2011 Key Highlights

  • The largest announced transaction for 2011 was West Australian Newspapers’ acquisition of Seven Media Group, a portfolio company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., for $4.15 billion.
  • The segments with the largest disclosed median enterprise value multiples for 2011 were Broadcasting with 3.6x revenue and Internet Media at 17.5x EBITDA.
  • There were 175 fi nancially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $13.60 billion, representing 12 percent of the total volume and 23 percent of the total value, respectively .

2011 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2011 increased by 17 percent over 2010, from 1225 in 2010 to 1435 this year.
  • Total transaction value in 2011 increased by 47 percent over 2010, from $38.51 billion in 2010 to $56.70 billion this year .
  • The median revenue multiple rose from 1.5x in 2010 to 1.9x in 2011. The median EBITDA multiple moved slightly from 10.4x to 10.6x.
  • The segment with the largest increase in volume in 2011 over 2010 was Marketing with a 31 percent increase from 332 transactions in 2010 to 435 transactions in 2011.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 3596 transactions between 2009 and 2011, of which 1029 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $121.70 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project the value of the 2567 undisclosed transactions to be $25.23 billion, totaling $146.93 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.

The largest transaction tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2009 and 2011 was Comcast Corporation’s acquisition of NBC Universal, a subsidiary of General Electric Company for $22.85 billion, which was announced in 2009 and closed in 2011.

The most active acquirer by volume in the Media and Marketing industry between 2009 and 2011 was Publicis Groupe SA with 39 transactions, 24 of which were announced or closed in 2011.