Media M&A Insights 2007 

European media merger and acquisition (M&A) deal values rose 75 percent to €43 billion in 2006 according to the Media Insights report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Corporate Finance.
 
Excluding the United Kingdom, deal values rose 123 percent to €37 billion returning the sector to levels not seen since the boom of 2000.
 
This increase was assisted by seven €1 billion-plus mega deals completed last year including the €7.7 billion acquisition of VNU by Valcon Acquisition, KKR's acquisition of Pages-Jaunes Groupe in France for €3.3 billion and Premira/KKR's acquisition of 50.5 percent of Prosieben Sat1 for €3.0 billion.
 
Media Insights also predicts:

• Traditional media to remain defensive: PricewaterhouseCoopers expects mainstream media groups to continue to grapple with the challenges of the internet by acquiring on-line capabilities and businesses to compensate for their declining traditional businesses and to defend their existing businesses through defensive consolidations.
   
• Private equity to continue to grow: PE groups will continue to be active, particularly on the buy-side, driving deals in Europe underpinned by substantial recently raised-funds.  However, much also depends on the continuation of benign conditions in the debt markets.  Given the right level of debt support, PE firms will continue their expansion into new territories.
   
• UK to rebound: The UK, in particular, is likely to see more large deals as the major media players rebound after a relatively quiet year.  With signs that the UK advertising market is beginning to recover, PricewaterhouseCoopers expects UK media M&A activity to see a similar lift.

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