Berkery Noyes Releases 2010 Private Equity in the Information Industry Merger & Acquisition Trends - Valuation Metrics up 53% from 2009

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkery Noyes, a leading middle market investment bank, has released its 2010 Private Equity in the Information Industry M&A Trends Report.  This report analyzes merger and acquisition activity in 2010 and compares it with activity in the three previous years.

Total transaction volume in 2010 increased by 24 percent over 2009 from 222 in 2009 to 275 in 2010, while the aggregate transaction value in 2010 increased by 57 percent from $16.21 billion to $25.45 billion.  The median revenue multiple also experienced a gain of 53 percent over 2009, from 1.3 to 2.0 in 2010.

"It's encouraging that both the number of deals and the value are up from 2009, as are the revenue and EBITDA multiples.  I would expect this improvement to continue for the next 2 to 3 years," said John Shea, Chief Operating Officer of Berkery Noyes.

Large, active financial buyers have focused their acquisitions on adding to existing portfolio companies rather than the acquisition of new, stand alone investments.  Indeed, over 80 percent of their transactions have been incorporated into existing investments, where across the acquisition landscape in the information industry, the number has been closer to 60 percent.

Thoma Bravo was the most active financial acquirer in the information industry by volume, with 10 acquisitions: UPS Logistics Technologies, Computer Systems Company, Inc., Hershey Systems, Inc., LANDesk Software, Inc., Beyond Appraisal, Inc., SonicWALL, Inc., Double-Take Software, ManageSoft Corporation, PLATO Learning, Inc. and eWebHealth.

To view the full report, please visit: (www.berkerynoyes.com/doc/trend_report/2010/fy/pe.aspx)

Berkery Noyes provides skilled transaction management to publicly traded and privately held businesses and private equity groups in both sell-side and buy-side mergers and acquisitions.  We have managed transactions ranging from several million to more than four billion dollars in value, with an emphasis on mid market transactions of $10 million to $500 million in enterprise value.

Our clients include private companies seeking a buyer, most of the major international information companies, and private equity firms who use the firm's expertise in locating, analyzing and negotiating with acquisition candidates and in managing divestitures.  The firm operates with a staff of forty professionals serving the information industry.

For more information, visit www.berkerynoyes.com.

SOURCE Berkery, Noyes & Co.,LLC