2019-10-03 Berkery Noyes Releases Media and Marketing Industry M&A Report For Third Quarter 2019

NEW YORK — October 3, 2019 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its third quarter 2019 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Media and Marketing Industry. The report analyzes M&A activity during the three-month period and compares it with data for the six previous quarters.

Aggregate industry volume in the third quarter rose four percent over the second quarter. Overall transaction value more than doubled during this timeframe, from $29.8 billion to $69.1 billion. Of note, three of the industry’s top five highest value transactions year-to-date occurred in the third quarter. The largest of these was Thomson Reuters and Blackstone’s sale of Refinitiv, a financial data analytics provider, to the London Stock Exchange for $27 billion.

Deal activity in the Marketing segment, which for purposes of this report excludes software-based transactions, increased 18 percent during the past three months, from 120 to 141 transactions. The segment’s largest deal in third quarter 2019 was Bain Capital’s acquisition of a majority stake in The Kantar Group, which conducts brand and marketing communications research, for $2.4 billion.

The number of transactions in the B2B Publishing and Information segment increased 61 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis, from 31 to 50 acquisitions. Deal flow in the Consumer Publishing segment declined 20 percent, from 46 to 37 acquisitions.

As for other selected areas covered in the report, the Entertainment segment underwent a 50 percent increase in volume during the quarter, from 38 to 57 deals. One high profile segment transaction in third quarter 2019 was Hasbro’s announced acquisition of Entertainment One, a global independent studio that specializes in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content, for $4 billion. Meanwhile, M&A activity in both the Internet Media and Exhibitions, Conferences, and Events segments saw volume remain nearly constant over the past quarter.

A copy of the MEDIA AND MARKETING INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR THIRD QUARTER 2019 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.