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And overall, the value of deals is greater than it was a few years ago. The first-half total for 2022 in terms of dollar value of deals is $2.4 billion more than what the education sector recorded during the same time period in 2019, according to Berkery Noyes’ research.

Now, in his role as Managing Director of the independent mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes, Loechner is uniquely positioned to share his insights about what buyers and sellers may be looking for post-pandemic M&A landscape. He recently sat down with Trade Show Executive‘s Frances Ferrante.

NEW YORK — Trade show senior executive David Loechner has joined Independent mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes as Managing Director. Loechner brings almost four decades of trade show and event experience to his new role. 

New York, NY – Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, announced today that David Loechner has joined the firm as Managing Director. David has nearly four decades of experience in the trade show and events industry.

The M&A outlook in the financial technology and information industry remains strong, according to a new white paper published by Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers. In 2020, 500 M&A transactions occurred with an aggregate value of $87.30 billion.

Media and marketing industry merger and acquisition deals crashed in terms of both deal volume and dollar value during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter of 2020, but they’re beginning to trend upward again, according to an analysis published by investment banking firm Berkery Noyes.

The acquisition of Kidaptive is one of several McGraw Hill has made since it became an independent company in 2013, with a focus on strengthening the company’s capabilities in adaptive and digital learning. Those include ALEKS Corporation in 2013, the LearnSmart technology in 2014 and Redbird Advanced Learning in 2016. Kidaptive was represented in this transaction by Berkery, Noyes & Co.

SitusAMC Holdings Corp. (SitusAMC), a prominent provider of technology and services to the real estate finance industry, has acquired Street Resource Group, Inc. (SRG) and its widely utilized Warehouse Loan System (WLS). Berkery Noyes served as the exclusive financial advisor to SRG.

Managing director Marc Flor of investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co. said private equity can complete a deal in six months while a holding company or less experienced consultancy might take more than a year.

Worldline’s $10.9 billion acquisition of terminal and payments technology provider Ingenico last February marked the most notable payments transaction in 2020, according to the annual mergers and acquisitions data of the financial technology industry report from investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes explains the steps for Valuation Firms to consider when preparing for sale, as well as the key attributes that drive value. The byline article was featured in Appraisal Institute’s Valuation Magazine.

According to Berkery Noyes, total transaction volume in the education space in Q3 2020 improved 51 percent over Q2 2020. Of note, strategic acquirers accounted for 76 percent of the industry’s total volume year-to-date. Total transaction value in Q3 2020 nearly quadrupled over Q2 2020, from $1.1 billion to $4.2 billion.

SitusAMC Holdings has added yet another company to its portfolio, acquiring LogicEase Solutions, the parent of ComplianceEase. The Silicon Valley-based ComplianceEase will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SitusAMC, with no changes to staff or operations. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive financial advisor to ComplianceEase for this transaction.

Real estate services and technology firm SitusAMC just acquired the parent company of compliance technology provider ComplianceEase, the latest in a series of mergers and acquisitions that are shaking up the mortgage tech space in the last year. New York-based Berkery Noyes served as exclusive financial advisor to ComplianceEase.

Mary Jo Zandy, managing director of investment bank Berkery Noyes, said in light of the heightened attention to online learning, she was a bit surprised companies weren’t rushing to sell instead of raise capital ahead of a potential boost in capital gains taxes if there is a new administration after the presidential election in November.

Fueled by a multi-billion dollar mega deal, the value of mergers and acquisitions in the education industry skyrocketed by more than 80 percent in the first half of the year, though the number of overall transactions dipped to at least a 30-month low, a new analysis finds. Overall, the dollar value of deals increased from $4.9 billion in the first half of 2019 to $9 billion during the same period this year, according to research by the investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Stewart Information Services Corporation has acquired United States Appraisals, a provider of residential management solutions. Berkery Noyes was the financial advisor to United States Appraisals on the deal.

Stewart Information Services Corp. has acquired United States Appraisals in a move aimed at enhancing Stewart’s existing title insurance, settlement services, appraisal/valuation, and other real estate services. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive financial advisor to United States Appraisals.

As schools and universities transition to remote instruction, some financial analysts anticipate an uptick in demand for services deemed essential to academic operations. “Crucial higher ed online proctoring solutions are going gangbusters,” Mary Jo Zandy, a managing director at investment bank Berkery Noyes, said to Forbes last week.

Schools such as Western Governors University and New Hampshire University are purely online and have been stealing market share from brick-and-mortar schools, noted Mary Jo Zandy, managing director of the investment bank Berkery Noyes. “The momentum behind them will be further reinforced,” she said.

General Atlantic has invested in Comprehensive Educational Services, a provider of applied behavioral analysis and ancillary services to individuals and families impacted with autism or other special needs. Berkery Noyes was financial adviser to ACES on the transaction.

Payments companies drove merger-and-acquisition activity in the financial-technology sector in 2019’s first nine months, according to a new analysis. Payments firms were involved in four of the top 10 deals tracked by New York City-based investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Golden Gate Capital LP said Wednesday, Sept. 25, it has purchased behavioral health services provider Invo Holdings LLC. Terms were not disclosed. The Jordan Co., an investor in Invo since 2017, and management will retain minority stakes in the company.

Golden Gate Capital has acquired Invo Holdings LLC, a provider of autism and childhood behavioral health services. Berkery Noyes served as financial advisor to Golden Gate Capital.

Private equity firm Golden Gate Capital announced it has acquired Invo Holdings, a provider of autism and childhood behavioral health services. Invo provides multi-disciplinary therapy services to infants, toddlers and school-aged children with developmental delays, including autism, in school, community and home-based programs. Berkery Noyes served as financial advisor to Golden Gate Capital.

Berkery Noyes explains the key steps for Appraisal Companies to take in preparation for an M&A acquisition as well as the key attributes of driving value. The byline article was featured in Appraisal Buzz Magazine.

Berkery Noyes discusses the growing popularity of RWD and RWE in a byline article for Health IT Outcomes. Stakeholders are investing heavily in resources to build their internal RWD capabilities. RWE is being used by payors, providers, and pharmaceutical companies to help make decisions about cost effectiveness and usefulness, especially when other data sources are lacking. Both strategic and financial acquirers are continuing to look for opportunities in this space.

What’s behind this enduring attraction? “It’s really about reaching patients,” says Berkery Noyes, a middle-market merger and acquisition house leading deals in healthcare, med tech and marketing services. 

This week’s guest is Keith Lubell, CTO for Berkery Noyes, an M&A investment bank based out of midtown Manhattan. For this conversation, we look at Facebook’s Libra token and how regulators are setting their sights on the so-called Big Tech companies. We also delve into both newer and older programming languages, and how finance firms are using them. And he examines how semantic data and technology are becoming increasingly useful.

The drive to modernize the mortgage industry is expected to result in roll-ups of the more promising digital players by private equity firms and strategics. The space is fragmented with thousands of vendors, many with only one or two product lines, says Berkery Noyes.

New Capital Partners has made an investment in Pompano Beach, Florida-based ARMCO, a provider of quality assurance software for the financial services industry. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive financial advisor to ARMCO.

A report from investment bank Berkery Noyes tagged the growth in health IT M&A volume between 2017 and 2018 at 19 percent. Strategic acquirers – meaning companies in the same industry – made of 75% of that M&A volume.

Berkery, Noyes & Company LLC in New York has been instrumental in many of the M&A deals that have occurred in the industry over the past two decades. Here are the six key attributes for evaluating a mortgage technology firm according to Berkery.

Mergers and acquisitions in the payment segment rose 16 percent in 2018, fueled in part by PayPal closing two large deals. PayPal closed its acquisition of mobile payments company iZettle for $2.43 billion in 2018, as well as its $400 million purhcase of Hyperwallet, a digital payout provider serving gig economies, according to research from investment banker Berkery Noyes.

Private equity firm Gryphon Investors on Tuesday announced that it has acquired a majority stake in LEARN Behavioral, a network of providers serving children with autism and other special needs, from LLR Partners. LLR will remain a minority owner in the company. Berkery Noyes served as lead financial advisor to Gryphon.

Gryphon Investors acquired a majority stake in LEARN Behavioral, a network of providers of behavioral treatment services for children with autism and other special needs, from LLR Partners. Berkery Noyes served as the lead financial advisor to Gryphon Investors.

“Turnitin is a great acquisition for Advance Publications, which has only invested in partial stakes in edtech companies in the past,” said Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at Berkery Noyes, an investment bank that also advises on mergers and acquisitions (but not on this one). “And it is a solid diversification from general media. Most likely, it also has the growth attributes that Advance may be seeking.”

Dennis Publishing, the U.K.-based owner of The Week, has acquired 99-year-old Kiplinger Washington Editors Inc. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. But among the assets changing hands is Kiplinger’s flagship brand, Kiplinger Personal Finance, which carries a monthly circulation of 600,000, and has been continuously published since 1947.

Dennis Publishing, which publishes The Week, has acquired longtime family-run company, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Kiplinger, which was founded in 1920 and is based in D.C., offers financial news covering taxes, retirement and investments.

International media group Dennis Publishing has acquired local publisher Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., expanding the company’s U.S. foot print. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Endeavor Business Media, which is backed by Resolute Capital Partners, has acquired several PennWell media properties from Clarion Events. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes was financial adviser to Clarion Events Ltd on the transaction.

The number of mergers and acquisitions across the education industry climbed by 9 percent over the most recent year, with private-equity deals driving much of that growth.

The Healthcare IT segment accounted for about one-half of the healthcare and pharmaceutical IT industry’s aggregate volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) last year, according to a new report by Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers.

Clearwater-based Digital Media Solutions announced Tuesday it has acquired Fosina Marketing Group Inc. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fosina is a data-driven marketing firm with customized direct-to-consumer subscription solutions for clients like Harper Collins Publishing, Save The Children, the National Wildlife Federation, Amora Coffee, Meredith Corp. and Highlights for Children.

LLR Partners has made an investment in Los Angeles-based Edlio, a provider of community engagement solutions for K-12 public, private and charter schools. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes advised Edlio on the transaction.

The payments industry stood out as an active market for mergers and acquisitions during the first three quarters of 2018 with a 33 percent increase in transactions over the same period last year. Berkery Noyes investment bank cited the increase in payments transactions from 30 a year ago to 40 this year as the largest rise in volume of all the market segments it monitored in the third quarter Financial Technology and Information Industry M&A trend report.

At the start of this decade, the education industry saw hundreds of flowers bloom. Launched from garages and tech accelerators, startup after startup burst onto the scene with technology tools for the education market. The industry has since consolidated, due in part to an uptick in mergers and acquisitions by education companies and private equity firms. Data from investment bank, Berkery Noyes suggest these deals have grown at a steady clip since 2013.

Trinity Partners has acquired TGaS Advisors, a benchmarking and advisory services firm for commercial organizations in the life sciences industry. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes provided financial advice to TGaS Advisors on the transaction.

