So says an 8-page PDF report by media investment bank DeSilva & Phillips...the report says that 2006 has turned out to be “not merely strong, but also a year of extraordinary deal-making in both quality and quantity.  A dollar volume of $20.5 billion in media transactions makes 2006 the strongest year since 2000, and close in volume even to that year’s total.”
And why would 20007 continue this? “The outlook for M&A in 2007 is as good as we’ve ever seen.  All the pieces are in place: availability of funds, favorable interest rates, eager buyers without the time to build rather than buy, brands that need to find new delivery platforms, and a regulatory climate that all but deliberately discourages new companies from going public and existing public companies from controlling their own fates.  There is yet another population of buyers perhaps waiting in the wings – European media businesses newly flush with a strong Euro and, finally, thriving domestic markets.  To say we’re looking forward to the excitement is an understatement.”
The report also has a list of top 15 deals, as ranked by the bank: among them: VNU, Reader’s Digest, iVillage, Incisive Media, Forbes, and others.
Disclaimer: One of our sponsors.