According to Whitestone Communications (New York), the publishing, information and training sectors recorded the highest quarterly number of acquisitions in the second quarter of 2004 since the second quarter of 2001. Whitestone, which tracks acquisitions and investments in ten categories for its Who’s Buying Whom annual report, said the number of deals for the quarter increased 71% compared to last year, going from 69 deals in 2003 to 118 deals in the quarter this year. The overall value of the deals increased 7%, going from $3.039 billion last year to $3.243 billion this year. The sectors with the largest number of deals for the quarter include finance/real estate 916), trade books (15) and education/reference (15). The largest deals were Thomson’s purchase of Information Holdings for $441million, United Business Media’s purchase of MediMedia’s drug information assets in Europe and Asia and the $250 million purchase of Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, a real estate information company by Canadian firm MacDonald, Dettwiller & Associates (Richmond, BC)
This article is reprinted with permission from The Business Publisher. Copyright July 31, 2004.
