Q3 2019 Information Industry Trends

Q3 2019 Key Highlights

Strategic acquisitions represented 78 percent of total volume and 68 percent of total value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2019.

The industry’s largest transaction in Q3 2019 and year-to-date was London Stock Exchange Group’s announced acquisition of Refinitiv, a financial data analytics provider, for $27 billion.

Q3 2019 Key Trends

Total transaction volume in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2019 improved by five percent over the 1st 3 Quarters of 2018, from 3,357 to 3,515.

As for the industry’s horizontal markets on a year-over year basis, Software volume increased by 12 percent; Online & Mobile volume rose by four percent; and Media & Marketing volume declined by six percent.

Total transaction value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2019 gained five percent over the 1st 3 Quarters of 2018, from $263.2 billion to $275.4 billion.

Multiples & Value Trends

The median revenue multiple on a year-over-year basis saw an uptick from 2.4x to 2.6x.

The median EBITDA multiple on a year-over-year basis shifted slightly from 12.0x to 12.3x.

Top Ten Deals Through Q3 2019

The top ten deals by value have seen five new additions since our half year report, including one in the Software horizontal: Broadcom’s announced acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security business for $10.7 billion.

These five transactions, with an aggregate value of $67.9 billion, represented 24 percent of transaction value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2019 and 53 percent of Q3 2019 transaction value.