1ST HALF 2015 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Eight of the Information Industry’s top ten highest value deals in 1st Half 2015 were completed by strategic acquirers. These eight acquisitions accounted for nearly one-fifth of the industry’s aggregate value year-to-date.
  • There were 311 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $38.16 billion, representing 15 percent of the total volume and 31 percent of the total value, respectively.

1ST HALF 2015 KEY TRENDS

  • Total transaction volume in 1st Half 2015 increased by five percent over 2nd Half 2014, from 1,963 to 2,063.
  • As for the industry’s horizontal markets, Online & Mobile volume rose by 12 percent; Software volume improved by three percent; and Media & Marketing volume moved upward by two percent.
  • Total transaction value in 1st Half 2015 was nearly flat over 2nd Half 2014, from $113.64 billion to $112.84 billion.
  • Both the median revenue and median EBITDA multiple remained about constant at 2.3x and 11.6x, respectively. However, median value saw an increase during this timeframe.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 9,703 Information Industry transactions between 2013 and 1st Half 2015, of which 2,100 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $357.77 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 7,603 undisclosed transactions to be $141.45 billion, totaling $499.22 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past two and a half years.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments combined in this report during the last 30 months were 2.2x revenue and 11.3x EBITDA.

Out of 9,703 transactions tracked by Berkery Noyes in this report, we found that 1,322 financially sponsored transactions accounted for 14 percent of the total transactions, yet they totaled $148.07 billion, representing 30 percent of aggregate transaction value.