Separately identifiable intangibles are making up a bigger portion of the purchase price allocations for the big deals in the media sector, though practices vary widely, reports Grant Thornton in their new ‘What’s Been Happening in Media M&A’ white paper. The result is a slight drop in median goodwill placed on the balance sheet (the current average is now 57% of intangible assets, with customer relationships growing particularly for content companies). Other commonly reported intangibles (as required under IFRS 3) include:

• Brands;
• Software/technology; and
• Content/libraries.

Two of the UK ‘mega-deals’ leading the 214 transactions included in the new report (Informa/UBM and Cineworld/Regal) had unique valuation characteristics so Grant Thornton notes them separately in their analysis, said study author Mike Thornton. ‘There is still a very wide array of how companies have allocated purchase price for their deals,’ Thornton concludes.

Other major acquirers include RELX, Next Fifteen, and Keyword Studios.