2015 Broadcast M&A 6% of First Half 2014 Deal Volume
Station transaction volume reached $223.3 million in Q2, SNL Kagan said in a news release Monday. That's nearly double the $120.5 million in merger and acquisitions in Q1, SNL Kagan said. “However, broadcast station deal volume year to date is…
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still far off from the billion-dollar-plus quarters in 2013 and 2014, which were boosted by M&A among the major affiliate TV station group owners.” In Q2 2015, radio deals totaled $125.1 million, while TV deal volume was at $98.2 million, said the industry researcher. The 2015 first half deal volume of $343.8 million is 6 percent of the $5.3 billion deal volume that had occurred last year by the end of Q2, the firm said. The 2014 numbers were propelled by big transactions like the $2.5 billion Media General/LIN deal, it said. The deal market in 2015 has been more modest, it said. “There is still appetite for additional station consolidation, although radio deal financing is deterred by high debt leverage multiples and ad revenue softness, while the FCC incentive auction scheduled for 2016 has TV station owners in major markets holding out for potentially higher spectrum values.”