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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Equiteq is the leading M&A firm focused exclusively on the consulting sector

What we do for our clients Global presence and consulting industry credentials

Equity value realizationSale to a Strategic Buyer or Financial Investor

Sell50+ Deals

Value creation and sale preparationBetween 1 and 5 years ahead of a desired transaction

Prepare300+

Clients

Why we’re different• Deep domain expertise in the Consulting sector

• Add value and engage at any stage in the exit destination journey

• Unique blend of consulting, corporate finance and investment banking skills

NEW YORK

LONDON

SINGAPORE

Established in 2004 Regular AMCF USA speaker

50 people across 3 continents Regular MCA UK speaker

Clients in 27+ countries Widely published in industry media

SYDNEY


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


Consulting market segment overview


Global deal activity up by 9.4%

2015 deal volumes

returned to pre-crisis

levels


9.4% growth largely the result of management consulting and media consulting deals


Media deals saw a 12.6% growth from previous year


Media consulting overview


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


Media consulting deals represent 26% share of all consulting M&A


Revenue multiples consistent with 5-year median, however there was a drop in EBITDA multiple


Media consulting buyers dominated by a few large players

Digital marketing


Deal volumes remained consistent since 2013. North America has gained market share in recent years.


Deal multiples reflect the profitability of this space with revenue multiples at 1.2x for the 2013-15 period


Customer management/experience


After a strong 2014, deal volumes slightly dipped.


High valuations are mostly driven by specialists in the sector with offerings involving analytics tools and platforms.


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


Is now the time to prepare for a future sale, or sell your consulting firm?


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Date post:	21-Mar-2017
Category:	Business
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Discover why media consulting firms are being snapped up

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