TGaS Advisors, a Montgomery County consulting firm that specializes in the life sciences industry, was acquired Thursday by Trinity Partners of Waltham, Mass. disclosed. Berkery Noyes acted as exclusive financial advisor to TGaS Advisors.

Emerald Expositions continued to grow its portfolio even more with the acquisition of EH Media, which focuses on technology events and a group of complementary technology intelligence brands, for approximately $28 million. Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, was the exclusive financial advisor to EH Media in this transaction.

Just how big is Gray Television‘s planned merger with Raycom Media? Mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes‘ half-year 2018 M&A trend report for the media and marketing industry is out, and there are bunch of company names wholly unfamiliar to most media industry C-Suiters.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the healthcare IT industry rose during the first half this year, with volume increasing 23 percent, from 101 deals in the second half of 2017 to 124 deals so far in 2018, according to investment banking firm Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes recently wrote an article that was published in Mortgage Compliance Magazine. According to the firm, there has been an ongoing shift away from large disparate technologies toward the use of fully-integrated vendor software management platforms.

Lebhar-Friedman, a storied 93-year-old B2B media company serving the retail industry, which is in its third generation of family management, has been sold to EnsembleIQ, an acquisitive Chicago-based publisher that’s backed by the private equity firm RFE Partners.

The two-year-old Chicago-based publisher expands its portfolio with three additional brands serving the brick-and-mortar retail industry. Lebhar-Friedman, the 93 year-old, family-owned publisher serving the retail industy, has been acquired by Chicago-based EnsembleIQ, the latter announced this week.

EnsembleIQ, the Chicago-based retail intelligence firm and parent of Retail Leader, has purchased substantially all media, digital and event assets from New York-based media company Lebhar-Friedman. Berkery Noyes served as the exclusive financial advisor to Lebhar-Friedman.

Private equity firm New Capital Partners acquired revenue cycle management company Collect Rx, according to PE Hub. Collect Rx’s exclusive strategic and financial advisor for the transaction was Berkery Noyes.

EnsembleIQ, a portfolio company of RFE Investment Partners, has acquired the media, digital, and event assets from New York City-based Lebhar Friedman, a business media company for the retail industry. Included in the acquisition are publications such as Drug Store News, Chain Store Age, and Hardware and Building Supply Dealer. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes was financial adviser to Lebhar-Friedman on the deal.

EnsembleIQ announced Thursday that it has purchased substantially all of the media, digital, and event assets from New York City-based Lebhar-Friedman. Launched in 1925, the third-generation family business produces several leading retail brands, including Drug Store News, Chain Store Age, and Hardware and Building Supply Dealer.

New Capital Partners has acquired Bethesda, Maryland-based Collect Rx, a revenue cycle management company. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes was strategic and financial adviser to Collect Rx on the deal.

A recent white paper by Berkery Noyes, a New York City-based independent investment bank that provides M&A advisory and financial consulting services, notes that the healthcare technology industry is undergoing a rapid transformation and structural shifts due to reform, cost pressures, and shifting responsibilities between payers and providers.

The value of mergers and acquisitions across the education sector last year more than tripled, to nearly $17 billion, though the number of deals in the K-12 space dipped slightly, according to a new analysis by Berkery Noyes.

Investment bank Berkery Noyes advised ALP on its sale to FFL from previous owners Jefferson River Capital, Great Point Partners and Scopia Capital Management.

Private equity investor Blackstone is set to acquire the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) in a transaction that is expected to close later this year. Founded in 1990, CARD offers center-, school-, and home-based behavioral therapy in 32 states with 192 locations.

This week, private equity firm Narrow Gauge Capital announced it has acquired Class Appraisal, a real estate asset valuation and appraisal management solutions provider.

A Boston-based private equity firm has closed its purchase of Class Appraisal, a nationwide provider of real estate asset valuation and appraisal-management products to the residential mortgage industry.

Narrow Gauge Capital announced it has completed the acquisition of Class Appraisal, LLC. Class Appraisal is a leading nationwide provider of real estate asset valuation and appraisal management solutions to the residential mortgage industry. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive financial advisor to NGC in the transaction.

Narrow Gauge Capital said March 26 that it closed its buy of Class Appraisal LLC. Financial terms weren’t announced. Berkery Noyes acted as financial adviser to NGC.

Berkery Noyes recently wrote an article that was published in Mortgage Compliance Magazine. According to the firm, mortgage technology vendors and outsourcers that offer solutions to provide better quality control, enhance fraud mitigation, facilitate borrower communication, and improve regulatory compliance are in demand by investors and acquirers.

Renovus Capital Partners said Jan. 15 that it acquired a controlling stake in Continuing Education Alliance LLC and Practicing Clinicians Exchange. Financial terms weren’t announced. Continuing Education is the corporate owner of Practicing Clinicians, of Stamford, Connecticut, which provides education for nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Berkery Noyes Investment Banking provided financial advice to PCE.

Great Point Partners has exited its stake in Glendale, California-based Autism Learning Partners as a result of the latter’s acquisition by FFL Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. ALP is a provider of applied behavior analysis and other services for child and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Mid-market private equity investor FFL Partners has backed therapy business Autism Learning Partners (ALP) in a deal worth more than $270m. The deal marks the firm’s ninth healthcare investment, and its 20th portfolio buy.

The highly anticipated auction for Autism Learning Partners has concluded, commanding north of $270 million through a sale to FFL Partners. The transaction represents the vertical’s largest-ever sponsor deal, according to sources familiar with the situation.

FFL Partners acquired Autism Learning Partners, a provider of applied behavioral analysis therapy for children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities. The acquisition follows a sales process led by investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co.

Enter private equity firms, which see the education sector as “a place that is highly fragmented and ripe for consolidation,” says Berkery Noyes, which advises on financial transactions.

Higher Logic, an industry leader in cloud-based community platforms, has acquired Informz, Inc. and Real Magnet, Inc., two leading marketing automation software companies—and SIPA members. SIPA member Berkery Noyes served as the exclusive financial advisor to Real Magnet.

Vantiv’s $11.6 billion acquisition of U.K.-based Worldpay Group in August was the largest transaction in the financial technology and information sector during the third quarter of 2017, according to the latest report from investment bank Berkery Noyes.

PatientSafe Solutions, a provider of mobile clinical workflow and communication solutions, has raised $25 million in financing. HighBar Partners led the round with participation from return backers Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Camden Partners, Psilos Group and TPG.

PatientSafe Solutions, a provider of mobile clinical workflow and communication solutions has raised $25 million in funding led by HighBar Partners. Founded in 2002, PatientSafe’s unified clinical solution, PatientTouch consolidates secure messaging, voice, alerts, and nurse calls with EMR data and clinical workflows in one mobile app for more than 80 healthcare providers.

PatientSafe Solutions, which provides mobile clinical workflow and communication technology, has closed a $25 million round of financing. The San Diego-based startup plans to use the funds to further scale operations, boost sales, and drive more innovation in clinical communications and care delivery.

PatientSafe Solutions, the San Diego, California-based developer of the PatientTouch workflow-optimizing platform, announced that it has secured $25 million in its latest round of funding. PatientTouch is a mobile-friendly platform that consolidates EHR data, communications, clinical workflows, alerts, and customizable care interventions within one app.

Martin Magida, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes, served as an expert presenter during a recent webinar hosted by Robinson+Cole. The webinar covered the latest developments in the dividend recap market. According to Magida, some owners may want to consider a dividend recap because it allows them to continue to own and control their company while still addressing any liquidity needs or securing their personal finances.

Relx, the UK-listed information and analytics group, is buying California-based academic publisher Bepress — its third acquisition in the San Francisco Bay area in the past 18 months. The move is part of Relx’s long-term shift from traditional business media publishing into data and technology businesses that generate lucrative subscriber revenues.

An Elsevier news release said the acquisition of Bepress was part of a deliberate effort to shift the company from journal publishing into research and technology data management. Elsevier said acquiring Bepress would help drive adoption of its research data management tools, while Bepress would benefit from accessing Elsevier’s technology and analytics.

Elsevier, the European academic publishing giant has acquired bepress, a 73 person academic publishing service based in Berkeley, California for an undisclosed amount as it expands its publishing, analytics and metadata services for leading US universities.

The M&A Advisor announced the winners of the 8th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards on Thursday, June 29th. Vineet Asthana of Berkery Noyes has been chosen for his accomplishments and expertise from a pool of nominees by an independent judging panel of distinguished business leaders.

New Capital Partners has made an undisclosed investment in Woburn, Massachusetts-based LoyaltyExpress, a provider of marketing automation and cloud-based CRM solutions for mortgage companies and banks. Berkery Noyes advised LoyaltyExpress on the transaction.

“Private equity is taking a more meaningful role in the space as of late,” says investment bank Berkery Noyes. “The market overall is very fragmented, and [private equity groups] see an opportunity for consolidation and an opportunity for scale. Many groups see this as the next frontier after the healthcare space.”

Thermo Fisher acquired Core Informatics in early March for a total of $94 million, net of cash acquired. The informatics firm, which has been offering cloud-based platforms for scientific management, is now part of Thermo’s Analytical Instruments segment.

According to the investment bank Berkery Noyes, there were 870 financial technology and information industry M&A transactions from the beginning of 2015 through to the end of 2016. The banks suggests that for those deals, “the median revenue multiple decreased from 3.2x to 2.3x, while the median EBITDA improved from 11.4x to 13.1x” on an annual basis.

Overall, M&A firm Berkery Noyes (New York) said total transaction volume in the broader education industry in 2016 declined 11% from 2015 to 378 transactions with a 70% drop in value to $5.32 billion.

Another significant announcement at PITTCON was the acquisition of Core Informatics by Thermo Fisher, already a top-tier enterprise-level LIMS provider.

Investment firms Spectrum Equity and Cressey & Co will acquire a significant stake in Verisys Corporation, a U.S. provider of data and software that help healthcare providers with regulatory compliance, the company said on Tuesday.

According to a byline article in Mortgage Compliance Magazine by Berkery Noyes, there continues to be a rapid shift in the marketplace to meet regulatory compliance policies.

Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced that it has acquired informatics software provider Core Informatics – a company that specializes cloud-based software to support scientific data management.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., announced that it has acquired Core Informatics, which provides a cloud-based platform supporting scientific data management. Core’s offerings will significantly enhance Thermo Fisher’s existing informatics solutions and complement its cloud platform, which supports the company’s genetic analysis, qPCR and proteomics systems.

A Branford tech/bioscience company, Core Informatics, is being acquired by Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Core Informatics provides a cloud-based software that supports scientific data management.

Career Step LLC, backed by private equity firm Revelstoke Capital Partners, has acquired Panacea Healthcare Solution, a technology-enabled consultant for the healthcare industry. The deal includes the target’s revenue capture, and coding and documentation businesses, which combine data analytics with data collected by Panacea’s consultants.

Keith Lubell has a diverse background, and has spent the last 15 years overseeing investment bank Berkery Noyes’s technology. The CTO talks with Anthony Malakian about the importance of taming data and where that might lead his firm over the next decade.

