Digital Media - The $ Continue to Flow (For Good Reason)
Today's confirmation by Yahoo of its planned $160M acquisition of Maven continues what has been a banner 12-18 month period for digital / Internet media companies. Although the day to day battles in the trenches are brutally competitive (talk to anyone who's running a digital media startup), the classic Silicon Valley innovation cycle (entrepreneurs found startups, startups rapidly out-innovate big ones to take advantage of new opportunities, small companies get acquired by big ones, founders repeat process) and the broader macro trends towards digital media distribution via the Internet and mobile devices will continue to drive a huge amount of investment and M&A activity for years to come. In addition to the note on Maven, three relevant data points which provide context to this point:
Parks Associates new forecast for "new media" advertising is $12.2B by 2012
AlwaysOn takes a look back at 2007 financings, sales and M&A activity among the OnMedia 100
Media and Information Investment Bank The Jordan Edmiston Group has a great presentation available on the firm's website which outlines "M&A Outlook and Valuations" in the new media sector
