2017 Key Highlights

  • Nine of the Education vertical’s top ten highest value deals during the year were backed by financial sponsors. Four of these nine transactions occurred in the combined Professional Training Technology and Services segments.
  • The largest sponsored deal in the Finance vertical in 2017 was Vista Equity Partners’ acquisition of DH Corporation, a provider of technology solutions to financial institutions, for $3.49 billion, which Vista plans to combine with its portfolio company Misys (note that Misys and DH will operate under the new brand name Finastra).
  • The largest sponsored deal in the Healthcare vertical in 2017 was KKR’s Internet Brands’ announced acquisition of WebMD Corporation, an online health information provider, for $2.80 billion.

2017 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2017 increased by 20 percent over 2016, from 672 to 809.
  • Total transaction value in 2017 saw a slight uptick over 2016, from $64.54 billion to $65.58 billion.
  • The median revenue multiple rose from 2.0x in 2016 to 2.5x in 2017. The median EBITDA multiple improved from 11.1x in 2016 to 12.8x in 2017.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 2,147 private equity transactions in the Information Industry between 2015 and 2017, of which 378 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate value to be $159.65 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 1,769 undisclosed transactions to be $40.40 billion, totaling $200.05 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 2.3x revenue and 12.4x EBITDA.