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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amy LaBan
212 842-7126
[email protected]
1Q15 Review of M&A and Investment Activity in the
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries:
768 Transactions Totaling a Reported $23.6 Billion
Digital Media/Commerce was the Most Active Segment with 321 Transactions
Followed by Marketing Technology with 225 Transactions;
Digital Media/Commerce was the Highest Value Segment with $12.6 Billion in Reported Deal Value
March 31, 2015 New York, NY – During 1Q15, Petsky Prunier tracked 768 M&A and investment transactions for a
total of $23.6 billion across five broad segments: Digital Media/Commerce, Digital Advertising, Marketing
Technology, Agency & Marketing Services, and Traditional Media. Digital Media/Commerce and Marketing
Technology were the most active segments with 321 and 225 transactions, respectively, while Digital
Media/Commerce was the highest reported value segment totaling $12.6 billion.
MARKETING,
MEDIA,Media,
TECHNOLOGY
AND SERVICE
INDUSTRIES
Marketing,
and Technology
Industries
M ARKETING, M EDIA, TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICE INDUSTRIES
MARKETING,
TECHNOLOGY
AND SERVICE
INDUSTRIES
Marketing,
Media,
and
Technology
Industries
Marketing,
Media,
& Technology
Industries
1H12
MMEDIA,
&A AND
INVESTMENT
ACTIVITY
2Q12
M&A
AND
INVESTMENT
ACTIVITY
1Q15
M&A
and
Investment Activity
M&A
AND INVESTMENT
ACTIVITY:
1Q11
- 2Q12
in Millions)
1Q14-1Q15
M&A($and
Investment
Activity
1Q12-1Q13 M&A($
Investment Activity
($and
in Billions)
in Billions)
($ in Millions)
($ in Billions)
Digital Media/
Commerce
$12,598
DOLLAR
VALUE
Traditional Media
$2,644
$102.3
Ono S.A./
Vodafone
$75.1
WhatsApp/
Facebook
Time
Warner
Cable/
Comcast
DirecTV/
AT&T
$27.0
DEAL
VOLUME
Agency &
Marketing
Services
$1,710
$49.4
765
726
677
739
1Q14
2Q14
3Q14
4Q14
$23.6
768
Digital
Advertising
$1,867
Marketing
Technology
$4,787
1Q15
M&A Activity
Acquisitions accounted for 44 percent of total transactions and 47 percent of reported value in 1Q15. Digital
Media/Commerce was the most active M&A segment with 102 transactions, of which 23 were reported for $4.3 billion
in value. Quarterly activity in Digital Media/Commerce was up 46 percent, while value was relatively flat. The most
active subsegments were eCommerce with 35 acquisitions and Mobile Content/Apps with 27 acquisitions. M&A
transactions in the Digital Media/Commerce segment announced during 1Q15 included:
 Expedia’s $1.3 billion pending purchase of online travel company Orbitz, as a follow-up to its $280 million planned
purchase of travel and leisure services provider Travelocity
 The $475 million purchase of weight loss and nutrition tracking app developer MyFitnessPal by Under Armor
 King Digital Entertainment’s $150 million acquisition of mobile gaming company Z2
 The $134 million acquisition of food delivery company Eat24 by Yelp
Petsky Prunier’s Summary of 1Q15 M&A and Investment Activity:
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries
Page 1
 GrubHub’s purchases of restaurant delivery services companies DiningIn and Restaurant on the Run at a combined
value of $75 million
Marketing Technology was the second most active M&A segment with 85 transactions, of which 21 were reported for
$2.2 billion in value. Quarter-over-quarter activity was flat, and reported value was up 57 percent. The most active
subsegment was Content Management with 15 acquisitions, up from 11 in 4Q14. Transactions in the segment
announced during 1Q15 included:
 Hitachi Data Systems’ $500 million acquisition of open source business intelligence solutions provider Pentaho
 PayPal’s $280 million acquisition of Paydiant, a licensor of branded wallet app technology for retail chains
 The $200 million acquisition by Nielsen of eXelate, a data and technology company that helps digital advertisers
better target online advertising
 NeuLion’s $63 million acquisition of digital video solutions company DivX
 Twitter’s $45 million purchase of Niche, which connects advertisers with “social media stars”
Activity in the Traditional Media segment was up 58 percent from the previous quarter with 41 transactions, of which
11 were reported for $2.3 billion in aggregate value. Activity was spread across the segment, with five deals occurring
in the Broadcast Television subsegment, including three reported for $1.2 billion in value. Transactions in the segment
announced during 1Q15 included:
 TIV’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Netherlands-based reality TV production company Talpa Media
 EBSCO Information Services’ $300 million purchase of book distributor Baker & Taylor
 New Media Investment Group’s $280 million purchase of newspaper operator Halifax Media Group from Stephens
Capital Partners
M&A activity in the Digital Advertising segment was up 60 percent compared to the previous quarter with 56 deals, of
which 14 reported $842 million in value. The Online Lead Generation, Ad Networks/Exchanges, and Digital Video
subsegments together accounted for 55 percent of the segment’s total M&A activity with 14, 11, and six transactions,
respectively. Transactions in the segment announced during 1Q15 included:
