M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014
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M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014 Hamburg & Munich, February 2015, © CatCap GmbH
CatCap Corporate Finance Tenzing Partners (co-author)
Mark Miller Michael Moritz Daniel Schneider
Managing Partner Managing Partner Partner
Tel.: +49 (0)40 300 836 - 11 Tel.: +49 (0)40 300 836 - 13 Tel.: +352 263 894 61
E-Mail: mark.miller@catcap.de E-Mail: michael.moritz@catcap.de E-Mail: dschneider@tenzing-partners.com
Mischa Krause Philip Goldhahn
Project Manager Analyst
Tel.: +49 (0)40 300 836 - 24 Tel.: +49 (0)40 300 836 - 21
E-Mail: mischa.krause@catcap.de E-Mail: philip.goldhahn@catcap.de
Thorsten Kalter
Analyst
Tel.: +49 (0)40 300 836 - 23
E-Mail: thorsten.kalter@catcap.de
Recent Headline Deals
acquisition of sold to sold to sold to
part of
2014 2014
Copyright: No part of this publication may be reproduced transmitted in any form by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
CatCap. Please note that the findings, conclusions and recommendations delivered are based on information gathered in good faith from both primary and secondary sources, believed to be reliable, but
which have not been independently verified. CatCap gives no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the report. The
opinions contained within the report are based upon publicly available information at the time of publication.
© 2015 CatCap GmbH. All rights reserved.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 2
Table of Content
1. Methodology 4
2. Overview 6
3. Top European M&A-Deals and Equity Investments 19
4. Trends and Selected Transactions Presented by Globalscope 28
5. Commerce 33
i. E-Commerce/Comparison Shopping/Couponing 37
ii. Travel/Rental/Housing 41
iii. Jobs/Dating/Classifieds 45
6. IPO Snapshot 2014 49
7. Valuation Overview 55
8. About CatCap Corporate Finance / Globalscope Network 58
M&A REPORT: THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY 2014
Structure and methodology
CatCap Corporate Finance has analysed the M&A market in the Internet Industry
Regional scope: target company based in Europe1) and a snapshot of Internet IPOs in 2014
The report is structured into eight sections with particular focus on:
Commerce
Snapshot IPOs 2014
S&P Capital IQ and Majunke are the main sources of this report together with CatCap´s and Globalscope´s
own market knowledge
The report is updated annually, based on completed transactions. CatCap publishes similar reports on other
technology sectors:
Scope of
report M&A Report: The European IT Services Industry 2014
M&A Report: The European Software Industry 2014
M&A Report: The European Life Sciences and Medtech Industry 2014
1) Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 4
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – METHODOLOGY
Classification of the European Internet Industry Description
Social This report divides the European
Blogging/ User Content/
Networking/ Internet Industry into five sectors
Consumer Generated Aggregator/ Ad Online Gaming
Indexing/ Photo/ based on their respective business
Content/ Rate Support
Sharing models.
Each sector is further broken down
Lead Gen/ Interactive into a number of sub-sectors to
Online Business Agencies/ SEM/
B2B Customer Marketing provide additional a differentiated
Service SEO
Acquisition Services/ E-Mail
analysis and give further insights
into specific areas of interest.
Mobile Particular focus is given to M&A
Mobile
Interactive transactions in Commerce sector
Mobile Mobile Content Applications/Pay Mobile Games
Marketing
ment and Internet IPOs in Europe.
Services
Due to the large size of the
Commerce sector, the study
Web
Enabling/ Analytics/ Ad Serving & Web Analytics/ Content Delivery analyses the following sub-sectors
Applications/
Ad Serving Technology CMS Networks/ Video in-depth:
Enabling/ IT
E-Commerce/Comparison
Shopping/Couponing
E-Commerce/
Transactions/ Travel/Rental/Housing
Travel/ Rental/ Jobs/Classifieds/ Comparison
Commerce Auctions/
Payments
Housing Dating Shopping/ Jobs/Classifieds/Dating
Couponing
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 5
The European Internet Industry – Overview
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
The Internet Industry’s economic impact
Internet Industry in % of GDP Description
GDP (2010, US$bn) GDP (%) 2010 vs. 2016F The Internet is a vast assortment of
different economic activities
UK │ 2,417 8.3% +4.1%
Since its formation, the Internet Industry
has grown tremendously and now
South Korea │ 1,129 7.3% +0.7%
contributes significantly to the worldwide
China │ 8,358 5.5% +1.4%
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The size of the Internet Industry varies
Japan │ 5,960 4.7% +0.9% widely among countries, even among those
that are at an equal stage of development
U.S. │ 16,244 4.7% +0.7%
Despite structural differences in various
India │ 1,875 4.1% +1.5% regions, the Internet Industry drives a
significant portion of today’s growth
EU │ 16,673 3.8% +1.9%
Today, size and growth of the Internet
Australia │ 1,564 3.3% +0.4%
Industry is mainly driven by private
consumption and advertising
Germany │ 3,426 3.0% +1.0% The development of the Internet Industry
will be leveraged by business-to-business
Canada │ 1,821 3.0% +0.6%
services and products
France │ 2,611 2.9% +0.5% Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in
particular are starting to use web
Mexico │ 1,184 2.5% +1.7% technologies heavily, benefiting from lower
capital costs and increasing efficiency
Brazil │ 2,254 2.2% +0.2%
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, United Nations
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 7
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
Top 3 Internet companies by country
Country #3 #2 #1
Russia VK Mail Ru Yandex
United Kingdom Just Eat Rightmove asos
Sweden Klarna Spotify KING Digital
Germany Delivery Hero Zalando Rocket Internet
Finland Grand Cru Games Supercell Rovio
Ireland HostelWorld Fleetmatics PaddyPower
France SeLoger Vente Privee Criteo
