Q1 2022 Information Industry Trends

Transaction volume improved two percent on a quarterly basis, from 1,017 to 1,042. Overall value gained 44 percent, from $144.8 billion to $209.2 billion. M&A activity throughout the last five quarters reached its peak in Q1 2021 whereas value reached its zenith in Q1 2022.

Six of the Information Industry’s top ten largest deals in Q1 2022 were completed by strategic acquirers. These six transactions, with a combined value of $97.6 billion, accounted for almost one-half of the industry’s aggregate value year-to-date.

The median revenue multiple during the past quarter remained constant at 3.3x, while the median EBITDA multiple fell from 18.3x to 11.0x. Disclosed median enterprise value multiples throughout the last five quarters were 3.5x revenue and 13.4x EBITDA.

Regarding the Information Industry’s three broad-based markets, M&A activity in the Media & Marketing horizontal increased 19 percent on a quarterly basis. Transaction volume in the Entertainment segment gained 38 percent. In addition, two of the horizontal’s top three highest value deals year-to-date occurred in the gaming sector.

As for the Online & Mobile horizontal, deal activity saw a one percent uptick from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022. However, volume in the mobile application sector rose 11 percent. Deal flow in the E-Marketing & Search segment increased 18 percent. Meanwhile, M&A activity in the Communications segment improved 13 percent.

In terms of the Software horizontal, volume declined four percent during the past quarter. M&A activity in the Business Software segment, which consists of software designed for general business practices and not specific industry markets, increased 11 percent. The number of deals in both the Infrastructure Software and Consumer Software segments stayed nearly the same.