The news that US media groups CBS and Viacom are to merge in an $11.7bn deal is the latest example of the predictive power of GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem in identifying future merger and acquisition (M&A) deals.

Three predictions made in GlobalData’s recent thematic report: ‘M&A in tech, media and telecoms (TMT)’ published on 24 June 2019, have all come true.

As well as the CBS-Viacom merger, which is driven by the Internet TV theme, GlobalData’s Thematic Team also predicted Just Eat’s acquisition of Takeaway.com – driven by the rise of online food delivery – and Cisco’s purchase of Acacia Communications, where the relevant themes were software defined networks and silicon photonics.

The ‘M&A in tech, media and telecoms’ report is unique in that it uses GlobalData’s thematic expertise to predict the next big M&A deal in the TMT sector. It also looks at 300 M&A deals in the TMT sector over the last 5 years and identifies the thematic rationale for all those deals.

The report predicted that traditional TV broadcasters and content creators will consolidate to give them greater negotiating power against the tech giants. Both CBS and Viacom were highlighted in the report as being likely targets for M&A activity.

CBS and Viacom recently gained a Thematic score of 5 out of 5 for the M&A theme in GlobalData’s Thematic Scorecard for the Music, Film and TV sector, indicating that both companies were likely suitors or targets for M&A deals.

Other companies gaining 5 out of 5 scores for the M&A theme in the Music, Film and TV sector, thus indicating they are at risk of being taken over, include Spotify, Lions Gate Entertainment, ITV, Tegna, AMC Networks, Atresmedia, ProSiebenSat.1 and Mediaset.

In addition to the Music, Film and TV sector, other TMT sectors covered in the M&A in TMT report include:

• Semiconductors
• Servers, storage & networking equipment
• Consumer electronics
• Component makers
• Industrial automation
• Application software
• Security software
• Video games software
• Cloud services
• IT services
• Ecommerce
• Social media
• Advertising
• Publishing
• Telecom operators
• Cable & satellite operators

GlobalData’s Thematic Scorecard ranks companies within a sector on the basis of overall leadership in the 10 themes that matter most to their industry, generating a leading indicator of future performance.