Media & Entertainment

The last quarter of 2017 saw increased M&A activity across the digital media space, with 340 M&A transactions announced, reflecting increases of 30% over the prior quarter and 38% over the same period of the prior year. While the number of financings declined from prior periods, disclosed financing value reached more than $24 billion.

Key industry trends driving investments and acquisitions include:

• Ongoing consolidation of online and traditional retailers to create efficient and flexible supply chains with last-mile capabilities able to rapidly fulfill orders to customers;
• Increasing investments in artificial intelligence and augmented reality as innovations continue to drive the technologies closer to widespread adoption; and
• Advertisers and marketers continuing to pivot to a mobile and interconnected world, with a growing focus on harvesting and leveraging consumer data.