Q1 2014 Media & Marketing Industry Trends Report

Media & Marketing transaction volume saw a three percent uptick over the past three months, from 423 to 434. Deal value also rose slightly, from $25.1 billion to $25.8 billion. The peak for both volume and value throughout the last five quarters occurred in Q3 2013.

Alibaba Group, in which Yahoo! owns a 24 percent stake, was responsible for two notable announced transactions in Q1 2014. The e-commerce company acquired a 60 percent stake in ChinaVision Media Group, a television and film producer; and AutoNavi Holdings, a digital mapping firm.

Regarding the industry’s Marketing segment, volume increased 22 percent in Q1 2014. This followed an eight percent decline in the prior three-month period. The digital marketing subsector accounted for 41 percent of the segment’s volume in Q1 2014.

In terms of additional sectors, transaction activity in the B2B Publishing and Information segment was flat on a quarter-to-quarter basis. At the same time, the number of deals in the Consumer Publishing segment fell 20 percent.

Internet Media volume underwent an eight percent decline in Q1 2014. After more than doubling in Q4 2013, the Exhibitions, Conferences, and Seminars segment experienced a slight decrease in Q1 2014, from 27 to 24 transactions.

M&A volume in Entertainment Content segment increased 14 percent in Q1 2014. The highest value deal in the segment’s video game subsector was Zynga’s acquisition of NaturalMotion Games for $477 million. This was also the highest value transaction ever recorded by Zynga, going back to its first acquisition in 2010.