1st Half 2022 Media & Marketing Industry Trends

1ST HALF 2022 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The most active acquirer in 1st Half 2022 either directly or through an affiliated business was Endeavor Business Media with eight industry transactions: 10 Missions Media, Microgrid Knowledge, Putman Media, a portfolio of transportation and water brands from Scranton Gillette Communications, Construction Business Media, BUILDINGS and Interior+sources magazines, Data Center Frontier, and ICT Solutions & Education.

Two of the top three highest value deals year-to-date occurred in the Entertainment segment’s gaming sector: Microsoft’s announced acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.63 billion; and Take-Two Interactive Software’s acquisition of Zynga for $12.51 billion.

There were 107 financially sponsored transactions with an aggregate value of $33.88 billion, representing 18 percent of the total volume and 25 percent of the total value, respectively.

1ST HALF 2022 KEY TRENDS

Total transaction volume in 1st Half 2022 increased by 29 percent over 2nd Half 2021, from 466 to 603.

Total transaction value rose from $35.51 billion in 2nd Half 2021 to $135.50 billion in 1st Half 2022.

The median revenue multiple shifted slightly from 2.9x in 2nd Half 2021 to 3.0x in 1st Half 2022. After rising from 9.7x in 1st Half 2021 to 15.9x in 2nd Half 2021, the median EBITDA multiple declined to 11.5x in 1st Half 2022.

M&A MARKET OVERVIEW

Berkery Noyes tracked 2,866 Media and Marketing transactions between 2020 and 1st Half 2022 of which 581 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $377.83 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 2,285 undisclosed transactions to be $48.17 billion, totaling $426 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past two and a half years.

Transactions from 1st Half 2020 to 1st Half 2022 with enterprise values above $160 million received a median revenue multiple of 4.6x, whereas those in the $10-$160 million range garnered a median revenue multiple of 2.7x.