2023-01-11 Berkery Noyes Releases Media & Marketing Industry M&A Report For Full Year 2022

NEW YORK — January 11, 2023 — 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 2022 and compares it with data covering 2020 and 2021. 

Total deal volume in 2022 increased by 14 percent over 2021, from 1,050 to 1,201. Total deal value in 2022 decreased by 28 percent over 2021, from $207.47 billion to $149.40 billion. The median EBITDA multiple declined from 11.7x in 2021 to 11.2x in 2022. The median revenue multiple decreased from 2.9x in 2021 to 2.5x in 2022.

Over the past three years, deals in the $10-$20 million range received a median enterprise value multiple of 2.2x revenue, compared to 2.4x revenue for those in the $20-$40 million range and 4.6x revenue for those in the $160 million and above range.

Regarding specific industry sectors, volume in the Internet Media segment declined seven percent. Notable Internet Media transactions during 2022 included Kismet Capital Group’s announced acquisition of Avito, a classifieds site in Russia, for $2.4 billion; Tiga Acquisition Corp.’s acquisition of Grindr, a social network and dating app for the LGBTQ+ community, for $1.6 billion; and KIRKBI’s announced acquisition of BrainPOP, a digital education brand grounded in research and the science of learning, for $875 million.

The Exhibitions, Conferences, and Events segment saw M&A activity increase from 22 transactions in 2021 to 55 transactions in 2022. A notable transaction included Savvy Gaming Group’s acquisition of ESL Gaming, a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide, for $1 billion.

The Marketing segment, which for the purposes of this report excludes pure software-based companies, experienced a 28 percent increase in volume. Notable segment transactions over the past year included a private equity consortium led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation’s announced acquisition of Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company, for $15.8 billion; Atairos Group’s announced acquisition of Ocean Outdoor Ltd., a digital out-of-home media company in the UK, for $580 million; and Infinite Realty, Inc.’s acquisition of esports and entertainment conglomerate ReKTGlobal, Inc., for $470 million.

Transaction volume within the B2B Publishing and Information segment increased 45 percent on a yearly basis. Notable B2B segment deals included Veritas Capital’s announced acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company, a learning technology company, for $2.7 billion; Pitchbook Data’s announced acquisition of Leveraged Commentary & Data, a provider of news, research, data, insights, and indexes for the leveraged finance market, for $600 million; and TransUnion’s acquisition of Verisk Financial Services, a provider of competitive studies, predictive analytics, models and advisory services to financial institutions, for $515 million.

As for other sectors covered in the report, volume in the Broadcasting segment gained 43 percent, from 14 to 20 deals. M&A activity in the Consumer Publishing segment decreased 21 percent, from 57 to 45 transactions. Deal flow in the Entertainment segment improved eight percent, from 179 to 193 transactions.

A copy of the MEDIA AND MARKETING INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR FULL YEAR 2022 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.