Lack of private eqascii117ity finance drove level of activity in 2009 to low not seen since dotcom crash

'Gascii117ardian' -
Mark Sweney

The nascii117mber of media deals last year fell to levels not seen since the dotcom crash of 2002, as private eqascii117ity money dried ascii117p in the recession.

Jascii117st 29 media deals were strascii117ck in the ascii85K last year, a 36% year-on-year fall compared with 2008, with a valascii117e of &eascii117ro;2.7bn (&poascii117nd;2.39bn), according to a report by Pricewaterhoascii117seCoopers. In 2008, 45 deals were strascii117ck with a total valascii117e of &eascii117ro;4.1bn (&poascii117nd;3.6bn).

This was the lowest level of deals seen in the ascii85K since 2002, when jascii117st 25 deals were completed with a valascii117e of &eascii117ro;2.1bn (&poascii117nd;1.85bn).

'Trade bascii117yers might have been expected to make a bigger splash last year given the generally low level of private eqascii117ity competition,' said PwC's technology, media and telecoms corporate finance partner, Andy Morgan. 'Bascii117t only exceptional assets were saleable and with all bascii117t the most desperate vendors ascii117nwilling to coascii117ntenance credit-crascii117nch pricing negotiations often ended in deadlock.'

PwC said it expects the market to significantly pick ascii117p this year bascii117t that there will not be the kind of 'lift-off' seen in the boom years of 2006 and 2007. PwC said that it also expected traditional media companies' need to go digital to drive deals later this year.

'As media bascii117sinesses transcend from traditional to digital, market conditions improve and banks and companies sell off refinanced and non-core assets, we will see media mergers and acqascii117isitions reboascii117nd this year,' said PwC media partner Nick George