Q1 2021 Information Industry Trends

Transaction volume increased 14 percent over the past three months, from 1,012 to 1,157. After rising 28 percent in Q4 2020, overall value declined 26 percent, from $128.5 billion to $95.3 billion. Compared to Q1 2020, volume improved seven percent and value gained 38 percent. M&A activity throughout the last five quarters reached its peak in Q1 2021 whereas value reached its zenith in Q4 2020.

Seven of the Information Industry’s top ten largest deals in Q1 2021 were completed by strategic acquirers. These seven transactions, with a combined value of $30 billion, accounted for almost one-third of the industry’s aggregate value year-to-date.

The median revenue multiple during the past quarter moved upwards from 2.8x to 3.0x, while the median EBITDA multiple fell from 13.0x to 8.9x. Disclosed median enterprise value multiples throughout the last five quarters were 2.7x revenue and 11.4x EBITDA.

The Information Industry’s three broad-based horizontal markets saw notable increases in volume on a quarterly basis.

Regarding the Software horizontal, deal activity underwent a 19 percent gain. M&A in the Business Software segment, which consists of software designed for general business practices and not specific industry markets, increased 33 percent from Q4 2020 to Q1 2021.

In terms of the Online & Mobile horizontal, the number of deals rose 15 percent. Deal flow in the E-Marketing & Search segment increased 50 percent from Q4 2020 to Q1 2021.

As for the Media & Marketing horizontal, M&A activity improved 13 percent. Transaction volume in the Entertainment segment gained 29 percent from Q4 2020 to Q1 2021.