The value of education mergers and acquisitions in 2016 nosedived a walloping 70 percent—from $17.75 billion to $5.32 billion, according to investment bank Berkery Noyes. “Of note, there were seven deals in 2016 with disclosed values above $100 million,” says Berkery Noyes, “as opposed to 19 such deals in 2015.”

Venture capital and early-stage tech investments may be harder to come by, but M&A exits across the mobile and online industry are still heating up, investment bank Berkery Noyes reported Tues-day. The overall number of deals in 2016 ticked up 1% from the year before, while the aggregate value of those transactions jumped 12% year over year.

Mastercard’s $924 million purchase of VocaLink to bolster its faster payments technology in Europe and other markets was among the most significant financial technology deals in 2016, according to investment bank Berkery Noyes’ annual analysis of the merger and acquisition market.

From a trending perspective, Berkery Noyes says workflow tools that assist in medical practices or the performance of a clinical trial, or that smooth the operations of healthcare entities are areas of interest.

It is already gaining Wall Street’s attention, notes Keith Lubell, CTO at investment bank Berkery Noyes. “What really excites us is that it’s interesting that you can write high-level, scientific and numerical computing but without having to re-translate that,” he says. “Usually, if you have something in R or Matlab and you want to make it go fast, you have to re-translate it to C++, or some other faster language; with Julia, you don’t—it sits right on top.”

“Scale will help them,” Berkery Noyes told HealthPayerIntelligence.com in a prior interview. “Consumers are facing an onslaught of choices much like the 401K plans in the past where they had to take more control over their insurance. Instead of an employer model, it’s moving more towards a consumerization model where they will have more input into their decisions and will pay for it themselves.”

The value of mergers and acquisitions in the education industry dropped significantly during the first three quarters of this year, compared to the same time period last year, a new analysis has found. The worth of those transactions declined 70 percent, going from $14.4 billion in the first three quarters of 2015 to $4.3 billion in 2016, according to research by the investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Vocera acquires Extension Healthcare for $55 million in cash. HIStalk prvoides Hospital IT news and opinion about healthcare technology vendors, healthcare IT projects, and related technologies.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson has made an undisclosed investment in Connexion Point LLC. Berkery Noyes acted as financial adviser to Connexion Point on the transaction. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah is a provider of technology-enabled healthcare services.

Mastercard’s $924 million acquisition of VocaLink represented the highest value acquisition in the payments industry during the third quarter of 2016, according to Berkery Noyes’ mergers and acquisitions trend report.

Berkery Noyes had two deals recognized and received five nominations: FTV Capital’s equity investment in True Potential, which was nominated in the Financials Sector Deal of the Year, Cross-Border Deal of the Year, Private Equity Deal of the Year, and M&A Deal of the Year categories; and Project Management Academy, which was nominated in the Professional Services B-to-B Deal of the Year category.

Berkery Noyes spoke recently with HCI Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland regarding the report’s findings and the broader landscape around merger-and-acquisition activity now in healthcare and healthcare IT.

The current state of the tech market and this era of integrated cloud platforms go a long way toward explaining the last few months in HR tech consolidation. Berkery Noyes, an independent investment bank focusing on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), told PCMag it sees several trends coming together to drive increased M&A in the HR tech sector.

“As you can see from the latest acquisition of Turi by Apple, the focus has been shifting from a consumer product company to an analytics company,” says Vineet Asthana, managing director at investment bank Berkery Noyes.

The data comes from the Q2 2016 Private Equity Industry M&A Report by independent mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes. “Good companies are hard to find,” Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at Berkery Noyes, said in an interview. “When we talk with middle market PE firms, they’re telling us they’re not as busy as they’d like to be.”

At $350 million, the deal was among the top 10 largest acquisitions within fintech in the first half of the year, according to data from Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers. Overall, fintech M&A deal values totaled $37.5 billion in first half of the year, down 14% from the second half of 2015 but nearly twice totals from a year earlier.

“Many healthcare technology companies are enjoying rapid revenue growth, high cash flow margins, low capital expenditures and defensible positions in the marketplace,” Berkery Noyes said in a statement to press.

Healthcare merger and acquisition activity showed no signs of slowing down in the first half of 2016, according to a report from investment bank Berkery Noyes. Compared to the second half of 2015, total deal volume in the first half of 2016 increased by three percent, from 223 to 230.

The Colibri Group, which is backed by Quad-C Management, has made an undisclosed investment in Securities Training Corp. Berkery Noyes served as financial adviser to STC on the transaction. Based in New York City, STC is a provider of financial examination training.

“The biggest mobile-oriented takeaway from this report is that the number of deals in the mobile application subsector rose 18 percent, from 188 to 221 deals in the first half of 2016,” said Vineet Asthana, managing director at Berkery Noyes.

Deal volume decreased seven percent on a half year basis. Total value gained 49 percent, from $64.91 billion to $96.72 billion. Of note, strategic acquirers represented 88 percent of the industry’s volume and 95 percent of value in first half 2016.

When asked whether the Anthem-Cigna and Aetna-Humana mergers will stifle competition in the health insurance market, Berkery Noyes replied, “I don’t think so. There’s a high level of innovation in the market today including the health insurance exchanges. Moreover there are many different people and plenty of opportunities for money to be made. There’s a lot of money in the market as well.”

The payments industry saw merger-and-acquisition volume decrease 21 percent in 2015, after rising 46% in 2014. For 2015, the payments sector had 108 mergers or acquisitions, compared to 137 in 2014 and 94 in 2013. Berkery estimates the value of the 2015 business deals in payments at $20.76 billion, up from $15.91 billion in 2014.

The 2016 Benzinga Fintech Awards is the only event in fintech dedicated to recognizing innovation in financial services and capital markets. Ahead of the May 24th awards show and gala, we spoke with Peter Ognibene, managing director of investment banking advisory firm Berkery Noyes.

“The Affordable Care Act forced insurance providers like Aetna and Humana to change their offerings,” Berkery Noyes said. “Insurers had to take an educated guess at the kinds of plans consumers would want as a result of the health care mandate, and in many instances, they guessed wrong. Six years later, the mergers and acquisitions we’re seeing across the industry are a response to these providers wanting to be able to offer the policies and tools consumers are demanding.”

“In general there have been fewer megadeals, but middle market transaction volume should continue at a steady pace as acquirers look for innovative technologies to help expand their product offerings,” Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at Berkery Noyes, told eWEEK.

“Given the complexity of factors that affect student performance and outcomes, the link between effectiveness and company performance and exits isn’t clear as you might expect,” said Berkery Noyes.

The number of mobile-related merger and acquisition deals rose 35 percent during the first quarter of 2016 as businesses looked to beef up capabilities related to mobile distribution of branded content, analytics and machine learning, according to a new report from Berkery Noyes.

Meanwhile, a report from Berkery Noyes, an investment banking firm, reported that merger and acquisition activity in the healthcare IT segment rose to $17.1 billion in 2015, up 4 percent compared with $16.4 billion in 2014. The number of transactions increased 15 percent in 2015, compared with the previous year.

The number and value of mergers and acquisitions in the education industry rose sharply over the most recent year, fueled by deals in professional training and by consolidation in some areas of K-12, a new analysis has found. There were 418 mergers and acquisitions in the education industry in 2015, up from 329 in 2014, according to research by the investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Medstreaming has acquired M2S. Financial terms weren’t announced. Altaris Capital Partners was the seller. West Lebanon, New Hampshire-based M2S provides registry software technology which aims to improve healthcare quality. Berkery, Noyes & Co. LLC advised M2S while KeyBank Capital Markets Inc provided financial advice to Medstreaming.

Altaris Capital Partners LLC-backed M2S is being acquired by Medstreaming, a Redmond, Wash., provider of cardiovascular and radiology workflow software services. Berkery Noyes & Co. represented M2S on the deal. KeyBank Capital Markets Inc. advised Medstreaming.

Medstreaming, a Redmond, Wash.-based developer of healthcare cardiovascular and radiology workflow software, has announced the acquisition of M2S of West Lebanon, NH, a developer of registry software technology designed for healthcare quality improvement. Berkery, Noyes & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to M2S.

Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS), a nationwide provider of property preservation, inspections, REO property maintenance, and valuations for the financial services industry headquartered in Plano, Texas, has announced the acquisition of Austin, Texas-based EPIC Real Estate Solutions. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to EPIC Real Estate Solutions for the transaction, which is expected to close in early March 2016.

Property preservation and inspection, REO property maintenance and valuations company Mortgage Contracting Services announced it is expanding its client offerings by acquiring EPIC Real Estate Solutions. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to EPIC Real Estate Solutions.

“It’s the niche providers that develop “best of breed” technologies that the large enterprise companies can’t develop themselves because they’re not that focused,” said Berkery Noyes, an investment bank.

With regard to the impact of the health insurance mergers, Berkery Noyes told HealthPayerIntelligence.com that there have been more acquisitions and mergers taking place throughout the entire healthcare industry and that the Affordable Care Act may play a role in pushing forward these consolidations.

As technology startups disrupt the retail, healthcare, and finance sectors, many traditional companies — those getting disrupted — are choosing to partner with the innovators. Last year, the financial-technology, or fintech, world saw more than 400 mergers and acquisitions, according to investment bank Berkery Noyes.

The number of fintech M&A transactions increased 14% in 2015 compared with a year earlier, from 376 to 427, according to data from boutique M&A firm Berkery Noyes. Transaction volume more than doubled over the same period, from $27.81 billion to $63.78 billion, according to the data.

The heavily regulated mortgage environment has caused technology innovation to become a new focal point of many businesses within this space. Berkery Noyes sat down with MReport to share insight on how technology is innovating the mortgage industry.

FTV Capital has picked up a minority stake in UK-based wealth manager and integrated advisor True Potential in a deal which values the company at more than £150m. True Potential was represented by Berkery Noyes & Co, a New York-based investment bank.

The number of mergers and acquisitions in the health IT and pharmaceutical information spaces continues to grow. In 2015, there were 446 M&A transactions in health IT and pharmaceuticals, reaching a total value of $17 billion, according to a trend report from Berkery Noyes.

FTV Capital has acquired a “significant” minority stake in UK-based financial services company True Potential LLP. No financial terms were disclosed although the investment reportedly puts True Potential’s valuation over 150 million pounds.

San Francisco growth equity firm FTV Capital has purchased a “significant minority share” of True Potential LLP, a U.K.-based financial services and technology company. The transaction values True Potential at more than 150 million British pounds, according to a news release. FTV Capital is the company’s first institutional investor. True Potential retained Berkery Noyes & Co. as its financial adviser.

A US institutional investor has taken a significant minority stake in Newcastle-headquartered True Potential which vales the financial services and technology organisation at more than £150m. FTV Capital, which has offices in San Francisco and New York, invests in high-growth companies in the financial services, payment and processing, and technology sectors. True Potential was represented by Berkery Noyes & Co, a New York-based investment bank.

