2021-01-05 Berkery Noyes Releases Media and Marketing Industry M&A Report For Full Year 2020

NEW YORK — January 5, 2021 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its full year 2020 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Media and Marketing Industry. The report analyzes M&A activity in the Media and Marketing Industry during 2020 and compares it with data covering 2018 and 2019. 

Total deal volume in 2020 decreased by 23 percent over 2019, from 1,577 to 1,211. On a half year basis, M&A activity declined ten percent in 2nd Half 2020 over 1st Half 2020, from 637 to 574. Deal value in 2020 fell by 37 percent over 2019, from $128.19 billion to $81.28 billion. On a half year basis, M&A value more than doubled in 2nd Half 2020 over 1st Half 2020, from $24 billion to $57.28 billion.

The median revenue multiple moved upward from 2.3x in 2019 to 2.5x in 2020. The median EBITDA multiple improved from 8.3x in 2019 to 10.3x in 2019, nearly returning to its 2018 level.

Regarding selected industry sectors, M&A activity in the Entertainment Content segment saw a slight uptick for the third consecutive year. Of note, the video game subsector experienced a 34 percent yearly increase. The overall industry’s most active acquirer in 2020 either directly or through an affiliated business was Embracer Group, a video game holding company based in Sweden, with 22 transactions.

Transaction volume in the Exhibitions, Conferences, and Events segment fell 61 percent on a yearly basis. The Marketing segment, which for the purposes of this report excludes pure software-based companies, decreased 26 percent. Internet Media segment volume declined 11 percent.

Deal flow in the Consumer Publishing segment decreased 38 percent over the past year. Transaction volume in the B2B Publishing and Information segment declined 15 percent.

A copy of the MEDIA AND MARKETING INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR FULL YEAR 2020 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.