 Zomato’s $52 million acquisition of online reservation services provider Urbanspoon
 Online wedding marketplace WeddingWire’s $50 million acquisition of Spain-based competitor Wedding Planner
 Nexstar Broadcasting Group’s $33 million purchase of programmatic online video advertising specialist Yashi
Investment Activity
There were 428 investments during 1Q15, of which 397 reported $12.6 billion in value. Reported value for venture
and growth capital investments was flat quarter-over-quarter, while activity was down eight percent. Eighty-four
percent of investments was made in the Digital Media/Commerce and Marketing Technology segments with 219 and
140 deals announced, respectively. Digital Media/Commerce was the highest value segment during the quarter with
204 transactions worth $8.3 billion in reported value. Investments in the segment during 1Q15 included:
 An additional $1 billion raised by Uber, expanding its Series E round total to $2.8 billion at a reported valuation of
more than $40 billion
 Tiger Capital Partners’ and Alibaba’s $700 million investment in China-based taxi-hailing app developer Kuaidi
Dache
 Food ordering network Delivery Hero’s $568 million minority investment from Rocket Internet
 The Rakuten-led $530 million round in ride-sharing service Lyft
 Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners’ co-led $367 million investment in Pinterest, reportedly
valued at $11 billion
 The $220 million investment made by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in on-demand grocery delivery startup
Instacart at a reported valuation of $2 billion
 eCommerce company Jet’s $140 million round of funding led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from
Accel Partners and General Catalyst Partners
Petsky Prunier’s Summary of 1Q15 M&A and Investment Activity:
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries
Page 2
 Redpoint Ventures’ and Insight Venture Partners’ $110 million investment at a reported valuation of $1.1 billion in
Nextdoor, a social network focused on connecting residents within neighborhoods
Marketing Technology was the second most active investment segment with 140 transactions, of which 132 reported
$2.6 billion in value. Analytics & Targeting was the most active subsegment with 37 investments, of which 33
reported $652 million in value. Compared to the previous quarter, value in the segment increased 59 percent, while
volume was down 13 percent. The Content Management subsegment had 18 investments at a reported $389 million in
aggregate value, resulting in quarter-over-quarter growth in value of 166 percent. Investments in the Marketing
Technology segment during 1Q15 included:
 FMR’s $130 million investment, with participation from Wellington Management and Institutional Venture
Partners, in Dataminr, which mines real-time data from Twitter and other public sources
 The $80 million funding by Valiant Capital Management and Sequoia Capital in India-based FreeCharge, which
offsets consumers’ mobile charging costs with discount coupons
 eCommerce solutions provider Volusion’s $55 million investment from Main Street Capital
 Mithril Capital Management’s $50 million investment in cloud commerce solutions provider AppDirect
Investments in the Digital Advertising segment accounted for 13 percent of all investments during the quarter. There
were 57 investments, of which 50 were reported for approximately $1 billion in value. The most active subsegments
were Digital Video and Mobile Marketing with 12 and 10 investments, respectively. Online Lead Generation was the
highest value subsegment with seven investments, of which five were worth $271 million in reported investment
value. Investments from the segment during 1Q15 included:
 Fidelity Management and Research’s $117 million funding of content discovery platform Taboola
 Tech-enabled customer acquisition company Red Ventures’ $250 million round of funding at a reported valuation of
$1 billion from Silver Lake Partners
 Homeowner and home professional vertical network Porch.com’s $65 million round of funding from Valor Equity
Partners with participation from Founders Fund and Battery Ventures
 Japan-based app monetization platform Metaps’ $36 million from Fidelity Growth Partners
Buyer & Investor Activity
1Q15 Most Active Strategic Buyers by Number of Transactions
Buyer
TripAdvisor
Dentsu
Google
Publicis
Twitter
Expedia
Facebook
Rakuten
Number of
Transactions
5
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
Representative Targets
lens.nl, MyTable, RestOpolis, SeatMe Amsterdam, ZeTrip
BWM Group, Soap Creative, WATConsult
Launchpad Toys, Odysee.com, Toro
Epic Communications, RelaxNews, Monkees
Niche, Periscopeapp.tv, ZipDial
Orbitz, Travelocity.com
Wit.ai, TheFind
Deep Forest Media, OverDrive
Strategic buyers accounted for 94 percent of all control transactions in 1Q15. Of the 319 strategic deals announced, 72
were reported for $10.5 billion in value. Compared to 4Q14, strategic buyer volume increased 23 percent, while value
decreased nine percent. Nearly one-third of strategic transactions were in the Digital Media/Commerce segment, up
slightly from 26 percent in 4Q14, while Marketing Technology accounted for 24 percent of activity.
