Q3 2013 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

  • The most active acquirer in the B2B Publishing and Information segment year-to-date was Reed Elsevier with eight transactions, including four in Q3 2013.
  • Publicis Groupe SA’s announced merger with Omnicom Group Inc. was the largest transaction both in Q3 2013 and year-to-date, with an acquisition price of $20.5 billion. This number represents the value of the new stock distributed to Omnicom’s shareholders and Omnicom’s net debt assumed by the new company. The combined equity market capitalization of the transaction was $35.1 billion.

Q3 2013 KEY TRENDS

  • Total transaction volume in Q3 2013 improved by six percent over Q2 2013, from 395 to 420.
  • Total transaction value in Q3 2013 rose by 98 percent over Q2 2013, from $22.3 billion to $44.1 billion. However, aggregate value would have increased only six percent without the proposed Publicis-Omnicom merger.

MULTIPLES & VALUE TRENDS

  • The median revenue multiple from 2012 through the 1st 3 Quarters of 2013 improved by 40 percent, from 1.5x to 2.1x.
  • The median EBITDA multiple from 2012 through the 1st 3 Quarters of 2013 increased by 23 percent, from 8.0x to 9.8x.

TOP TEN DEALS THROUGH Q3 2013

The top ten deals by value have seen four new additions since our half year report, including two in the Broadcasting segment: Tribune Company’s acquisition of Local TV LLC and Sinclair Broadcast Group’s acquisition of eight television stations from Allbritton Communications Company.

These four transactions, with an aggregate value of $32.4 billion, represented 44 percent of transaction value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2013 and 73 percent of Q3 2013 transaction value.