Media and telecom M&A activity was lively in the first half of 2022 with deals for the 12 months ending May 15 totaling 1,014, up 28% year-on-year, with a record total value $469 billion.
The tally was inflated by Elon Musk’s high-profile $44 billion bid for Twitter and Microsoft’s planned $68 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Neither deal has closed yet.Music, sports and digital advertising deals are likely to continue brisk, according to PwC’s latest bi-annual MA& survey, which is released each June and December.
But deal activity has recently slowed among major media companies following a peak driven by content and technology acquisitions to fuel expansion of streaming services.The first half saw Amazon’s purchase of MGM and the Warner Media-Discovery merger close within weeks of each other this spring, among a spate of deals focused on acquiring IP that can be monetized across platforms and geographies.“I think expecting another record-setting six months or a year for M&A to continue at this pace that we just saw over this trailing 12 months may be challenging given the environment,” said Bart Spiegel media and telecoms deal partner.
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