AdMedia Partners report bodes well for media deals getting closed

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090113/FREE/901139991/1078/newsletter011

While media M&A activity is expected to be down this year, many companies say they still expect to complete deals, according to a new survey from AdMedia Partners.

The M&A consultancy’s annual “Prospects for Media Mergers and Acquisitions” survey found that 63% of companies expect to complete previously announced deals this year.

Most respondents (61%) said the buyer’s market is good for M&As, but 73% said sellers should hold off until valuations improve.

The online survey of more than 1,500 media industry senior executives in the U.S. and abroad revealed a consensus that media deals this year will be concentrated in two sectors: information/database publishing companies and b-to-b magazines. However the outlook for M&A activity among traditional media is uncertain, according to the report, as ad dollars migrate online, and those media lag in their attempts to monetize content, among other factors.

http://www.admediapartners.com/research_and_commentary/industry_surveys/pdf/Prospects_for_M&A_Survey_2009.pdf