2020-01-06 Berkery Noyes Releases Online and Mobile Industry M&A Report For Full Year 2019

NEW YORK — January 6, 2020 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its full year 2019 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Online and Mobile Industry. The report analyzes M&A activity in the Online and Mobile Industry during 2019 and compares it with data covering 2017 and 2018. 

According to Berkery Noyes’ latest research, volume saw a two percent uptick on a year-to-year basis. Strategic volume remained about constant whereas private equity backed volume improved eight percent. Aggregate deal value declined one percent, from $209.57 billion to $206.60 billion. However, value doubled from 2017 to 2018.

The median revenue multiple year-over-year shifted slightly from 2.5x to 2.6x, while the median EBITDA multiple moved upward from 12.2x to 14.1x. Over the past three years, deals in the $10-$20 million range received a median enterprise value multiple of 1.9x revenue, compared to 2.8x revenue for those in the $20-$160 million range and 4.1x revenue for those in the $160 million and above range.

The number of deals in the mobile application subsector declined eight percent over the past year, returning to its 2017 level. Notable mobile-based transactions during 2019 included Sakthi Global Holding Ltd’s announced merger with iRide.io, a ride sharing app, for $336 million; Trax’s acquisition of Shopkick, a shopping rewards app, for $200 million; and Hill-Rom’s announced acquisition of Voalte, a mobile communication platform that enables care teams to access and exchange information securely, for $180 million.

The E-Commerce segment underwent a three percent decrease in volume on a yearly basis. In terms of value, five of the industry’s top ten largest deals in 2019 occurred in the E-Commerce segment. This made it the best represented sector in the top ten list. Along these lines were:

  • Flutter Entertainment’s announced acquisition of Stars Group, an online gambling company known in particular for PokerStars and other poker brands, for $10.84 billion; 
  • Takeaway.com’s announced merger with Just Eat, which operates a global marketplace for online food delivery, for $6.28 billion; 
  • Viagogo’s announced acquisition of StubHub, an online ticket marketplace, for $4.05 billion;
  • PayPal’s announced acquisition of Honey Science Corporation, a shopping platform that offers users instant access to exclusive savings, deals, and rewards, for $4 billion; and 
  • Delivery Hero’s announced acquisition of Woowa Brothers Corp., an online food delivery services firm, for $3.5 billion. 

Transaction activity in the SaaS & Cloud segment gained 13 percent over the past year. High profile segment deals during 2019 included the acquisition of Ultimate Software Group, a provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions, by an investor group led by Hellman & Friedman, for $10.82 billion; and Dassault Systèmes’ acquisition of Medidata, a provider of SaaS-based clinical development software, for $5.82 billion.

As for other selected sectors covered in the report, volume in the Communications segment increased five percent on a yearly basis. Notable segment transactions in 2019 included Broadcom’s acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security business for $10.7 billion; and Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation’s acquisition of LogMeIn, a provider of remote connectivity and collaboration solutions, for $4.56 billion.

A copy of the ONLINE AND MOBILE INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR FULL YEAR 2019 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.