Discover why media consulting firms are being snapped up
Transcript of Discover why media consulting firms are being snapped up
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Growing equity, realizing value
Why are media consulting firms being snapped up in 2016?
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Global Consulting M&A Report 2016
• 9th consecutive year• Over 100,000 downloads to date• Compilation and analysis of all 2015 consulting deals
world-wide• Compiled using:
– Proprietary news feeds– M&A data subscription services– Unique intelligence from our daily interaction with buyers and
sellers– Equiteq commissioned independent research of global
consulting sector buyers
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Consulting market segment overview
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Global deal activity up by 9.4%
2015 deal volumes
returned to pre-crisis
levels
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9.4% growth largely the result of management consulting and media consulting deals
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Media deals saw a 12.6% growth from previous year
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Media consulting overview
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Media consulting – what we analysed
Firms in this space cover all the main disciplines at the execution end of the marketing process, including:
• Brand design agencies• Online and traditional PR and reputation management• Corporate web design, ecommerce and portals• Social media services• Digital marketing and search engine optimisation• Loyalty management services• Digital and media advertising agencies• Consumer insights and analytics, online and traditional• Email marketing• Usability testing and benchmarking• Customer management and experience (CX)• Marketing and brand strategy
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Media consulting deals represent 26% share of all consulting M&A
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Revenue multiples consistent with 5-year median, however there was a drop in EBITDA multiple
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Media consulting buyers dominated by a few large players
Digital marketing
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Deal volumes remained consistent since 2013. North America has gained market share in recent years.
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Deal multiples reflect the profitability of this space with revenue multiples at 1.2x for the 2013-15 period
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Customer management/experience
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After a strong 2014, deal volumes slightly dipped.
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High valuations are mostly driven by specialists in the sector with offerings involving analytics tools and platforms.
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So what does this mean for media and marketing firm sellers?
2016 consulting M&A outlook
• Q1 2016 deals show no slowdown• Continued optimism in the market but with less
growth than recently• Buyer demand continues to be positive• More sellers are now in the market taking advantage
of the positive deal conditions
The Media industry the industry remains highly desirable due to its digital transformation and broadening of the buyer community to include IT companies.
2016 high profile M&A hotspot
Digital Marketing
Owners with sale ready firms are well positioned in 2016
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Is now the time to prepare for a future sale, or sell your consulting firm?
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