The media and information industry M&A market maintained a brisk pace in the first quarter of 2007 with 207 announced transactions valued at nearly $13 billion, reported the Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), which tracks 11 media and information sectors.

Excluding M&A activity for newspapers, which declined in the absence of a Knight-Ridder scale event, overall deal volume and value rose 17 percent and 43 percent, respectively, compared with the first quarter of 2006, which kicked off a banner year for mergers and acquisitions, JEGI said.

In the first quarter of 2007, the online media sector and the marketing and interactive services sector led with 119 total transactions valued at a combined $6.5 billion - more than half of total deal value in Q1.

Interactive media companies, major diversified media groups, and private equity investors remain highly interested in acquiring fast-growing innovators that provide the media, delivery and performance components of online advertising, JEGI said.

M&A activity remained vibrant in the marketing and interactive services sector, with 47 transactions valued at $4.7 billion in the first three months of the year - up 17.5 percent and 166 percent, respectively, over 2006 levels.

Online media M&A activity also remained active in the first quarter of 2007, with 72 transactions totaling over $1.7 billion in value. The number of transactions was up 71 percent over the same period in 2006, but deal value fell by 31 percent as a result of fewer mega-deals. The sector remains healthy in mid-size transactions, JEGI said, as corporate and financial buyers pick up online audience and ad revenue to build online advertising scale.