Q1 2020 Media & Marketing Industry Trends

Media & Marketing transaction volume declined one percent over the past three months, from 349 to 345. Aggregate value improved seven percent, from $18.3 billion to $19.5 billion.

M&A activity in the Marketing segment rose 14 percent over Q4 2019. Notable segment deals year-to-date included private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice’s announced acquisition of Huntsworth PLC, a healthcare communications and public relations company, for $665 million; and Charlesbank Capital Partners’ announced acquisition of News America Marketing, which provides marketing services primarily through newspaper inserts and in-store coupon displays, for $235 million.

Transaction volume in the Entertainment segment gained 12 percent from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020. Notable segment deals year-to-date included Stillfront Group AB’s acquisition of Storm8, a mobile mash-up game developer, for $304 million; and Embracer Group’s acquisition of Saber Interactive, a video game developer, for $150 million with a potential $375 million earnout.

Deal flow in the Internet Media segment remained about constant on a quarterly basis. High profile segment acquirers during Q1 2020 included Fox Corporation with the acquisition of Tubi TV, a streaming platform, for $490 million; Spotify with the announced acquisition of The Ringer, a sports and pop culture podcast network, for around $200 million; The New York Times with the acquisition of Audm, an app that converts longform articles into narrated audio; and Apple with the acquisition of Dark Sky, a weather app.

As for other select industry sectors, the number of Consumer Publishing transactions saw a slight uptick over Q4 2019, from 22 to 25 acquisitions. The segment’s largest deal in Q1 2020 was Lee Enterprises’ announced acquisition of BH Media Group’s publications portfolio, including 31 local daily newspapers, from Berkshire Hathaway for $140 million.