True Potential has received a “significant” investment from US private equity firm FTV Capital. According to David Harrison, managing partner of Newcastle-headquartered True Potential, which was founded in 2007, the sale of the minority shareholding – for an undisclosed sum – represented a great opportunity to reward the firm’s partners and to invest in the business. The deal was brokered by US investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Mergers and acquisitions in the US education market increased by 26% in 2015, a report by investment bank Berkery Noyes has claimed. Between 2014 and 2015, it said, the total number of deals rose from 329 to 415. Berkery Noyes said “significant participation” from strategic acquirers in the market had pushed up total transaction value.

“The largest area of activity in 2015 was in the corporate and professional education space as the need for continuing education and workforce development continues to expand while technology has improved the delivery and efficacy of instruction,” Berkery Noyes said in a statement.

2015 was a great year for financial technology (fintech), as recently released stats from Berkery Noyes show. Among other findings, 2015 saw 427 fintech mergers and acquisitions, a total transaction volume increase by 14 percent over 2014, from 376.

Peter Ognibene, MD, Berkery Noyes, says: “Significantly, the median revenue and Ebitda multiples in the capital markets sector during 2015 have trended well above those of the entire financial technology industry. While it took this sector the longest to recover from the financial crisis, buyers are piling in now and really driving up prices.”

In 2014, the payments industry completed 140 acquisition transactions, up 46% from the previous year’s 96. The payments industry had 111 transactions in 2015, down from 140 in 2014, according to Berkery Noyes’ annual report. Despite the decline, some of the largest deals came in the payments industry.

The online and mobile industry M&A (mergers & acquisitions) transaction volume increased 12 per cent on a year-to-year basis, according to independent mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes’ end-of-year report. The Consumer Mobile Application segment’s deal volume increased 3 per cent in 2015, representing a 10 per cent gain compared to 2013.

“There is a robust trend toward consolidation of education companies in certain niches, such as human and talent capital management,” observes Berkery Noyes, an investment bank that reports and advises on mergers and acquisitions. The group tallied 122 such deals in the third quarter of 2015—the peak volume throughout the past seven quarters.

The volume of online and mobile deals in 2015 increased 12% to 2,798 transactions from 2,493 in 2014, according to investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co. Deal value rose 19% to $156.49 billion from $131.16 billion in 2014. Of the 10 largest transactions in 2015, five occurred in the fourth quarter. These five deals, with a combined value of $22.79 billion, accounted for 15% of the industry’s aggregate value, Berkery Noyes says.

Merger and acquisition trends seem to be reflecting strong growth in the online and mobile industries, according to a new report. Published by independent mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes, the report compares M&A data from 2015 against 2014 and 2013. One finding of this report is that there has been 12 percent year-on-year growth in M&A transaction volumes, which increased from $131.16 billion in 2013 to $156.49 billion last year.

Broad-based media and communications deal-making rose moderately in 2015 — with Internet media deals witnessing some of the strong activity. Deal volume rose 8% for the year to 1,857 with total value growing 12% to $109 billion, according to investment banker Berkery Noyes.

The media and marketing industry M&A deal volume increased 8% on a year-to-year basis, and aggregate value gained 12%, from $97.97B to $109.01B. The number of private equity backed transactions increased 13% during the past year, from 207 to 233.

A white paper released by Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers shows the impact that technology has on the mortgage sector. Regulations like the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule and Title XIV of the Dodd-Frank Act requires lenders to meet extra minimum standards before issuing residential mortgage loans and to make a “reasonable and good faith determination” that the borrower will be able to repay the loan.

Real estate finance services provider Chronos Solutions in Frisco, Texas, has acquired San Diego-based mortgage technology company Cogent Road. Cogent Road offers three mortgage origination products: Funding Suite, Tax Door and Roohmz. Berkery Noyes was Cogent Road’s strategic and financial advisor.

Chronos Solutions, a national real estate finance services provider, has agreed to acquire Cogent Road, a San Diego-based mortgage technology company. The acquisition will allow Chronos to expand its suite of products and services supporting mortgage lenders as well as add a deep bench of mortgage technology talent. Berkery Noyes served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Cogent Road.

“One of the hottest spaces in healthcare now is the broader behavioral health space for both strategic and financial buyers,” says Berkery Noyes. “It’s a high growth market that is largely unpenetrated today with huge growth characteristics—that has all the attributes that acquirers want to increase their exposure to.”

The most attractive acquisition candidates are online and digital, according to Mary Jo Zandy, a managing director at Berkery Noyes. Companies that show growth are “selling for a nice multiple,” she said. “For K-12, people are looking for reoccurring revenue from companies that have traction and repeat sales, and [whose products] are adopted by more and more school districts,” she said.

The ballooning number of edtech accelerators, each of which can hatch upwards of a dozen startups every year —signals a dynamic investment environment, says Berkery Noyes, which advises education companies in merger and acquisition deals.

The number of media mergers and acquisitions rose 4 percent through the first three quarters of 2015 while the aggregate value of those deals jumped 15 percent to $24 billion over the same period in 2014, according to independent investment bank Berkery Noyes.

On Wednesday, investment bank Berkery Noyes released its media and marketing Q3 mergers and acquisitions report. Berkery Noyes reports that media and marketing deal volume declined 6% from Q2 to Q3 in 2015. But compared to 2014, the number of M&A transactions has increased 4% year-to-date.

Nonetheless, companies that can differentiate their offerings from the average digital-based, mobile-based ad tech players have still performed well, noted Vineet Asthana, a banker at Berkery Noyes. The marketing technology company Marketo, which has a big play in adtech, is one such firm, Asthana said.

The company may have plenty of options to consider, given the recent surge in the number of startups and venture capital firms supporting the education technology industry. And according to investment bank Berkery Noyes, mergers and acquisitions activity in this space is currently at its highest point in recent years.

The New York investment bank added Vineet Asthana as a managing director in the firm’s telecom, media and technology group where he will focus on mergers and acquisitions in digital media and internet.

Investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co. hired Vineet Asthana as a managing director in the telecom, media and technology group. Asthana was a founding member at CyndX Advisors, an investment and advisory firm focused on digital media, Internet and technology

Vineet Asthana has joined investment bank Berkery Noyes as a managing director in its telecom, media and tech (TMT) group. He previously was with Cyndx Advisors. www.berkerynoyes.com

According to a report into M&A activity in the first half of 2015 by independent investment bank, Berkery Noyes, there were reportedly 192 fintech mergers and acquisitions worth $18.9 billion so far this year, and six of the top ten largest deals in the first half of 2015 were made in the payments segment.

A recent market brief from investment banking firm Berkery Noyes takes a broader view and points out that private investment activity is on the rise across education sectors. The Berkery Noyes tally reports a 9% increase in deals in the first half of 2015, as compared to the last six months of 2014. Deal values, however, rose even more for a 29% increase and a total of US$6.11 in education sector investments YTD June 2015.

The number of mergers and acquisitions in the industry has reached its highest peak in two and a half years, according to a recent report by the investment-banking firm of Berkery Noyes. In the past six months, the number of such mergers grew by 9 percent.

Strong investor interest in mergers and acquisitions for education companies is likely to continue for the second half of 2015, after a record-setting first half of the year in which the value of transactions reached $6.11 billion—29 percent higher than the same time last year, according to Berkery Noyes, an investment bank.

“If you look at the activity in terms of the volume of transactions, we’re at the highest level in the last two and a half years,” says Berkery Noyes. Other notable deals involved traditional publishers like Pearson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Scholastic.

Managing Director Vineet Asthana, in a byline article for IT Briefcase, discusses some of the key factors impacting Online and Mobile M&A. According to Asthana, the ongoing shift of consumers’ time and marketing spend to digital channels has been significant in the past few years and it is expected to continue unabated at a 20%+ annual pace.

M&A activity rose for the fourth consecutive half-year, according to the report. This reflects a supply of attractive, strategic acquisition targets as well as a “diverse universe of acquirers,” according to Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at Berkery Noyes.

Peter Ognibene, MD, Berkery Noyes, says: “An increased appetite for technology spending at financial institutions is presenting vendors with good pipelines and an increased array of legacy tech sellers. In addition, regulatory pressures are requiring more transparency pertaining to risk assessment and valuation methods.”

As young financial technology companies continue to attract increasing amounts of venture capital funding, investment bankers are expecting more mergers and acquisitions activity in the sector. Data from New York-based investment bank Berkery Noyes shows that there were 343 deals in the financial technology and information industry in 2014, 8% higher than 2013, with transaction value up by just 5% to $28.7 billion.

Berkery Noyes said Accolade would likely command an attractive multiple in a sale process, anywhere from 3x to 5x revenue or 8x to 15x EBITDA. “There are very few players with the same scale and growth trajectory that are serving self-insured employers and payors,” Berkery noted.

According to Education Investor, M&A activity in the US education industry is hotter than ever. Kirsten Noben looks at what’s driving the trend and the subsectors getting most love. While a bounce back in state spending has played a part, technology has been the main driver, with nearly $2 billion (£1.3 billion) invested in the ed tech space alone last year.

“Many media and marketing companies are looking for acquisitions to enhance their growth,” said Mary Jo Zandy, managing director, Berkery Noyes. “They are also making investments in those areas where their clients are spending the most money and where they can sell their services at a premium. M&A activity is robust due to the high stock market valuations and the low cost of financing transactions.”

Media and marketing deal making for the first half of 2015 were relatively constant versus the previous six-month period– with volume and median costs dropping. Deal volume grew 3% to 863 from 841 versus for the last six months of 2014, according to media investment banker Berkery Noyes.

For an indication of just how steep valuations are getting- one needn’t look any farther than the software sector. Sponsor-backed transactions made up more than 40% of the dollar value of deals so far this year, despite accounting for just 18% of transaction volume, according to a report from investment bank Berkery Noyes.

This week, Berkery Noyes investment bank released its 2015 M&A trends report for the software industry. With all of the recent lower-than-expected quarterly revenue reports in the technology sector, it might be easy to assume that portions of the IT industry are seeing a cooling off period. But don’t tell that to Microsoft Corp., which leads all firms in technology company acquisitions for the first half of 2015.

Wilmington plc, a U.K.-based publisher and business information provider, took a step toward improving its market position in the U.S. on Tuesday with the acquisition of Financial Research Associates, the company announced. Berkery Noyes represented FRA in the transaction.

Financial Research Associates LLC (FRA), organizers of highly specialized conferences in the finance and healthcare sectors, has been acquired by Britain’s Wilmington plc. Berkery Noyes represented FRA in the negotiations.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the healthcare IT segment improved 33 percent on a year-to-year basis, according to new research from New York City-based investment bank Berkery Noyes. The health IT segment accounted for almost half of the industry’s aggregate deal volume, and strategic acquirers comprised 70 percent of the segment’s volume, according to the research.

Private equity firms and strategic acquirers interested in making deals in K-12 education this year will be looking to invest in businesses that provide adaptive learning and assessment, according to a report from Berkery Noyes, a New York-based investment bank. “Most companies in the education sector have been doing very well of late,” said Mary Jo Zandy, a Berkery Noyes managing director, in an interview.

