2012 Key Highlights

  • The largest transaction in the mobile application subsector was Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $715 million.
  • There were 230 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $13.51 billion, representing 12 percent of the total volume and 20 percent of the total value, respectively.

2012 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2012 increased by four percent over 2011, from 1,841 to 1,920.
  • Total transaction value in 2012 decreased by 14 percent over 2011, from $76.75 billion to $66.09 billion.
  • The median revenue multiple improved slightly from 2.1x in 2011 to 2.3x in 2012. The median EBITDA multiple declined from 11.9x in 2011 to 11.0x in 2012.
  • Transaction volume in the mobile application subsector increased from 266 in 2011 to 315 in 2012, an 18 percent improvement.
  • The segment with the largest increase in value in 2012 over 2011 was E-Content with a 60 percent increase, from $10.95 billion to $17.48 billion.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 5,163 transactions between 2010 and 2012, of which 1,520 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $138.01 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 3,643 undisclosed transactions to be $46.61 billion, totaling $184.61 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 2.1x revenue and 11.5x EBITDA.

Based on volume, the largest acquirer in the E-Commerce segment of the Online & Mobile Industry between 2010 and 2012, either directly or through an affiliated business, was CrowdSavings.com with 15 transactions. Five of these transactions occurred in 2012.