2012 Key Highlights

  • The largest announced transaction in the Entertainment segment of the Media and Marketing Industry in 2012 was The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd for $4.10 billion.
  • The segment with the largest disclosed median revenue multiple in 2012 was Exhibitions, Conferences, and Seminars at 2.3x revenue.
  • There were 211 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $28.37 billion, representing 13 percent of the total volume and 36 percent of the total value, respectively.

2012 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2012 increased by three percent over 2011, from 1,570 to 1,611.
  • Total transaction value in 2012 increased by 17 percent over 2011, from $65.41 billion to $76.23 billion.
  • The median revenue multiple declined from 1.8x in 2011 to 1.3x in 2012. The median EBITDA multiple fell from 9.8x in 2011 to 7.5x in 2012.
  • In the Internet Media segment, there were four transactions that reached the $1 billion threshold in 2012, compared to one such acquisition in 2011. This contributed to an 81 percent rise in the segment’s transaction value from 2011 to 2012.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 4,500 transactions between 2010 and 2012, of which 1,328 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $143.50 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 3,172 undisclosed transactions to be $35.68 billion, totaling $179.19 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments combined in this report during the last 36 months were 1.6x revenue and 9.2x EBITDA.

The most active acquirer by volume in the Media and Marketing Industry, either directly or through an affiliated business between 2010 and 2012, was WPP Group, plc with 83 transactions. 42 of these occurred in 2012.