Southwest Financial Services Ltd. has been part of downtown Cincinnati for more than 25 years, and now it has a new owner. Berkery Noyes served as an adviser for the acquisition, which continues Solidifi’s rapid growth. The firm has expanded more than 50 percent annually since 2008.

Solidifi, an independent real estate appraisal management company (AMC), has acquired Southwest Financial Services Ltd., a national, independent provider of outsourced services to home equity lenders. Berkery Noyes was an advisor for the transaction.

Solidifi, a provider of residential real estate appraisals, acquired Cincinnati-based Southwest Financial Services, provider of outsourced services to home equity lenders. Along with the acquisition, Solidifi’s parent, Real Matters, raised $60 million in financing to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and to pursue further strategic opportunities.

According to Berkery Noyes’ latest research, transaction volume decreased 11 percent in Q1 2015. This followed a 16 percent rise in Q4 2014. Total value declined 35 percent over the past three months, from $24.1 billion to $15.6 billion. Of note, eight of the industry’s top ten largest deals in Q1 2015 were based outside of the U.S.

LRP Conferences LLC has acquired Future of Education Technology Conference, FETC Virtual Conference, Campus Technology Conference and the Campus Technology Forum. The seller is 1105 Media Inc., which is backed by Alta Communications and Nautic Partners. LRP Conferences is an affiliate of LRP Publications. Berkery Noyes & Co LLC advised 1105 Media.

LRP Conferences, producers of national conferences and professional research services, has acquired several education technology events from 1105 Media. Investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co, LLC represented 1105 Media, Inc. in the transaction.

1105 Media will continue to operate its publishing and digital products in the education marketplace, including Campus Technology and THE Journal, which serve the higher education and K-12 sectors, respectively. Investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co, LLC represented 1105 Media, Inc. in the transaction.

Trade shows have become a particularly sought after asset in media M&A lately. B2B publisher 1105 Media has just sold its education technology events to LRP Publications, a Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based media company targeting education administrators. Media M&A broker Berkery Noyes represented 1105 in the deal.

LRP Conferences, LLC, an affiliate of LRP Publications and producers of national conferences and professional research services, announced April 2 the acquisition of four education technology events from 1105 Media Inc., a California-based multimedia B2B company. Investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co, LLC represented 1105 Media Inc. in the transaction.

Berkery Noyes served as a sponsor and presented an award at the Benzinga Fintech Awards, an event dedicated to recognizing outstanding innovation in financial technology that is specific to the capital markets. Over 100 of the most innovative financial technology companies competed against each other.

Emerald Expositions, LLC (“Emerald”) announced that it has acquired several leading brands in the healthcare and senior living design market from Vendome Group, LLC. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Investment Bank, Berkery Noyes & Co, LLC, represented Vendome in the transaction.

Emerald Expositions LLC announced two show acquisitions in March that beefed up the company’s design group portfolio. The transaction includes three Vendome brands that are focused on the design and construction of healthcare and senior living facilities. Berkery Noyes represented Vendome Group in the negotiations.

Emerald Expositions LLC, a portfolio company of Onex Corp, has bought several brands in the healthcare and senior living design market. The seller was Vendome Group LLC. Among the purchased brands is Healthcare Design Conference and Expo, a tradeshow focused on design for healthcare facilities. Investment Bank, Berkery Noyes & Co, LLC, represented Vendome in the transaction.

Emerald Expositions bought several brands in the healthcare and senior living design market, including the Healthcare Design Conference and Expo and other events, education, print and online assets from the Vendome Group. Investment Bank, Berkery Noyes & Co, LLC, represented Vendome in the transaction.

“Yes, [these valuations] are high,” said Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at Berkery Noyes, New York. “Still they are companies that have unlimited, global potential. And Snapchat and Pinterest are successful platforms, something very hard to achieve.”

Total media and marketing transaction volume grew by double-digit percentage in 2014 — but the total number of transactions and the average revenue and cash flow selling multiples remained generally the same as the year before. Investment banker Berkery Noyes says transaction volume rose 22% to $91 billion in 2014 over the year before; with the number of transactions at 1,696 in 2014 versus 1,697 in 2013.

Takeovers of financial-technology providers rose five percent in 2014 to $28.7 billion, according to research from investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co. Payments companies are consolidating as consumers show an increased preference for credit cards, while providers of financial software are striking deals to keep their technology fresh.

Not only is venture capital for edtech startups growing–so, too, are mergers and acquisitions for more mature companies. The number of education M&A deals in 2014 increased 9 percent from 2013 (from 298 to 325); the value of those deals, however, jumped 25 percent from $9.12 billion to $11.4 billion. “The focus on education access, data analytics, and outcomes-driven technology products and services continues to shape the industry,” says Berkery Noyes in the press release.

The business climate for dealmaking in the K-12 marketplace should be a favorable one in 2015, according to Mary Jo Zandy, a managing director at Berkery Noyes, a New York-based investment bank. “I think it will be a good year for M&A activity in education in general,” said Zandy, whose firm recently released its 2014 Education Report, tracking sales and purchases of education companies that serve students and professionals from 2012 to 2014.

Marketing M&A deal value tripled in 2014, according to the 2014 M&A trend report by independent investment bank Berkery Noyes. Four of the industry’s top 10 highest-value deals were in the marketing segment last year, and each transaction was worth more than $2 billion. Only one deal generated this much value in 2013.

2014 was a big year for payments M&A, the latest Financial Technology M&A report by Berkery Noyes reveals. Not only were four out of the five largest financial technology M&A deals in the payments segment, but transaction volume also experienced a 44% rise over the past year.

Mergers and acquisitions among payments companies rose 44% in 2014 compared to the year before. Overall, there were 137 transactions in the payments industry, compared to 95 in 2013, making it the financial sector with the largest rise in volume.

“2014 was quite a year for the M&A market in terms of both volume and value,” Mary Jo Zandy, managing director with Berkery Noyes, told eWEEK. “With generally strong balance sheets and healthy income statements, the major strategic buyers are, by and large, continuing to look for acquisitions that offer additional growth opportunities.”

Software industry mergers and acquisitions rose dramatically this past year, with Facebook’s moves accounting for 20% of the growth. In its Software Industry M&A Report for 2014, investment bank Berkery Noyes revealed a 14% increase in the number of deals to a total of 1,840 transactions, with deal value rising 36% from US$88.32 billion to $120.18 billion.

Robb Report, a magazine and lifestyle brand dedicated to the ultra wealthy, has been sold to Rockbridge Growth Equity, a Detroit-based private equity firm. Berkery Noyes served as financial advisor to Robb Report on the deal.

Rockbridge Growth Equity said Wednesday it has acquired the Robb Report. Malibu, Calif.-based Robb Report is a magazine that caters to ultra affluent consumers. Dan Gilbert, who owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the Rockbridge Growth’s managing partner. Berkery Noyes advised the Robb Report.

Rockbridge Growth Equity acquired Robb Report, a luxury lifestyle-focused media company whose publications include Health & Wellness, Home & Style and Watch Collector, according to a news release. Robb Report was advised by Berkery Noyes.

But Mary Jo Zandy, managing director of investment bank Berkery Noyes, says she’s somewhat skeptical about the staying power of these programs and “what kind of traction they’ve gotten.” She says none of the courses are of critical mass yet. Nevertheless, she says more educational technology companies will look to take advantage of investor interest by tapping the public market, following the example of 2U, which had a successful public offering in March.

Mary Jo Zandy, managing director of investment bank Berkery Noyes, said MHE is waiting to go public sometime in 2015. “It’s not a secret that that’s their goal,” Zandy said. “The ingredients are there. The stock market looks good for education companies,” she said. The company is doing well and repositioning itself to emphasize growth and educational technology. K-12 is rebounding and the company is also strong in higher education, she noted.

Truven Health Analytics, a portfolio company of Veritas Capital, has agreed to buy Heartbeat Experts. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery, Noyes & Co was the financial advisor to Heartbeat Experts on the transaction. Heartbeat Experts is a provider of stakeholder management solutions for the life sciences sector.

According to Berkery Noyes, an investment bank that specializes in the education and training sector, ed-tech investment has increased steeply since 2006. More than $1-billion was invested in ed-tech companies in 2013, and in the first quarter of this year more than $500-million was invested.

Truven Health Analytics Inc., a provider of health-care analytics and data services backed by Veritas Capital, said it agreed to acquire Heartbeat Experts, a provider of stakeholder management services for the life sciences industry, for an undisclosed sum. Berkery Noyes & Co. served as the exclusive financial adviser to Heartbeat Experts in the transaction.

M&A transactions will likely show more growth in Q4, says Peter Ognibene, the firm’s managing director. “We are in a frothy M&A market right now, particularly in software and tech, so we can expect to see big deals and numbers continue to trend up,” he told IBD. Increasing VC fund dollars also drives M&A activity, Ognibene says. “More capital chasing the same number of deals drives up the value, which creates more sellers, which creates more volume, which will bring more interest,” he said. “It’s a virtuous circle.”

“It’s been a very strong year–probably better than the prior year,” Mary Jo Zandy, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes, tells EdSurge. In K-12, which “was more depressed than higher-ed and professional publishing during the recession, push from various legislation, testing consortia” are “driving changes in states and district budgets and forcing them to try new things.”

Britain’s i2i Events Group has acquired Money 20/20, a fledgling financial services conference and exhibition held in Las Vegas in November. Terms of the deal were not announced. Money 20/20 will continue to operate under the leadership of its founders, Anil Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner. Berkery Noyes represented Money20/20 in the transaction.

According to Berkery Noyes, “Card providers and merchants are seeking to gain a competitive edge and reduce fraud related costs by acquiring the best technology available. As EMV capable systems reduce in-person fraud, fraudsters will shift online, thus requiring merchants to adopt even more advanced technology.”

“Very attractive and large properties have come to market. The universe of acquirers has grown beyond Oracle and SAP,” Mary Jo Zandy, managing director from Berkery Noyes, told eWeek. “Private equity players, such as VISTA, have been acquisitive. And capital markets have enabled them to pay premiums, based upon debt availability.”

According to an article written in Bank Systems & Technology by Berkery Noyes, the ongoing implementation of new regulations are driving innovation in mortgage servicing. Prior to the credit crisis, mortgage regulations had focused mainly on the originations sector, but this is rapidly changing as regulators give the servicing sector more attention.

The new business lines allow insurers to diversify and strengthen their revenue base, said investment bank Berkery Noyes, which focuses on the technology sector.

“Data driven decision-making that is built into assessment capabilities will continue to redefine traditional publishers offerings,” Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes, said of deals like the MHE acquisition of Engrade.

The number of mergers and acquisitions in the education industry climbed during the first half of the year, as did the multi-billion dollar value of those transactions, according to a new report. The biggest deal during that period was the acquisition of SkillSoft, an Irish company that provides cloud-based technology services to governments, businesses, and schools, by Charterhouse Capital Partners, for $2.3 billion, according to Berkery Noyes, the independent investment bank that published the report.

