Media investing heavyweights gathered in New York recently to discuss a return of M&A to the media landscape. The group agreed it would take a catalyzing event to get cash-rich media companies pursuing acquisitions.
This article in Variety summaries the discussion during the McGraw-Hill Media Summit. The piece quotes former AOL chief executive Jonathan Miller, who co-founded the Velocity Investment Fund, as saying the big media companies "are sitting on a lot of cash, so at one point, M&A will come back."
Also speaking at the event was Richard Bressler, managing director of Thomas H. Lee Partners and former CFO of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA.B) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), who said a lack of clarity on how to generate revenue from digital properties was limiting deal activity.
So what's going to get media companies spending again? Government intervention to loosen the credit market, a move the investors believe will launch strategic and financial players back into the M&A market.
- Suzanne Stevens
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Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
Actually, you can't blame them. In this time of recession, everybody thinks a thousand times before we shell out a lot money to invest on something.