2013 Key Highlights

  • The most active financial sponsor was Vista Equity Partners with eighteen transactions in 2013. This included four deals with disclosed values over $500 million.
  • Four of the top ten highest value private equity deals in 2013 occurred in the Finance segment. The largest of these was Hellman & Friedman’s acquisition of Applied Systems from Bain Capital for $1.8 billion in the Insurance subsector.
  • TPG Capital was the most active private equity firm in the Health segment with eight transactions in 2013.

2013 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2013 decreased by twelve percent over 2012, from 512 to 453. However, when compared to 2011, volume in 2013 underwent a four percent increase.
  • Total transaction value in 2013 declined by six percent over 2012, from $43.71 billion to $41.13 billion.
  • The median revenue multiple increased from 1.8x in 2012 to 2.3x in 2013. The median EBITDA multiple improved from 9.8x in 2012 to 11.5x in 2013.
  • In terms of secondary buyouts, or transactions completed between private equity firms, deal volume in 2013 decreased by 27 percent over 2012. This followed a 34 percent increase from 2011 to 2012.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 1,399 private equity transactions in the Information Industry between 2011 and 2013, of which 364 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate value to be $104.05 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 1,035 undisclosed transactions to be $20.46 billion, totaling $124.51 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.

The largest deal tracked by Berkery Noyes during the last 36 months was the acquisition of BMC Software by a private investor group, led by Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, for $6.69 billion in 2013.