Buyout firms completed 21 acquisitions in 1Q15, of which five were reported for $538 million in value. More than 70
percent of buyout transactions were in the Marketing Technology and Traditional Media segments with nine and six
deals, respectively. Buyout transactions announced in 1Q15 included:
Petsky Prunier’s Summary of 1Q15 M&A and Investment Activity:
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries
Page 3
 Providence Equity Partners’ $307 million acquisition of trade show and event organizer Clarion
 CPBE Capital’s $76 million acquisition of online furniture retailer Sofa.com at a reported valuation of 2.5x revenue
1Q15 Most Active Investors by Number of Transactions
Investor
Sequoia Capital
Tiger Global Management
Google Ventures
Bessemer Venture Partners
New Enterprise Partners
FRM
Great Oaks Ventures
Matrix Partners
Number of
Transactions
15
9
7
6
6
5
5
5
Representative Targets
App Annie, Cheyipai, Ele.ne, Grabhouse.com, Grofers, HomeLane.com, Moovit, PepperTap
99Taxis, CaratLane.com, Dianrong.com, Kuaidi Dache, MoonFrog Labs, News In Shorts
Commonfloor.com, Glassdoor, Kobalt, Jet, Move Loot, Norht Technologies, Bento Labs
Hungama Digital, Instructure, nToggle, Pinterest, Vidyard, Wandera
Brand Metrics, Do, FiftyThree, Raise Marketplace, ScoutRFP, Swiftype
Appsflyer, Dataminr, Moda Operandi, Retty, Uber
Choozle, Fabric, Locket, UrbanStems, Wigo
Namely, Lamabang, Stayzilla, Mofang.com, Lizhi.FM
Venture and growth capital investors accounted for 428 transactions, of which 397 were reported for $12.6 billion in
value. Compared to 4Q14, investment volume was down eight percent, while value was flat. Sequoia Capital and
Tiger Global Management were the most active investors during 1Q15, completing 15 and nine investments,
respectively.
IPO Activity
Digital advertising services provider Maxpoint Interactive completed its IPO in 1Q15, raising $75 million and pricing
in the middle of its filing range. Etsy and China-based companies Sogou and Wowo submitted their IPO filings in
1Q15 but have yet to price.
*All values as of 12pm ET on 3/30/15. Transaction values include only reported up-front cash payments and do not
account for any potential future performance-based compensation.
Petsky Prunier’s Summary of 1Q15 M&A and Investment Activity:
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries
Page 4
Quarterly M&A and Investment Activity by Segment
Most Active Digital Media/Commerce Subsegments
4Q14
1Q15
LTM
1Q15 vs 4Q14
(% Change)
Subsegment
eCommerce
Mobile Content/Apps
Social Media/Apps
Classifieds/Auctions/P-to-P
Niche Content
Gaming
Web Search/Portals
Total
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
69
97
45
28
15
25
0
279
3,325
4,741
1,465
932
1,602
221
0
12,286
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
108
91
23
38
25
25
5
321
6,927
3,312
735
1,054
128
338
53
12,598
Number of
Transactions
465
427
207
152
132
124
11
1,528
Reported
Value ($MM)
22,588
10,757
4,086
5,053
1,801
18,487
3,057
65,891
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value
57%
(6%)
(49%)
36%
0%
67%
NM
15%
108%
(30%)
(50%)
13%
(42%)
(79%)
NM
3%
Most Active Digital Advertising Subsegments
4Q14
1Q15
LTM
1Q15 vs 4Q14
(% Change)
Subsegment
Digital Video
Vertical Search
Mobile Marketing
Local Search
Ad Networks/Exchanges
Comparison Shopping
Digital Promotion/Coupon
Online Lead Generation
Search Marketing
Email Services
Game Advertising
Affiliate/CPA Network
Total
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
25
20
16
12
12
9
6
3
2
2
3
1
344
327
323
341
689
499
960
183
0
0
11
18
18
15
19
10
17
6
5
21
0
2
0
0
471
156
282
304
218
30
56
343
0
6
0
0
119
99
90
66
63
41
34
49
14
12
6
7
4,857
4,685
1,030
1,742
2,117
727
2,829
5,927
1,069
56
45
2,404
(28%)
(25%)
19%
(17%)
42%
(33%)
(17%)
600%
(100%)
0%
(100%)
(100%)
37%
(52%)
(13%)
(11%)
(68%)
(94%)
(94%)
87%
NM
NM
(100%)
(100%)