Berkery Noyes said ABILITY likely would attract numerous buyers in a future sale, including healthcare IT companies such as Emdeon, Cerner, McKesson, and Vista Equity-backed Greenway Medical Technologies, as well as insurers such as UnitedHealth Group.

Mergers and acquisitions across healthcare, pharma and health IT are on the rise, having increased by 18 percent since the second half of 2013, with health IT outpacing all other segments, according to a report from Berkery Noyes. In a statement, Berkery Noyes said the health IT marketplace is “rapidly changing,” and that “both strategic and financial buyers are on the hunt for attractive acquisitions of scale.”

Mergers and acquisitions for the health IT market continue to see big numbers, with total deal volumes increasing 18 percent since the second half of 2013, according to a new Berkery Noyes trend report.

Claim overpayments are a significant contributor to the rising costs of healthcare, with claim error rates for commercial, Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) and Medicaid FFS claims estimated to be a market opportunity in excess of USD 150bn, said healthcare investment banking at Berkery Noyes.

M&A activity in the financial technology sector was down for the first half of 2014 as compared with the last six months of 2013, according to new research from Berkery Noyes. Deal activity in the payments segment saw only a 5% decline in the first half of 2014, Berkery Noyes reported. This followed a 64% increase between the first half and the second half of 2013.

Payments is likely to stay in the forefront of M&A activity as the industry invests in emerging security technology, says Berkery Noyes. As companies continue to pursue electronic bill payment and online payments to eliminate paper bills, the payments industry may see more mergers in that space in the future.

Investment bank Berkery Noyes’ first-half report for 2014 shows total value for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the media and marketing industry up on a half-year basis, from $45.8 billion to $49.8 billion. Total value of M&A in the industry had a sharp 70% increase compared with the first half of 2013, which had a total value of $29.5 billion.

According to an article written in Bank Systems & Technology by Berkery Noyes, automated solutions can help credit unions take advantage of the market growth in auto and personal loans as refinancing opportunities decline.

Equian, which is backed by Great Point Partners, has closed its buy of AfterMath Claim Science. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes advised AfterMath Claim Science on the transaction. Based outside Chicago, AfterMath Claim Science is a provider of overpayment solutions for healthcare payors.

Private equity-backed Equian has acquired AfterMath Claim Science Inc., a health care technology company. AfterMath, headquartered in Warrenville, Illinois, provides post-payment recovery services that aim to eliminate medical claim payment errors through data mining technology called ClaimScope.

Equian, a health-care information services company backed by Great Point Partners, has bought post-payment recovery services company AfterMath Claim Science Inc. In the release, Equian said the purchase expands the Indianapolis, Ind.-based bill review and repricing service providers’ “capabilities through advanced data mining and analytics,” and builds on its acquisition of The Reclaim Group LLC last year.

Mergers and acquisitions in the mobile industry continued at a flurried pace this year, with the volume of merger deals up to five percent in the first three months of 2014 alone. Total transaction value rose by 63 percent, from $26.5 billion to $43.3 billion, according to the Online and Mobile Industry trend report by Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank.

Marketing M&A deal activity increased 22% year over year, marking one of the highest volume quarters on record, according to new data from mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the marketing industry rose 22 percent in first-quarter 2014, the largest quarterly rise in volume for the sector, says a new study from investment bank Berkery Noyes.

In 2013, M&A specialists Berkery Noyes (New York) tracked 295 transactions in the broader education space, up from 274 in 2012 and worth an estimated $10.2 billion, up from an estimated $8.04 billion on 2012.

“The breadth of acquirers continues to expand, as buyers look to capitalize on the size, rapidly evolving dynamics and growth characteristics of the healthcare market,” said Berkery Noyes. “In addition, acquirers are aggressively looking to broaden product suites, leverage distribution channels, realize revenue and gain cost synergies.”

There were 434 overall media/marketing deals in the first three months of 2014 — this versus 423 the quarter before and 417 against the first quarter of 2013, this according to a study by New York investment banker Berkery Noyes.

According to Berkery Noyes, the niche software market was the largest of four segments defined by the bank’s analysts. The niche software segment, which consists of software that is targeted to specific vertical markets, underwent a ten percent volume increase in Q1 2014.

Overall, there have been 573 mergers and acquisitions in the education industry over the past two years, and the number of transactions rose by 8 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to the independent investment bank Berkery Noyes, which studied dealmaking over that period.

Transaction volume for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the software industry declined 4 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis, though this represented a 14-percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2013, according to midmarket investment bank Berkery Noyes. “Many acquirers are looking for the ability to manage enterprise platforms across public, private and hybrid cloud environments,” James Berkery, chief information officer at Berkery Noyes, said in a statement.

Boathouse Capital has partnered with the management team and employees of MIS Training Institute to acquire the US and UK operations of the company from its former parent, Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. Berkery Noyes advised MIS Training Institute and Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Boathouse Capital funded a buyout of MIS Training Institute, a unit of professional training company Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC with operations in the U.S. and U.K., through a newly formed employee stock ownership plan. Berkery Noyes & Co. advised MIS Training Institute and Euromoney Institutional.

Polaris, which has offices in Waltham, Mass., San Francisco and Dublin, reached a deal to acquire Roberts Group through a process managed by New York boutique investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co.

Specialty lenders have become an increasingly common source of funding for private equity-backed deals in the technology and information services space, partly because of the flexibility that they provide, according to Berkery Noyes & Co., an investment bank focused on the information and technology industries.

Higher Education Media and Tech deal activity saw an 11 percent improvement between 2012 and 2013, according to the Berkery Noyes Education Industry M&A Report for full year 2013.

According to a report from Berkery Noyes, an investment bank, there were 1,598 mergers and acquisitions in the software industry in 2013, worth an aggregate $88.22 billion. Companies sold, on average, for 2.4x their previous year’s revenue.

Just as the media world is obsessing on the Comcast and Time Warner Cable deal, investment bankers BerkeryNoyes released its summary reports for the three-year trends of all transactions in the sectors it covers, including everything which is broadly part of the Information Industry, that they divide into Media & Marketing, Software and Online & Mobile segments.

“Mobile is having a major impact on the retail landscape, and many of the bigger companies realize that they need to adapt,” said Mary Jo Zandy, managing director of Berkery Noyes, New York. “This bodes well for future M&A activity as acquirers look to fill voids in their existing product offerings,” she said.

“The big education players are acquiring to help manage the transition from print to digital,” said Berkery Noyes.

A dynamic health IT marketplace is rewarding robust and scalable companies – especially those whose products focus on revenue cycle and clinical decision making, according to a trend report from investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes has released its 2013 mergers and acquisitions report for financial technology and information companies in capital markets, payments, banking, insurance and other financial services. There were 341 deals across all industries in 2013, a 10% growth from 2012.

Media/marketing deals remained relatively the same in 2013 versus the previous year, but total dollar value soared — nearly 30%, due in large part to the Publicis-Omnicom merger. Total market value was $97.3 billion — up from $75.8 billion, according to New York investment banker Berkery Noyes.

In a conference call held to discuss the deal, NCR said that the transaction is valued at a multiple of 15.7 times pro-forma EBITDA of $105 million for the 12 months up to July 31.That’s higher than the median valuation for technology deals that took place in the first half of 2013. According to mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes, the median EBITDA multiple for technology deals was 12.5 times in the first half of this year.

“Payments has very strong proprietary technology vendors, but they lack the sales and distribution forces, so they look to align with larger payments companies,” Berkery Noyes says of a common industry scenario. “An ancillary benefit of that is those channel partners are likely buyers.”

BLR said Tuesday that it has acquired HCPro and HealthLeaders Media brands. No financial terms were disclosed. Berkery Noyes served as HCPro’s exclusive financial advisor in the transaction.

The end-of-the year activity comes after third-quarter activity across the education spectrum. Berkery Noyes investment bank said six third-quarter education-related transactions had an aggregate value of $1.5 billion, representing 75% of third-quarter transaction value and 26% of transaction value in the first nine months of 2013.

Berkery Noyes sees several factors driving the recent activity among companies serving toddlers and young children. The first is that the child-care sector is a cyclical one. It tends to grow as the economy gains strength—as it appears to be doing now—and both parents enter the workforce, and the need for child care increases.

“Health care deal flow continues to be strong for companies developing proprietary technology/content, of scale in their markets, high revenue growth (double digit), high percentage of recurring revenue and large total addressable market opportunity,” Berkery Noyes said in a statement.

“Deal value declined a bit on a quarter-to-quarter basis,” commented James Berkery, CIO of Berkery Noyes. “I wouldn’t look at that as a real indicator moving forward, since the volume has increased. The decline is largely due to smaller mid-market deals.”

A new report by Berkery Noyes indicates that both product sales and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within the vendor community are going strong, with $6.29 billion worth of M&A activity in 2012, driven by the HITECH Act and the pressing need to resolve pain points in the healthcare industry.

The healthcare market, especially health IT, remains “highly fragmented,” with lots of openings for entrepreneurs who can solve providers’ “pain points,” according to the latest trend report from Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes was selected as a finalist in the M&A Deal of the Year category. The firm was nominated due to its representation of Great Escape Theatres, which was acquired by Regal Entertainment Group. The winners will be announced on December 17th.

Columbia Books & Information Services has purchased Thompson Information Services for an undisclosed amount. The company was sold by the Thompson Media Group, which has been in the process of selling its business units. Thompson Information was the fifth and final unit to be sold.

Columbia Books & Information Services announced Aug. 29 that it has acquired Thompson Information Services, a publisher of subscription-based regulatory and compliance information primarily for human resource departments, from Thompson Media Group. The transaction was handled by Berkery Noyes.

Wilmington Group, a U.K.-based information provider that focuses on professional business markets, has acquired Compliance Week from Haymarket Media Group. Berkery Noyes acted as Haymarket’s financial adviser in the deal.

“Education in general is probably a middle-market sector, probably a little lower. If you got a company that is getting in the range of $40 million to $50 million in Ebitda or so, then you are quickly gobbled up by another strategic or you’re thinking about going public,” said Berkery Noyes.

Investment bank Berkery Noyes shares a summary of education industry mergers & acquisitions during the first half of 2013 here. This is big game stuff and includes everything from K-12 deals to those involved with professional training: all told, the firm tracked 135 transactions valued collectively at $3.84 billion.

In the payments industry, point of sale technology has become the “hottest area” of interest for companies considering an acquisition, according to the investment bank Berkery Noyes.

The big increase in the in the last six months of 2012 was because of tax changes, with entrepreneurs and companies trying to close deals before New Year’s to take advantage of capital gains treatment, Berkery Noyes said.

Private equity M&A activity in the information technology industry fell 15% in the first half of the year, according to a study from Berkery Noyes. Transactions totaled 234, compared with 198 in the second half of 2012. Deal volume by strategic acquirers, however, was largely flat.

Strategic buyers in the media and marketing industry, driven by a shift toward digital, are on the rise, according to a recent report by investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co. LLC.

