2019-10-04 Berkery Noyes Releases Online and Mobile Industry M&A Report For Third Quarter 2019

NEW YORK — October 4, 2019 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its third quarter 2019 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Online and Mobile 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 improved four percent year-to-date over the first three quarters of 2018. Overall value decreased 15 percent during this timeframe, from $154.3 billion to $131.6 billion. The SaaS & Cloud segment remained the industry’s most active sector, rising 19 percent.

M&A activity in the E-Commerce segment was nearly constant year-to-date compared to the first three quarters of 2018. In terms of value, five of the aggregate industry’s top ten largest transactions year-to-date occurred in the third quarter, three of which occurred in the E-Commerce segment. Along these lines were Takeaway.com’s merger with Just Eat, a Dutch online food delivery marketplace, for $6.3 billion; Prudential Financial’s acquisition of Assurance IQ, an online health insurance marketplace, for $2.4 billion; and Alibaba Group’s acquisition of Kaola, a cross-border e-commerce platform, for $2 billion.

As for the E-Marketing & Search segment, volume declined six percent year-to-date over the first three quarters of 2018. Notable segment deals by high profile acquirers in third quarter 2019 included WPP’s acquisition of technology-driven creative agency, AQuest, whose expertise includes innovative UX and UI design, production, consumer experience and activations; and Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of McCready Bale Media, a full-service media agency that specializes in digital media and works across all media channels.

Upon examination of other areas covered in the report, volume in the Communications segment stayed about the same year-to-date over the first three quarters of 2018. High profile segment transactions in the third quarter included Broadcom’s acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security business, for $10.8 billion; and BC Partners’ acquisition of Presidio, an IT solutions provider delivering digital infrastructure, cloud and security solutions to create agile, secure infrastructure platforms for commercial and public sector customers, for $2.3 billion.

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