Q3 2018 Media & Marketing Industry Trends

The largest transaction in Q3 2018 was the announced acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet by an investment consortium that includes Thomas H. Lee Partners and CC Capital, for $6.7 billion. Dun & Bradstreet provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses.
There were 187 financially sponsored transactions in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2018 with an aggregate value of $31.4 billion, representing 15 percent of the total volume and 38 percent of the total value, respectively.

Total transaction volume in Q3 2018 stayed about the same over Q2 2018, at 449. This followed a 14 percent rise in Q2 2018.
Total transaction value in Q3 2018 remained nearly constant over Q2 2018, at $26.7 billion. This was the second consecutive quarter in which value was flat.

The median revenue multiple from 2017 through the 1st 3 Quarters of 2018 increased by 20 percent, from 1.5x to 1.8x.
The median EBITDA multiple from 2017 through the 1st 3 Quarters of 2018 improved by ten percent, from 9.7x to 10.7x.

The top ten deals by value have seen three new additions since our half year report: the previously mentioned acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet for $6.7 billion; Sirius XM Holdings’ announced acquisition of Pandora Media for $2.8 billion; and Interpublic Group of Companies’ announced acquisition of Acxiom Corporation’s Marketing Solutions Business for $2.3 billion.
These three transactions, with an aggregate value of $11.8 billion, represented 14 percent of transaction value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2018 and 44 percent of Q3 2018 transaction value.

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