h2 2020 | media talk
media talk | h2 2020
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GLOBAL M&A OVERVIEW
WESTERN EUROPE (EXCLUDING UK) M&A activity in Western Europe also picked up marginally in the second half of 2020, even if global deal volumes still slipped on 2019. The region saw 16% of deals on the buy-side, a 3% reduction on 2019. Its share of global deal volume as an acquirer region fell by just 1%, to finish the year with 17% of global deals by volume. There were a slightly higher number of intra- regional deals, compared to other regions. Cross-border transactions fell largely within EU boundaries, though a minority reached out to the US, the UK, the Middle East and Africa. Germany and France vied for top target country, and the Nordic countries also contributed notably to the overall tally. In December, UK-based PE firm Inflexion Private Equity Partners announced a tender offer for all outstanding shares of Norwegian trading and market data provider, Infront. The offer, which values Infront at more than EUR €250 million, will provide the company with capital to support its growth ambitions through potential future transactions. Sweden came second only to Germany as top acquirer with a flurry of deals. These included Stockholm-based digital agency Knowit’s acquisition of Norwegian consultancy Creuna for EUR €17.2 million.
FIGURE 2: GLOBAL MEDIA M&A DEALS BY TOP ACQUIRER REGION IN 2020
ASIA PACIFIC The Asia Pacific saw its share of global deal volumes remain steady over the second half of 2020. Though year-on-year deal- making declined here as everywhere else, Asia Pacific improved its proportion of global deals as both a target and acquirer region for the year – by 3% (to 26%) and 2% (to 29%) respectively. As with previous years, deals were primarily domestic, some intra- regional; but 7% of acquisitions made by Asia-Pacific companies targeted the US.
By contrast, China’s share of global deals has shrunk over the past couple of years, along with the amount of venture capital invested into the market since 2018. Helping to fill that space, Tencent led a Series B funding round of USD $100 million for Versus Programming Network (VSPN) in October. The investment will help further VSPN’s ambitions to grow the reach of esports around the world by creating a dedicated institute and culture park.
The speedy rollout of impressive test-and- trace systems in South Korea and Japan in H1 may well have benefited M&A activity later in the year: both countries recorded a higher volume of overall deals than the UK. Japan led the way, both as an acquirer and target country, with a shifting around of publishing assets. But South Korean production and entertainment was also on the up: two of the bigger 2020 deals involved South Korean music giant Cube Entertainment and content producers Fantagio, which swapped out majority investors during H1.
Latin America 0.4%
Middle East and Gulf Region 1%
Central and Eastern Europe 2%
Australasia 4%
South Asia 5%
United States 29%
Canada 6%
Uni ted Kingdom 7%
Western Europe 17%
Asia Pacific 29%
THOUGH THE US SAW MOST DEALS AS ACQUIRER REGION, ACTIVITY OVERALL DECLINED. THERE WERE INCREASES FOR THE ASIA PACIFIC, CANADA AND SOUTH ASIA.
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