NEW YORK — April 6, 2017 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its Q1 2017 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Information Industry.

The Information report features companies in the Media & Marketing, Software, and Online & Mobile Industries. It analyzes M&A activity during Q1 2017 and compares it with the past four quarters.

According to Berkery Noyes’ latest data, transaction volume in the Information Industry increased seven percent over the past three months, from 1,041 to 1,116. Deal value fell 64 percent, from $189.5 billion to $67.3 billion. The median revenue multiple decreased from 2.3x to 1.9x, while the median EBITDA multiple improved from 11.5x to 13.3x. Disclosed median enterprise value multiples throughout the five quarters covered in the report were 2.1x revenue and 11.7x EBITDA.

M&A activity throughout the past five quarters reached its peak in Q2 2016, whereas value reached its zenith in Q4 2016. Of note, six of the Information Industry’s top ten largest acquisitions last year occurred during Q4 2016. These six transactions when combined accounted for slightly more than one-third of total industry value for all of 2016. In addition, aggregate value rose ten percent when compared on a year-over-year basis.

The Online & Mobile portion of the Information Industry saw a seven percent quarterly gain in volume. Meanwhile, the number of deals in the horizontal’s mobile application sector improved ten percent, with a total of 116 acquisitions in Q1 2017.

Transaction volume in the Media & Marketing horizontal experienced a two percent uptick in Q1 2017. The horizontal’s largest transaction in Q1 2017 was IT research firm Gartner’s announced acquisition of CEB Global, a corporate research and advisory firm, for $3.3 billon. CEB Global provides research and analysis related to human resources, sales, finance, and law. Deal flow in the B2B Publishing and Information segment increased 33 percent on a quarterly basis, making it the sector with the horizontal’s largest rise in volume. M&A activity in the Internet Media segment improved 18 percent over the past three months and also nearly surpassed the Marketing segment as the horizontal’s most active sector year-to-date.

Regarding the Software horizontal market, volume increased 16 percent during the past quarter. M&A activity in the Infrastructure segment increased 27 percent in Q1 2017. Notable Infrastructure deals completed by financial sponsors year-to-date included Clearlake Capital’s acquisition of LANDesk Software, a provider of IT management software solutions, for a reported $1.1 billion, which will be combined with Clearlake’s portfolio company HEAT Software; Madison Dearborn Partners’ announced acquisition of BlueCat Networks, an enterprise DNS solutions provider, for $305 million; LLR Partners’ acquisition of BluVector, a machine learning threat detection and cyber-security company; and Blackstone’s acquisition of a majority stake in Cloudreach, which offers cloud computing and consulting services that support Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Salesforce.

Upon examination of volume in the Niche segment, which is targeted to specific vertical markets, deal activity gained 14 percent in Q1 2017. High profile transactions in the Healthcare market year-to-date included McKesson Corporation’s acquisition of CoverMyMeds, which provides electronic prior authorization solutions to pharmacies, providers, payers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, for $900 million; and HMS Holdings’ announced acquisition of Eliza Corporation, which offers integrated healthcare communication services for health plans, disease management firms, and pharmaceutical firms, for $170 million.

As for other select markets across the Information Industry, there was a 31 percent quarterly volume increase within the Finance vertical. Notable Finance related deals during the quarter included Vista Equity Partners’ announced acquisition of DH Corporation, a provider of technology solutions to financial institutions, for $3.6 billion, which Vista plans to combine with its portfolio company Misys; PayPal’s announced acquisition of TIO Networks, a cloud-based bill payment processing company, for $233 million; FactSet’s acquisition of BISAM, which offers analytics software, client reporting, data management, and other solutions to the investment management sector, for $205 million; and Zoopla Property Group’s acquisition of Hometrack, a provider of residential property market insights and analytics, for $152 million.

“With generally strong balance sheets and healthy income statements, the major strategic buyers are seeking acquisitions that offer additional growth opportunities,” stated James Berkery, Managing Partner at Berkery Noyes. “Moreover, major technology companies are seeking greater mass and diversity, formerly emerging technologies are maturing, and financial buyers are looking to invest in quality assets.”

A copy of the INFORMATION INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR FIRST QUARTER 2017 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.