Whitestone Communications Inc., which tracks M&A deal activity for its annual Who's Buying Whom reference publication, reports, "While other parts of the publishing field had boom times in acquisitions, newsletter deal activity was quiet in the second quarter 2005 versus the same year-earlier period."
The number of deals —six— equaled the number of 2004 deals, but dollar volume was only $12 million versus last year's $60 million.
"The only deal of any size in the second quarter this year was Eli Research's acquisition of the Element K newsletters and journal business," said Whitestone associate Neil Ghosh. "Eli has done a good job of steadily building its business through new products and acquisitions. While a number of companies, such as Eli Research, Douglas Publications, and HCPro, continue to be eager to do newsletter acquisitions, we expect modest M&A activity in the newsletter field for the rest of 2005 as there are just not that many properties expected to come to market."
Excerpted from The Newsletter on Newsletters.
Copyright July 2005.