“The main catalyst of this deal was acquiring a strong core banking platform and using that to sell other products and solutions to banks,” says investment bank Berkery Noyes. “It’s really about providing a full product suite and acquiring a business that’s going to get them into different markets.”

Berkery Noyes said in a statement that the education industry remains in a “period of transition” which began during the deep recession a few years ago—and drained state and local K-12 budgets—and has continued to feed an “environment where many are questioning the value of the traditional education models.”

The mergers and acquisitions market has been very robust in healthcare generally and in health IT in particular, said Berkery Noyes, an investment banking advisory firm.

“Even though you have within healthcare a massive proliferation of the digitization of data, it typically has been paper based forever,” Berkery Noyes told Med Ad News Daily. “Over the last two years it has been very quickly digitized.”

For the first half of 2013, health information technology was the most active market segment of the healthcare/pharma IT industry for mergers and acquisitions, according to a report from New York-based investment bank Berkery Noyes.

For the first half of 2013, health information technology saw more action in mergers and acquisitions than segments like healthcare business services, consumer health and pharma IT, according to a new report from New York-based investment bank Berkery Noyes.

According to an article in Healthcare IT News which quotes investment bank Berkery Noyes, “During the first six months of 2013, health information technology was the ‘most active market segment’ of the healthcare/pharma/IT industry for mergers and acquisitions.”

According to data released by Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers, healthcare IT was the most active market for mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2013. Healthcare IT accounted for 63 percent of transactions and 40 percent of total mergers and acquisitions volume during that time frame.

“The breadth of acquirers for HIT companies continues to expand as buyers look to capitalize on the size, rapidly evolving dynamics and growth characteristics of the healthcare market,” said Berkery Noyes in a statement.

M&A value in the media and marketing industries was $29.4 billion in the first half of the year, up 2% from the year-earlier period but down a steep 37% from $47.4 billion in the second half of last year, according to a report from investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co.

On a whole, the quantity of private equity deals is about the same since last year, but has almost doubled in value to $12.9 billion in the first half of 2013 compared with those same six months in 2012, says James Berkery, CIO at Berkery Noyes.

Private equity firm StoneCalibre has purchased Source Technologies, which provides magnetic ink printers. Berkery Noyes was Source Technologies’ financial adviser.

StoneCalibre, a private investment firm formed by a former Platinum Equity partner, acquired Source Technologies LLC, an on-demand printer of checks, money orders and other banking documents, from fellow private equity firm Liberty Partners. Berkery Noyes advised Source in the sale to StoneCalibre.

California investment firm StoneCalibre said on Monday that it has acquired Source Technologies from Liberty Partners. Berkery Noyes acted as the financial advisor to Source Technologies for this transaction.

In late May, the New York-based Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers released a white paper titled “An Overview of M&A in the Healthcare IT Sector.”

The healthcare IT merger and acquisition space will go through heavy consolidation over the next five years, according to New York-based Berkery Noyes.

Investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co. LLC advised Thompson on the sale process.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional announced today that, together with Reed Elsevier Properties, it has acquired the publishing brands and businesses of Sheshunoff and A.S. Pratt from Thompson Media Group. Berkery Noyes represented Thompson Media in the sale.

Mergers and acquisitions volume and deal value in the online and mobile industries fell for the first quarter compared with year-earlier results, but some subsectors bucked the trend, according to a report by investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co.

Although a down quarter overall, Berkery Noyes CIO James Berkery attributed cloud and as-a-service interest and adoption as making up for reductions in traditional business data software and services.

The number of M&A transactions fell 7 percent to 336 acquisitions from 362 in the prior quarter, according to new data from Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers. Deal value dropped 53 percent to $7.4 billion from $15.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The value of deals were down nearly 70% from the $25.6 billion in the the fourth quarter 2012, per investment banker Berkery Noyes. Marketing deals which continues to be the biggest category of the media and marketing sector, increased 8% in volume from the fourth quarter to around 120 deals.

Consolidation among software vendors in the governance, risk, and compliance sector seems to happen in waves that arrive every few years, and the latest wave seems to be upon us right now. So says a report from Berkery Noyes, an investment banking firm.

M&A activity in the media and marketing industry increased last year, with deal volume up 3% to 1,611 transactions compared with 1,570 transactions in 2011, according to data released earlier this year by media investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co.

Following the release of its full year 2012 financial technology report, Berkery Noyes contributed data to a slideshow in PaymentsSource, which highlights current merger and acquisition trends in the payments industry.

“I think in terms of the quality of the deals, most people would say it was a pretty good year,” said Managing Director Mary Jo Zandy, referring to the large amount of multimillion-dollar transactions in the educational sector in 2012. Last year had fewer blockbuster sales, but the steady continuation of acquisitions is a sign of a healthy market, Ms. Zandy said.

“Financial sponsors have had considerable capital on the sidelines,” said investment bank Berkery Noyes. “Specialty vintage private equity funds are approaching an inflection point and currently the macroeconomic environment is showing signs of improvement.”

Information-Management.com asked for a view of the year ahead in vendor consolidation and buyout from Berkery’s CIO Jim Berkery and Managing Director Mary Jo Zandy.

A lot of the M&A activity is being fueled in part by hospitals acquiring physician practices, Berkery Noyes told FierceHealthFinance. “The physicians have resisted (modernization), but now they have to be more efficient because it is getting too expensive to provide care in the old-fashioned way.”

Over the past year, mergers and acquisitions have increased considerably in the healthcare IT sector, with smaller deals yielding big returns on investment, according to report from New York-based investment bank Berkery Noyes released Jan. 11.

“We are seeing [healthcare] technology sent to private equity groups, who are not healthcare centric per se, but who are pulling toward healthcare because healthcare is in desperate need of technology innovation and fresh ideas, and fresh capital,” Berkery Noyes told Healthcare IT News.

Continuing a trend since 2010, health IT continues to outpace other health, medical, a pharmaceutical products and services by a significant margin, according to trend report published by Berkery Noyes.

Merger and acquisition activity in the media and marketing industry increased 3% to 1,611 transactions last year compared with 1,570 in 2011, according to investment bank Berkery Noyes.

New York-based investment banker, Berkery Noyes, says total dollar volume climbed 17% to $76 billion last year. But the price for those deals — in terms of revenue multiples and the cash flow multiple — went lower.

For the year, according to new data from Berkery Noyes Investment Bankers, the number of M&A transactions in the software sector rose just 1%, to 1,529 deals.There were only 10 deals in the sector with a value of more than $1 billion, and just four with a valuation of more than $2 billion. There were no deals in the $5 billion or above category.

“There was a lot of interest from potential buyers in the United States and overseas,” said Berkery Noyes.

In part two, Berkery Noyes discusses the technological innovation occurring in the mortgage technology sector and the potential impact it might have on future M&A activity.

“Spending on training and perks to retain existing employees has become more important on the corporate level,” Berkery Noyes explains, adding that in the preschool through 12th grade, the sector is shifting from print to digital tools, improving teacher efficacy and interaction with students.

A recent report by Berkery, Noyes & Co. LLC confirms that event deals are on the rise. The report highlighted an 85 percent increase in event transaction volume (37 deals) for the first half of 2012 compared to the first six months of 2011.

NetLearning provides electronic training and competency management software for hospitals and other health-care companies. It has nearly one million active users, said Berkery Noyes, health care-focused investment banking firm that advised Independence, KY. based Cengage on the sale.

Berkery Noyes was selected as a finalist in two categories: M&A Deal of the Year and Healthcare/Life Sciences Deal of the Year.

In a guest blog post for HousingWire, Berkery Noyes gives their take on some of the key highlights from the Source Media Mortgage Technology Conference.

Berkery Noyes, who repped Great Escape in the Regal deal, described interest by “leading exhibitors in leading countries” in Europe, South America and Asia.

Advanstar Global LLC , an events and information services company, said it agreed to acquire fashion trade show organizer ENK International LLC.

Advanstar Global, parent company of the biennial MAGIC Marketplace fashion shows, has acquired ENK International, owner of 14 high-end trade show fashion brands, including ENKUSA, ENKVEGAS, Fashion Coterie, Intermezzo and Sole Commerce.

The transaction announced November 16 will make ENK a separate division of Advanstar Global. ENK will have access to the new owners’ new digital “Shop the Floor” platform, which begins next year and will give users online access to sellers under the ENK and MAGIC brands.

The publisher of Internet Retailer magazine, Vertical Web Media, has sold its e-commerce events unit to GLM, an events and association management firm run by b2b publishing veteran Charles McCurdy.

George Little Management LLC, a trade show production company backed by Providence Equity Partners, said it acquired the events group of Virtual Web Media for an undisclosed amount.

GLM has acquired the conference business of Vertical Web Media (VWM) in a move that will establish GLM in the e-commerce sector, a growing area that holds particular appeal to GLM’s trade show customers.

George Little Management continues to expand its events portfolio with the acquisition of the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, an e-commerce event, and related assets from Vertical Web Media for undisclosed terms.

The reasons behind this land-grab of education assets has to do with companies’ attempts to provide a more comprehensive solution by combining content with digital tools, according to Berkery Noyes.

“Yes, the number of transactions fell slightly, but valuation levels for privately-held middle market companies continue to increase and 2012 is on pace for a record year in terms of both the number of deals and valuation,” said Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes Managing Director Mary Jo Zandy, in a byline article for Sand Hill, outlines the factors impacting M&A activity in the e-Discovery space.”With overall legal firm technology spending still recovering from the economic downturn, 2012 is shaping up as a record year, continuing the strong rebound performance among e-discovery vendors in 2011,” said Zandy.

According to a white paper from Berkery Noyes, rising home equity, lower excess vacant homes, and more flexible FHA refinance qualifications are all leading the originations sector to “the beginning of an upward cycle in terms of both volume and dollars.”

So far this year, there have been some 34 deals involving supply chain management or fleet management software companies, compared to 25 in all of 2011, according to Berkery Noyes.

“The opportunity to integrate data and workflow is a key strategic driver in the provider environment, and supports higher quality care, patient safety and lower costs,” said Jeffrey Smith, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes.

Investment bank Berkery Noyes reports a year-to-date 19 percent increase in healthcare and pharma IT M&A activity compared to 2011.

“Legislative incentives continue to increase the velocity of deal flow in the healthcare IT M&A market,” said Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes outlines the steps that business owners in the corporate and professional training sector can take to better position their company for a potential sale.

That’s why major deals in the education space are likely to focus on services, rather than the typical focus on technology, said Mary Jo Zandy, the managing director of Berkery Noyes, an investment-banking firm based that represented JBHM in the deal.

Educational technology offerings have been increasingly attractive candidates for acquirers since 2010, and indications are that will continue through the second half of 2012.

“We have a very positive outlook going forward,” said Berkery Noyes. “I think you’ll see more deals, but smaller deals. You have some b-to-b publishers in the $20 million range who may want to sell their business. They’ve done very well, but it may be time to sell; the market has moved.”

