Prices have been going up and number of deals have gone up. Will that change?
Alan Meckler, Chairman & CEO of JupiterMedia: Media Bistro hurt us in some ways, others expected same figure even if they did not have same business, revenue and cost structure… done over 500 deals and the main challenge after signing is entrepreneurs who say they get that things will change, but actually don’t.
David Levin, United Business Media: Prefers small deals to large ones… there are very fragmented markets and opportunities abound in those, he’s done 43 deals in past year alone. Companies and opportunities usually fall in: want it, fix it or sell it?
John S. Suhler, President, Veronic Suhler Stevenson: Veronis focused on middle and lower middle market ($150-250M range), more of a strategic buyer, not a financial player only: Do additional acquisitions to complement companies they invest or buy. Debt affects deal flow, for sure, so while the money is there, it’s slightly more expensive.
Lauren Rich Fine, Media Analyst: Tribune deal might be undone, but Reuters/Thomson probably won’t.
Steven Rattner, Managing Principal, Quadrangle Group LLC: There are deals of passion and deals of spreadsheets, buying newspapers right now fall in the latter… when Rafat suggested that companies buy newspapers for obvious reasons, Rattner is quick to add “what are obvious reasons people buy newspaper assets?” The reasons are not obvious, he states, referring to operating pressure. The Tribune deal showed that there are not really that many buyers (where only Sam Zell showed up). Of course, as a buyer, he’d say this to knock prices and expectations… Sellers don’t want to accept low enough figures to create safety net or margin of error as margins continue to shrink and revenues fall.
But really, here’s what I want to know: if and when Paid Content sells, which M&A bank will Rafat Ali hire: DaSilva & Phillips or The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., who are Diamond and Platinum sponsors respectively?
Care to comment on that, Raf?
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