This is the estimate made by Jordan & Edmiston Group (JEGI), a consulting firm specialising in media M&A. As many as 637 transactions recorded by this firm aggregated a total value of over $95 billion in this period. For details, see: table below.

The M&A market for media and information companies in the most recent quarter was clouded by credit market disruption and concerns for a potential advertising and broader economic slowdown. While a large number of transactions were announced, the pace slackened and some notable previously announced deals stalled.

Despite this, M&A for the media and information industries scaled to record highs in the first three quarters of the year. As many as 637 transactions were announced totalling over $95 billion in value, as tracked by JEGI across 11 media and information sectors (see chart below). Deal value in the first nine months of 2007 has already far exceeded the records of full-year 2006.

The JEGI report says, "Once again, media and information M&A was dominated by an extraordinary number of transactions in two sectors - marketing services and online media, which together accounted for 414 transactions valued at $36 billion, or 65 per cent of total deals announced and 38 per cent of total deal value."

Big online deals
Online advertising is projected to reach nearly $22 billion in 2007, growing 28 per cent over 2006, according to research provided by eMarketer at a recent Online Publishers Association event, the JEGI report says. "The robust growth in Internet advertising spend has made online ad networks and technology providers attractive growth acquisitions, and a number of them changed hands in 2007, led by the $5.7 billion acquisition of aQuantive by Microsoft and the $3.1 billion announced acquisition of DoubleClick by Google, as well as Yahoo''s $300 million acquisition of Blue Lithium, and the $275 million purchase of Tacoda by AOL."

M&A activity for the online media segment continued its rapid pace during the first three quarters of 2007, with 232 transactions totalling over $8 billion in value, accounting for respective 71 per cent and 44 per cent increases over 2006. The third quarter saw the $345 million sale of business.com to R.H. Donnelley, Club Penguin''s sale to Walt Disney for $350 million plus earn-out, and the sale of RealAge and UGO Networks to Hearst for undisclosed amounts.

Other highlights
The business-to-business magazine segment saw about the same number of transactions in the Jan-Sep 2007 period, compared with the same period of 2006, but deal value was 16 per cent lower. Only one multi-hundred million dollar transaction was completed (in 2007 Q3) - Incisive Media''s $630 million acquisition of ALM from Wasserstein. This compared to three $400+ million transactions in the third quarter of 2006.

In the consumer magazine segment, 46 deals were completed totalling $3.3 billion in value through the first nine months of the year, up 24 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively, over the same period of 2006. Following a very robust first half of the year that saw the sales of Dennis Publishing to Quadrangle and Primedia Enthusiast Group to Yucaipa, the third quarter slowed somewhat, led by the sale of North American Membership Group by Doughty Hanson to Pilot Group.

M&A for the database information services segment was dominated by the $18+ billion acquisition of Reuters by Thomson. Overall, there were fewer transactions, as deal activity fell 37 per cent through 2007 Q3, as compared to the same period of 2006.

Led by the sale of Harcourt Education for $4 billion to Houghton Mifflin in July, Q3 2007 M&A activity for the educational and professional publishing segment far surpassed 2006 levels. With the earlier $7.75 billion sale of Thomson Learning to Apax Partners, the number of deals nearly doubled, and deal value rose exponentially through the first nine months of 2007, compared to 2006.

M&A for the exhibitions and conferences segment continued to be healthy in 2007, with 51 deals valued at $733 million, representing 46 per cent and 15 per cent respective increases over 2006 levels. Although there were no particularly large transactions in the third quarter, the sector saw steady deal flow from several leading event companies, including Reed Exhibitions, United Business Media, Tarsus Group, E.J. Krause and others.

The marketing and interactive services segment continued to thrive, as the number of deals increased 48 per cent and deal value rose 76 per cent in the first three quarters of 2007 vs. 2006. Online ad network transactions (mentioned above) surged as buyers reached for new growth. Other notable transactions in 2007 Q3 included the sale of Accretive Commerce to GSI Commerce for $91 million, Plattform Holdings'' acquisition of VentureDirect, and CBS''s acquisition of SignStorey for nearly $75 million.

The confirmed $5.6 billion sale of Dow Jones to News Corporation in Q3 2007 was the M&A highlight for the newspaper segment, driving deal value up 37 per cent for the first three quarters of the year.

The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. is a leading New York City-based provider of independent investment banking services for the media and information industries. As a leading M&A advisor to media and information companies, JEGI has closed numerous high-profile transactions. JEGI has also been active in ad networks and targeted advertising providers with the arrangement of a $50 million investment for Gorilla Nation Media, the largest online advertising rep sales firm, the sale of Healia, a health-focused search engine, to Meredith, and the sale of online lead generation firm VentureDirect to Plattform (with support from Arlington Capital Partners).