Three media and marketing investment banks have come out with their 2007 review and 2008 prognostications on the M&A (we reported on rival bank Jordan Edmiston Group’s report earlier this month). Interesting reports from Berkery Noyes, AdMedia Partners and Petsky Prunier.

-- Berkery Noyes: The bank looks at various media and information sectors, with both a recap and forward look. On valuations: “After several years of steep increases in valuations--where generous terms drove leverage multiples as high as 10.5 times earnings before EBITDA--we anticipate stable pricing for the foreseeable future, with companies valued under $500 million financed at multiples in the range of four to six times EBITDA. With little incentive to wait, sellers have new impetus to initiate a transaction sooner rather than later.” The chart on the right shows median deal values and multiples over 2007 (click on it to get the bigger chart).

-- AdMedia Partners (PDF link): This is the yearly survey from AdMedia on the M&A sentiment in the media and marketing industry, and it presents a rosy picture of the deals sector, despite pessimism about economy. Of course that was December, and in January the forecasts from economists are a bit more dire. Some of it is reflected in the survey: “In a significant shift, just 46% of respondents advise prospective buyers to “act now” on transactions, down from 77% a year ago”, meaning valuations are expected to come down. The bank has also come out with its calculations and expectations of median EBITDA multiples for 2008..the chart on the right shows it (click on it to get the bigger chart).

-- Petsky Prunier: The investment bank focused on the marketing sector has also come out with its annual review of the marketing sector, and includes sub-sectors such as digital services, direct & database, digital content & commerce and marketing technology companies. It said that the marketing sector generated a record number of 758 transactions and total estimated transaction value of $60.3 billion in 2007. Strategic deals represented the lion’s share of transactions, with a total of $48.1 billion (80 percent) and a median deal size of $20.0 million. The most active strategic buyers within the Marketing Sector for 2007 included: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) (11 transactions), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) (8), Landmark Communications (7), WPP Group (7), News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) (6) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) (6). The most active financial investors in marketing sector included: Draper Fisher Jurvetson (10 transactions), Bessemer Venture Partners (8), Charles River Ventures (7), Accel Partners (5), Redpoint Ventures (5), Sequoia Capital (5) and Softbank Capital (5). In terms of valuations, in 2007, median reported revenue multiples for marketing technology companies increased 43 percent from 2006 to 3.0 times revenue; and median reported EBITDA multiples for direct & database companies increased 18 percent to 9.8 times EBITDA. The chart on the right is the list of top 10 strategic buyers in the sector (click on it to get the bigger chart).

Disclaimer: Berkery has been a sponsor of paidContent in the recent past.