Media

The investment thesis in broadcasting and entertainment has been to control content and/or distribution. Significant investments in distribution have mostly taken place in continental Europe, with several major broadcasters (ProSiebenSat.1) receiving private equity investment. More recently, funds have turned their focus to content, either investing in companies controlling ‘must have’ content (Endemol), or pursuing buy-and-build strategies focused on consolidating the independent production sector (All3Media).

Private equity interest in publishers has been greatest in the B2B sector, where content is less local and hence more scalable. Consolidation and the pursuit of scale were common themes underlying investments in directories (PagesJaunes, World Directories) and B2B, academic and educational publishing (Emap, Springer, Cengage). Businesses in these sub-sectors have also been able to reduce costs and increase efficiency by adopting online business models.