2014 Key Highlights

  • The largest transaction in the Consumer Publishing segment in 2014 was Apax Partners’ acquisition of Trader Media Group for $1.93 billion.
  • The most active acquirer in the Entertainment segment in 2014 was Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA with eight deals.
  • There were 211 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $25.47 billion, representing 12 percent of the total volume and 28 percent of the total value, respectively.

2014 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2014 remained nearly constant over 2013, from 1,697 to 1,696.
  • Total transaction value in 2014 increased by 22 percent over 2013, from $75.22 billion to $91.45 billion.
  • The median revenue multiple stayed the same at 2.0x. The median EBITDA multiple improved from 9.7x in 2013 to 10.9x in 2014.
  • Based on volume, the segment with the largest increase in 2014 over 2013 was Exhibitions, Conferences, and Seminars with a 16 percent rise, from 74 to 86 transactions. Based on value, the segment with the largest increase was Marketing, which more than tripled from $7.44 billion to $24.10 billion.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 5,065 Media & Marketing transactions between 2012 and 2014, of which 1,183 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate value to be $182.05 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 3,882 undisclosed transactions to be $58.04 billion, totaling $240.09 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 1.9x revenue and 9.0x EBITDA.

Out of 5,065 deals tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2012 and 2014, transactions valued at $160 million and above garnered a median enterprise value multiple of 2.8x revenue. In contrast, companies with transaction values between $10 million and $20 million captured a median enterprise value multiple of 1.5x revenue.