111
3,695
113
1,867
600
27,488
2%
(49%)
Most Active Marketing Technology Subsegments
4Q14
1Q15
LTM
1Q15 vs 4Q14
(% Change)
Subsegment
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
59
32
20
22
23
15
19
7
6
437
346
301
175
282
393
340
18
86
49
33
22
8
15
10
13
12
7
997
636
635
60
518
692
123
115
80
295
166
137
126
95
84
83
46
36
6,909
2,817
3,284
1,074
2,092
1,794
1,462
476
607
(17%)
3%
10%
(64%)
(35%)
(33%)
(32%)
71%
17%
128%
84%
111%
(66%)
84%
76%
(64%)
526%
(7%)
Subtotal
Other
203
45
2,378
653
169
56
3,856
931
1,068
252
20,515
6,552
(17%)
24%
62%
43%
Total
248
3,031
225
4,787
1,320
27,067
(9%)
58%
Analytics & Targeting
Content Management
Mobile Technology
Social Technology
Commerce Management
BI Tools
CRM
SFA/Lead Management
Search & Discovery
"Other" includes Ad Serving, Content Delivery Network , Creative Production Platform, Email/Messaging Platform, Mark et Research Software, Mark eting Asset Management, Media
Management System, Product/Price Software, Search & Discovery, Segmentation/Data Mining, SEM/SEO Tools, Teleservices/eServices, Web to Print, and Website Creation/Hosting
Petsky Prunier’s Summary of 1Q15 M&A and Investment Activity:
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries
Page 5
Most Active Agency & Marketing Services Subsegments
4Q14
1Q15
LTM
1Q15 vs 4Q14
(% Change)
Subsegment
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Digital Agency
Public Relations
Loyalty/Retention
Social Agency
General Agency
Database/Analytics
Marketing Consulting
Branded Communications
DM Agency
30
7
8
3
3
3
2
2
1
3,449
90
93
0
295
44
12
0
850
25
8
5
0
2
2
3
1
1
86
0
41
0
0
91
6
0
0
135
35
26
16
16
12
12
9
9
4,426
93
469
11
470
167
44
42
854
(17%)
14%
(38%)
(100%)
(33%)
(33%)
50%
(50%)
0%
(98%)
(100%)
(56%)
NM
(100%)
108%
(50%)
NM
(100%)
Subtotal
Other
59
11
4,832
163
47
19
225
1,485
270
81
6,576
13,153
(20%)
73%
(95%)
810%
Total
70
4,995
66
1,710
351
19,729
(6%)
(66%)
"Other" includes Healthcare Agency, B-to-B Agency, Promotion Agency, Retail Services, Specialty Agency, Design Agency, Performance/Contract Sales, Product/Price Consulting, Ad
Speicalty/Premiums, and List Brok er/Manager
Most Active Traditional Media Subsegments
4Q14
1Q15
LTM
1Q15 vs 4Q14
(% Change)
Subsegment
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Number of
Transactions
Reported
Value ($MM)
Entertainment Media
B-to-B Media
Broadcast Television
Consumer Magazine Publishing
Newspaper Publishing
Digital Place-Based Media
Consumer Book Publishing
Radio
Cable & Satellite Television
Traditional Outdoor
Yellow Pages
1
10
8
3
4
2
1
1
0
1
0
250
1,209
267
50
604
32
7
67
0
550
0
6
9
5
10
3
0
7
0
0
3
0
300
324
1,185
9
280
0
547
0
0
0
0
50
39
33
26
19
17
14
11
9
6
0
4,937
2,029
6,959
578
1,482
468
1,153
300
2,819
1,240
0
500%
(10%)
(38%)
233%
(25%)
(100%)
600%
(100%)
NM
200%
NM
20%
(73%)
344%
(83%)
(54%)
(100%)
7,597%
(100%)
NM
(100%)
NM
Total
31
3,035
43
2,644
227
23,764
39%
(13%)
About Petsky Prunier LLC
Petsky Prunier (www.petskyprunier.com) is one of the leading investment banks in the technology, media, marketing,
eCommerce, and healthcare industries. Our firm’s mergers and acquisitions and private placements advisory services
reflect a unique blend of product specialization and industry expertise. Together with strategic consulting firm
Winterberry Group, a Petsky Prunier company, our organization represents one of the largest industry-specific
advisors providing strategic and transactional services. In addition, we offer international reach through our
partnership with Altium. Established for more than 20 years and privately owned, Altium is an international
investment bank operating from eight offices across Europe. Securities transactions are processed through Petsky
Prunier Securities LLC.
Petsky Prunier’s Summary of 1Q15 M&A and Investment Activity:
Marketing, Media, and Technology Industries
Page 6