Led by the $11 billion acquisition of VNU by a consortium of private equity funds and the $6 billion sale of Knight-Ridder to McClatchy, the M&A market for the media and information industries maintained its brisk pace in the first half of 2006, with 315 deals completed, totaling more than $37 billion in value - an increase of 12.5 percent in the number of deals and 33.5 percent in deal value compared with the first half of 2005, according to New York-based investment bank The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI).

Media and information M&A activity was led by continuing strong activity in the online media sector (number of deals up 80 percent, though transaction value down 38 percent) and the marketing and interactive services sector (number of deals up 40 percent, transaction value up 116 percent).

Other sectors contributing to the increase M&A activity include business-to-business magazines (deal value up 22 percent); consumer magazines (number of deals up 26 percent); database information services (number of deals up 16 percent; deal value up nearly 300 percent); exhibitions and conferences (number of deals up 29 percent); and newspaper publishing (deal value up 172 percent).

Given its "healthy pipeline" of deal activity, recent positive economic indicators, such as the Federal Reserve's potentially holding back on future interest rate hikes, and the general consensus of media executives and investors, the M&A market is expected to continue its robust pace, JEGI says.

Prior coverage:

- Media M&A Market Smoldering Hot in Q1
- 2005 Media M&A Deal Activity, Value at Five-Year High
- Online Media M&A to Stay Hot
- Media M&A Value Up 130 Percent So Far in 2005
- 2005 Media Merger Value Up 180 Percent