2011 Key Highlights

  • Microsoft Corporation’s acquisition of Skype Technologies SA, a portfolio of Silver Lake Partners, was the largest transaction for 2011, with an acquisition price of $9.08 billion.
  • The most active acquirer in the Online & Mobile Industry was Google Inc. with 21 transactions (not including the acquisition of Motorola Mobility).
  • There were 192 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $11.93 billion, representing 11 percent of the total volume and 16 percent of the total value, respectively.

2011 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2011 increased by 33 percent over 2010, from 1299 in 2010 to 1723 this year.
  • Total transaction value in 2011 increased by 55 percent over 2010, from $46.34 billion in 2010 to $71.95 billion this year.
  • The median revenue multiple rose from 1.9x in 2010 to 2.4x in 2011. The median EBITDA multiple increased from 11.4x to 12.5x.
  • The segment with the largest increase in volume in 2011 over 2010 was E-Marketing & Search with a 53 percent increase from 263 in 2010 to 403 in 2011.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 3951 transactions between 2009 and 2011, of which 1183 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $109.57 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 2768 undisclosed transactions to be $34.21 billion, totaling $143.78 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.

Based on volume, the most active market segment that Berkery Noyes tracked between 2009 and 2011 was SaaS/ASP with 1100 transactions.

Based on value, the largest segment that Berkery Noyes tracked during this time period was E-Commerce with $39.60 billion worth of transactions.