A total of 839 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals were announced in the global media (including advertising), communication and collaboration services sector during 2019, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s deals database reveals that the number of M&A deals in this sector has been consistently increasing with the deal volume growing from 423 deals in 2017 to 502 deals in 2018 and 839 deals in 2019.

In contrast, deal value has continually declined from US$144bn in 2017 to US$106.8bn in 2018 and US$73.2bn in 2019.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The decline could be attributed to some of the high value deals announced during the preceding years. For instance, of all the deals announced during 2017-2019, Walt Disney’s acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox (21st Century Fox) for US$71bn in 2017 remained the top deal.

“On the other hand, Comcast’s acquisition of 100% stake in Sky for US$40bn was the top deal announced during 2018 and the US$20bn merger of CBS and Viacom was the top deal announced during 2019.”

North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific collectively accounted for more than 90% deal volume and value in 2019.

North America accounted for the highest share of deal volume (45.4%), followed by Europe with 29.6% share in 2019. In terms of value too, North America topped with a 59.3% share and Asia-Pacific occupied the second spot. Europe witnessed the major decline in deal value in 2019 and remained at the third position.