2011 Key Highlights

  • Deutsche Börse Group’s planned merger with NYSE Euronext was the largest announced transaction for 2011, with an acquisition price of $12.38 billion.
  • The segment with the largest transaction volume for 2011 was Capital Markets with 100 transactions.
  • The most active acquirer for 2011 was Fiserv, Inc. with four transactions: Maverick Network Solutions, CashEdge, Inc., Credit Union On-Line, Inc. and Mobile Commerce Ltd.
  • There were 42 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $3.38 billion, representing 15 percent of the total volume and 11 percent of the total value, respectively.

2011 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2011 increased by 2 percent over 2010, from 266 to 271 transactions.
  • Total transaction value in 2011 increased by 43 percent over 2010, from $20.52 billion in 2010 to $29.78 billion this year.
  • The median revenue multiple increased from 2.2x in 2010 to 2.6x in 2011, while the median EBITDA multiple decreased from 13.5x to 11.6x.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 734 transactions between 2009 and 2011, of which 287 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $54.58 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 447 undisclosed transactions to be $6.47 billion, totaling $61.04 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.

The most active acquirer by volume between 2009 and 2011 was Thomson Reuters with 11 transactions: Emochila, Inc., World-Check, PDI Global, Inc., Highline Financial, LLC, Complinet Ltd., Aegisoft, LLC, ASSET4 AG, Breakingviews, Ltd., AMG Data Services, Vhayu Technologies Corporation, and m35 Limited.