Media Deals Up in '10, But Value Drops

An improving economy sharply lifted media acquisitions last year -- and pricing multiples as well.

There was a 27% rise in deals to 687 last year, according to Berkery Noyes, an investment bank specializing in the information content and technology industries. The cash-flow multiple sell price -- a key business strength indicator -- climbed 51% to 10.4 in 2010 from 6.9 in 2009. The median revenue multiple rose 28%, to 1.8 from 1.4. But it wasn't a big year in terms of total value of media deals. In 2010, that value dropped 35% to $24 billion. Much of this was because of big planned deals in 2009 -- including the Comcast-NBC Universal acquisition, announced in December of that year. That agreement, in which Comcast will assume a majority stake in NBC with General Electric now a minority partner, is valued at $13.75 billion.