Direct marketing mergers and acquisitions hit a record $18.3 billion in the first half of this year, a 30% increase over the same period in 2004, according to investment banking firm Petsky Prunier.
A total of 216 deals closed during the period, with an average value of $84.7 million (compared with $54 million a year ago). These included acquisitions, capital investments, public companies being taken private and private firms conducting public stock offerings.
Marketing services companies completed 115 transactions with a total value of $8.4 billion. This is up from $5.2 billion a year ago. One large one was Hellman & Friedman’s $1.1 billion pickup of DoubleClick.
Interactive advertising and related businesses were involved in 37% of all deals, but at comparatively low prices. Eleven search engines signed agreements worth a combined $278 million, and these accounted for three out of four of the largest deals in the sector.
Marketing technology companies conducted 59, worth $3.2 billion all told. The largest was eFunds’ $310 million purchase of WildCard Systems.
And multichannel marketers racked up 42, all worth $6.7 billion. While these made up only 19% of the deals during this period, they accounted for 37% of the total dollar volume.
DM companies are increasingly relying on private equity firms, Petsky Prunier noted. The first half of the year brought 69 private equity deals
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