M&A VOLUME IN SECTOR UP BY 21%, DEAL VALUE SLIDES – DESPITE ECONOMIC AND GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGES. PRIVATE EQUITY CONTINUES TO DOMINATE ACTIVITIES.

2022 got off to a fast start from an M&A perspective, very much following on from the activities of 2021. At the 6-month stage of the year we can report that we have witnessed continued market buoyancy and buyer appetite, despite challenges rapidly emerging on many fronts. Our Global M&A Review details the M&A deal activity throughout H1 2022 and reports global resilience in the tech, digital, media and marketing sectors.

Ciesco tracked 1,033 transactions in H1 2022. The sector experienced a 21% rise over H1 2021 levels (855) and an 82% increase over that of H1 2020 (568). The total value of announced deals, excluding mega-deals (defined as deals over £10bn) was $28.2bn, a 68% decrease from H1 2021. The number of deals with announced values above $1bn saw a decrease from 14 in H1 2021 to 7 in H1 2022.

H1 2022 continued its global M&A deal success – with buyers acquiring targets from 54 different countries.

“We entered 2022 on the back of a record year in 2021, during which our market intelligence team tracked a total of 1,747 M&A transactions within the sector, representing a year-on-year increase of 60% (2020:1,092) and a 30% increase over that of 2019 (1,345). 2021 saw digitisation, data and technology being at the forefront of an evolution with M&A playing a key part of the transformation strategy for many companies.”

– Chris Sahota, Founder & CEO of Ciesco

Private Equity firms / buyers continue to acquire aggresively in the sector, making a total of 440 acquisitions which represented a 15% growth compared with H1 2021 and was 43% of all sector activity.

Consultancies, tech companies and global holding networks contributed to a diverse buyer universe, while data and tech-driven business models continue to be a major attraction for financial investors.

The report expects the outlook for 2022 to bring opportunities to investors looking to back companies with dynamic business models. Private Equity will continue to deploy its way into acquisitions, while digitisation, data and technology will be at the forefront of that evolution and M&A will continue to play a key part of the transformation strategy for many companies through the rest of 2022.

Ciesco H1 2022 M&A Review features:

• Our deal activity analysis by Volume, Disclosed values, Buyer categories, Geographical regions and Target sectors.

• Five guest editorials from various industry leaders across different target and buyer sectors and categories – Vespa Capital, APR, McCann Worldgroup, IAA Global and Droga5/Accenture Song

• Insights and trend analysis of Private Equity-backed activity, along with an overview of the buyer landscape and our outlook for the sector in H2 2022 and beyond.

Whether you are a potential investor, a strategic buyer or a stakeholder planning the future for your business, we hope you find the information in this review report insightful and informative. All reported data on deal activity is overlaid with our perspectives and insights, reflecting our substantial knowledge and understanding of the overall industry. Ciesco Outlook, in particular, reflects our deep roots, experience and expectations of being practitioners in the sector and having managed and strategically led companies throughout the various disciplines and geographies.