Francisco Partners has invested in Therapeutic Research Center. Stockton, Calif.-based Therapeutic Research provides drug therapy recommendations, continuing education, training, and data to the healthcare community. Berkery, Noyes & Co. served as the financial advisor to Therapeutic Research.

Managing Director Peter Ognibene, in a byline article for Bank Systems & Technology, discusses how an integrated payments business provides banks with the best opportunity to compete.

One surprise the report notes is that PE deals in the health and pharmaceuticals space were the greatest by volume of any sector for 2012’s first half.

There were 38 deals for mobile ad-tech companies in 2011—more than triple 2009’s number, according to investment bank Berkery Noyes. The firm counted 21 acquisitions in the first half of 2012.

K-12 technology leads all sectors of education in number of mergers and acquisitions so far this year, with private equity firms continuing to figure prominently in the new education landscape, according to a new report.

“The complexity of healthcare and the explosion of information and new treatments makes it impossible to do medicine the old way via human memory so software and solutions step in to assist healthcare professionals in the practice of medicine,” said Berkery Noyes.

The number of Health IT companies that have changed hands or partnered up is on the rise, according to a new report from investment banking firm Berkery Noyes.

Merger and acquisition activity in the health-care information technology sector has increased by 28% to 196 deals in the first half of 2012 compared with the second half of 2011, according to a report by midmarket investment bank Berkery Noyes.

“The healthcare M&A markets have been very active recently and the velocity of deals will increase in the foreseeable future, particularly for those companies that provide technology enabled services to payers and providers,” said Berkery Noyes.

According to a report by investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co., total transaction volume in the online and mobile space is up for the first half of the year with 970 deals through June 30, up from the year-earlier period, which notched 881 transactions.

Software mergers and acquisitions are up over the first half of 2012 compared with that same time period last year, pulled along by multiple buys of SaaS and customer analytics vendors, according to investment banking advisory Berkery Noyes.

“Taylor’s corporate growth strategy is centered around customer communications in compliance-driven markets and that really aligns well with Venture Encoding’s offering,” said Berkery Noyes in an interview with Mortgage Technology.

Redwood Investments bought CSP Information Group last week, a b-to-b media company that targets the convenience store and restaurant markets. The portfolio includes four magazines and associated newsletters, websites and events. The deal was brokered by Berkery Noyes, which represented Redwood.

Customer analytics was an especially popular category for acquisitions in the first half of 2012. Another popular category, especially for cloud-based software acquisitions, was human capital management (HCM), with transactions up 39 percent from the first half of 2011.

Within the software space, consumer software M&A deals was the fastest-growing segment from the year-earlier period, having grown by 29%, Berkery Noyes said. The report also suggested buyers may be paying slightly richer multiples for software businesses.

Total transaction volume in the software sector for the first half of 2012 beat both halves of last year, according to a new report by investment bank Berkery Noyes & Co.

Redwood Acquisitions, a unit of investment firm Redwood Investments, has acquired CSP Information Group Inc., a business-to-business media company serving the convenience retail, restaurant and fast food sectors. Berkery Noyes & Co. sourced the deal and represented Redwood Acquisitions as investment banker in the transaction.

“The variety of risk profiling and stress testing that financial institutions will be subjected to requires more analytical capabilities,” says Peter Ognibene, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes.

“What makes Instagram interesting is that the company itself wrote its own database to handle the massive influx of data it began to receive a few years ago,” according to Keith Lubell, CTO at Berkery Noyes.

More deals among private-equity backed regional CME players could be coming. “[It’s] a continuation of what we see as… the big multi-billion dollar companies divesting these assets that aren’t core and are hard to scale,” said Berkery Noyes, who represented the seller on both transactions.

“There are several properties on the market right now, and I think you’ll see a pickup in deals over the balance of the year—not a huge spike, but a steady increase,” said Berkery Noyes.

“Both sectors are 10 to 20 years behind the technology curve and are in major need of unique solutions due to cost pressure in the macro environment,” Berkery Noyes says. “On the plus side, there is a huge amount of innovation by entrepreneurs in both these markets.”

The first quarter of 2012 saw a seven percent gain in media and marketing M&A transaction volume from fourth quarter 2011, according to investment advisory firm Berkery Noyes. Transaction value also increased again in Q1 2012, up 38 percent from Q3 2011 and rising 10 percent from Q4 2011.

In a byline article featured in Mortgage Banking Magazine, Berkery Noyes states that “Mortgage technology vendors and outsourcers offering solutions that provide better quality control, enhance fraud mitigation, facilitate borrower communication and improve regulatory compliance are in demand by investors and acquirers.”

This must be a good sign for the economy. Last quarter, 375 software companies were acquired and their buyers spent a healthy $20 billion overall, 10 percent more than the year-ago quarter. So says Berkery Noyes in its quarterly M&A report.

Companies specializing in cloud computing infrastructure technologies were attractive acquisition targets in 2011, according to a report from Berkery Noyes. “We saw twice the number of deals and three times the volume in terms of money spent, going from $4 billion in 2010 to $15 billion in 2011,” James Berkery, CIO of Berkery Noyes said.

It’s a seller’s market for young and small companies that have cornered any technology related to security, mobile wallets or Near Field Communication technology, says Peter Ognibene, managing director at Berkery Noyes.

Many of 2011’s highest-profile transactions in K-12 involved content companies and technology companies. “The level of activity is higher than it ever has been before,” said Mary Jo Zandy, the managing director of Berkery Noyes, which both tracks and advises companies in merger and acquisition deals.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest from both strategic and private equity buyers looking to acquire private HIT companies to penetrate the healthcare market,” said Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes, in an article published in Chief Marketer, examines the factors that marketing service companies should consider before going to market.

Investors also see a growing market in digital education companies. In 2011, deals in the ed-tech sphere totaled $10 billion, which was flat compared with the prior year, but up from $5.4 billion in 2009, according to figures just released by investment banking firm Berkery Noyes.

Berkery Noyes explained how digital spending has constricted b-to-b media activity and discussed some areas where b-to-b media companies might be looking to buy in the future.

“SaaS providers are constantly updating their systems to reflect knowledge learned from one customer and making it available for all customers,” said Berkery Noyes.

Healthx’s selling points included its large customer base and the technology platform it built over 15 years, according to Berkery Noyes, who said that with expenditures in the health-care sector rising, health providers and insurers are always looking to reduce costs.

Valuations for the deals done for the large companies in growth markets in education are at record levels, Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at the investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Investment bank Berkery Noyes said that it advised Healthx Inc. on its majority recapitalization by growth equity firm Frontier Capital. Terms of the deal were not released. Healthx is based in Indianapolis and provides healthcare information technology to insurers and physicians.

Below is a list of the top 10 deals in terms of payout for 2011, which had bested the previous year’s transaction values by the third fiscal quarter, according to financial advisory Berkery Noyes.

Paris-based Publicis Groupe, the parent of Digitas, Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia Group, was the “most active acquirer by volume” between 2009 and 2011, according to a year-end media and marketing industry mergers and acquisitions report released late Wednesday by investment bank Berkery Noyes.

And as there’s no reason to expect an improvement in conditions anytime soon, WebMD may be looking to make some big changes to its business model – changes that could rattle investors, says Berkery Noyes.

Mid-market private equity firm SFW Capital Partners has completed a majority investment in Buyers Laboratory, a provider of analytical testing and competitive intelligence services to the digital imaging and document management industry.

According to Berkery Noyes, corporate borrowers have learned to borrow when they can after extended periods of illiquidity.

New York City-based Berkery Noyes says M&A activity is being driven in part by the regulatory environment.

The Company continues negotiations with several companies that it deems significant strategic acquisition/merger prospects. To assist the Company in assessing its strategic plans, the Company has retained the investment advisory firm of Berkery, Noyes & Co.

When including deals done by its subsidiary VMware, EMC announced a total of eight purchases this year, plus one transfer of assets and one deal that wasn’t announced but seemed to have happened anyway, according to Mary Jo Zandy, managing director at Berkery Noyes.

Merger and acquisition activity in the information sector (media, software and online companies) was up 17% quarter on quarter in Q3 2011, reaching 108 transactions, according to a new report from investment bank Berkery Noyes.

What is clear from all of the transactions on the EM Mergers and Acquisitions Index for the third quarter is that technology is central to almost all of them.

In its Q3 trends report, Berkery Noyes noted the value of the 768 mergers and acquisitions at $39.4 billion, down slightly from that same quarter last year, …

Berkery Noyes, specializing in information content and technology industries research, attributed the sharp increase in transaction value to the Blackstone Group’s announced third quarter acquisition of Emdeon for $3.03 billion, the largest transaction thus far in 2011.

The anticipation of and response to the actual Federal Rules of Civil Procedure revisions in 2006 entailed a tremendous growth opportunity for e-discovery companies and fostered a spate of deals.

According to Berkery Noyes, the fastest way to grow is to acquire the best small business out there. “Volume is up, but price per deal is down because the real action is in smaller, privately-held companies.”

According to the a recent report by Berkery Noyes, “companies focused on technology-based instruction and tools for data collection and analysis are thriving in the K-12 market.”

At the mid-year point, the number of deals announced stands at 112, compared to 140 for the first six months of 2010 and 81 for the first six months of 2009, according to investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Tools for data collection and analysis are thriving in the K-12 market, says a new report by Berkery Noyes, an independent investment bank.

Hearst’s U.K. division, the National Magazine Company, is officially merged with Hachette Filipacchi UK Ltd. According to investment banking firm Berkery Noyes, this was one of the most valuable transactions of first half 2011.

The pace of merger and acquisition activity in the Internet and mobile industries accelerated in the first six months of 2011 compared with the same period a year ago, according to a report from investment banking firm Berkery Noyes.

A study released by Berkery Noyes examines the acquisition and merger tendencies of the online and mobile industry. Beyond a continuing increase in activity for the industry on the whole, both Google and Microsoft have been especially active in the first half of 2011.

Investment banking firm Berkery Noyes released data Wednesday showing M&A activity in the media and marketing sector increased 14% so far this year over the previous six months, while dollars spent soared 68%.

The number of transactions increased 14% to 644 in the first half of the year compared with the year-earlier period, according to a report from Berkery, Noyes & Co. called “Half Year Mergers and Acquisitions Trends Report for the Media & Marketing Industry.”

HMP acquired the monthly publications for an undisclosed price from London-based United Business Media. Media investment bank Berkery Noyes advised UBM on the sale.

“A lot of shareholders had been former employees for a long time, so I think there was a desire to get them some liquidity,” said Berkery Noyes in New York.

In January, for instance, Berkery, Noyes & Co. reported the number of media and information deals increased to 687 last year, a 27% bounce from 2009. The value of those deals totaled $24.0 billion, a 35% plunge from the previous year, which saw several huge deals, such as Thomson Corp.’s $17.58 billion acquisition of Reuters Group.

LRP Publications, which serves the legal, government and education markets, sold its Public Employment Group and Bankruptcy/Banking Products Group to Thomson Reuters. Berkery, Noyes & Co. handled the deal.