online Industry

Online & Wireless Industry M&A activity exhibited mixed trends in 2009 with a volumetric decline but a rise in aggregate value. Volume declined by 12% from 720 deals in 2008 to 636 in 2009. Aggregate value increased by 5% from $24.68 billion in 2008 to $25.83 billion in 2009.

Full Year - 2009 - Media Industry

Media Industry M&A activity exhibited mixed trends in 2009 with a volumetric decline but a rise in aggregate deal value. Volume declined by 37% from 700 deals in 2008 to 441 in 2009. However, aggregate deal value increased by 12% from $32.68 billion in 2008 to $36.51 billion in 2009. This rise in overall value for the year is primarily attributable to the Comcast – NBC Universal deal, announced on December 3, which has a transaction value of $13.75 billion.

PreK-12 Markets Remain Open and Active for M&A

While the broader economy remains sour, our engagements with leading strategic investors and private equity firms indicate that interest remains extremely strong for education deals in 2009. Moreover, given the median size of K-12 deals over the past several years, tight credit markets should have a limited impact on most prospective deals. We have highlighted below three notable investment themes for 2009.

January 2009 - Software Industry

Out of 2371 transactions tracked by Berkery, Noyes between 2006 and 2008 we determined the aggregate enterprise values paid for transactions, where the values of 835 were disclosed, to be $140.67 billion. Based on known enterprise values, using a logarithmic scale, we project values of 1536 undisclosed transactions to be $54.04 billion for a combined total of $194.70 billion over the past three years.

January 2009 - Private Equity

Out of 809 transactions tracked by Berkery, Noyes between 2006 and 2008 we determined the aggregate enterprise values paid for transactions, where the values of 274 were disclosed, to be $186.54 billion. Based on known enterprise values, using a logarithmic scale, we project values of 535 undisclosed transactions to be $59.04 billion for a combined total of $245.58 billion over the past three years.

January 2009 - Media Industry

Out of 2147 transactions tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2006 and 2008 we determined the aggregate enterprise values paid for transactions, where the values of 767 were disclosed, to be $292.34 billion. Based on known enterprise values, using a logarithmic scale, we project values of 1380 undisclosed transactions to be $45.10 billion for a combined total of $337.43 billion over the past three years.

January 2009 - Information Industry

Out of 5115 transactions tracked by Berkery, Noyes between 2006 and 2008 we determined the aggregate enterprise values paid for transactions, where the values of 1802 were disclosed, to be $496.91 billion. Based on known enterprise values, using a logarithmic scale, we project values of 3313 undisclosed transactions to be $115.08 billion for a combined total of $611.99 billion over the past three years.

January 2009 - Financial Technology & Information

Despite a brutal market sell-off, the failure of more than a few financial institutions and the onset of a sharp recession, M&A activity in the Financial Technology and Information industry held steady throughout the 4th qtr and 2008 as a whole; at least in terms of the number of transactions closed.

January 2009 - Pharma and Healthcare Information and Technology

Despite a weakening economy, 2008 was a solid year for M&A in the pharma and healthcare information and technology industry. The total volume of M&A transactions in the pharma and healthcare information and technology market for 2008 increased to 156 transactions, an increase of 16% over the previous year; however, the total value decreased to just below $9 billion, a decrease of 9%.

January 2009 - Online Industry

Out of 2068 transactions tracked by Berkery, Noyes between 2006 and 2008 we determined the aggregate enterprise values paid for transactions, where the values of 695 were disclosed, to be $93.33 billion. Based on known enterprise values, using a logarithmic scale, we project values of 1373 undisclosed transactions to be $34.37 billion for a combined total of $127.70 billion over the past three years.

January 2009 - Education Industry

Berkery Noyes tracked 495 closed transactions in the global education industry between 2006 and 2008. Of this universe, 179 transactions had disclosed enterprise values, representing $42.63 billion in aggregate value. Based on the known enterprise values and using a logarithmic scale, we project the value of the 316 undisclosed transactions to be $7.31 billion, for a total aggregate enterprise value of education transactions of $49.94 billion from 2006 to 2008.