Italy Buongiorno Bravofly Yoox
Spain Privalia eDreams ODIEGO Gowex
Estonia Creative Mobile Grabcad Skype
Czech Republic Seznam Avast AVG
Hungary Prezi Ustream LogMeIn
Poland WP.pl group Onet Allegro
Denmark
TrustPilot Tradeshift Unity
Slovenia
najdi mimovrste outfit7
Netherlands
Marktplaats Takeaway Coolblue
Belgium
Engagor Immoweb Ogone
Ukraine
Paymentwall Rozetka Cupid Plc
Lithuania
Pixelmator Vinted Getjar
Latvia
Infogram Draugiem Ask FM
Kosovo
Goodwerp Merrjep Telegrafi
0.1 1.0 10.0 100.0 1,000.0 10,000.0 100,000.0
Historic peak valuation in US$m, logarithmic scale Source: World Startup Report and CatCap market research
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 8
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
Market trends in 2014
1. European Internet Industry matured in 2014 but still has huge development potential
Evidence of a maturing European Internet Industry
Increasing IPO activity - 27 IPOs in 2014 - and the use of the stock market as an exit channel (e.g. AO World, King Digital and
Zoopla)
Increasing Private Equity (PE) interest in investing large sums in the Internet Industry (e.g. BC Partners acquisition of online
car rental platform cartrawler, KKRs acquisition of online retailer The Hut Group and classifieds giant Scout24) to fund
internationalisation or a buy-and-build strategy
Large strategic investors buying know how, market share or momentum (e.g. Stepstone bought Evenbase, Bravofly acquired
lastminute.com)
Increasing M&A activity with larger deal volumes
While the European Internet Industry is coming of age there are still plenty of young, game-changing companies. Start-up hubs such
as London, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm are able to attract young entrepreneurs and to produce companies with innovative concepts
and cutting edge technology – companies that are regularly receiving large amounts of international risk capital (e.g. victoria plumb,
Klarna, westwing)
While European Companies are catching up, they are still having a hard time keeping up with the pace of innovation in Silicon Valley
with its cluster effects and huge range of funding resources. Thus, execution and quick internationalisation have become critical
success factors for European players, with Germany’s Rocket Internet flying the highest but by no means being the only example as
Delivery Hero, Kreditech or Lovoo all illustrate
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 9
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
Market trends in 2014
2. The E-Commerce slowdown
The E-Commerce sector saw a slowdown in the ever increasing number of start-ups as the industry continued to consolidate around
large players. At the same time the late entry of established offline retailers and manufacturers also meant stiffer competition
Large online retailers proved their ability to turn their businesses from pure growth towards profitability
The ongoing offline-to-online shift remained a major trend in E-Commerce, with multi-channel retailing an important success factor
3. Cross-linking of online & offline business – technology enabled the emergence of new marketplaces & elimination of middlemen
The cross-linking of online and offline businesses remained a major trend not only in E-Commerce - where multi-channel retailers
continued to emerge - but also in various other sectors
Key examples were companies like DeliveryHero and Just Eat, operating in the mobile and online food-ordering business, connecting
pure offline restaurants with online users
E-Commerce also illustrated the potential pace of consolidation as it has already reached an “end-game” scenario. With the
acquisition of pizza.de by DeliveryHero, the acquisition of Lieferando by Takeaway.com and Just Eat’s IPO , the European market is
now almost completely centred around three – financially well-equipped – companies
Technology enabled the creation of new marketplaces for transportation (such as BlaBlaCar), real estate, care services and travel
amongst others. Users not only benefit from cost savings by eliminating the middleman, but also increased transparency, trust (via
ratings) and convenience (via mobilisation and personalisation)
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 10THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
Market trends in 2014
4. Fintech is the place to be with start-ups springing up all over
Not only is the mobile payment landscape undergoing its biggest change since the invention of the credit card, but the entire
banking industry is currently being reinvented
The development stage of the Fintech sector can be compared to E-Commerce or Classifieds five years ago with a range of small
start-ups, mostly founded during the past 2 - 3 years, low entry barriers and very little competition from established offline players,
i.e. banks
This led to a large number of fundings including Kreditech, FundingCircle, iZettel, Klarna, adyen, Spotcap, Auxmoney to name just a
few Fintech start-ups with major funding rounds in 2014
This trend is likely to continue as Fintech is increasingly the target for international venture capitalists
There is a high probability that Fintech will follow the same path as the mature Internet Industry, with the formation of large
European players consolidating the market and banks entering late but reinforcing competition as they are far from short on money
5. Internet industry is increasingly concentrated in a few start-up hubs
London and Berlin are by far the Internet start-up capitals of Europe in terms of numbers as well as funding with Dublin remaining
the headquarters for US American Internet companies such as Facebook, Google and Airbnb
The result is that venture capitalists, PEs, start-ups and established offline companies need to be represented in these cities to
recruit talent and grab their share of the European Internet Industry
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 11THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
2013 vs. 2014 comparison
Number of deals by sector Relative number of deals by sector
2013 2014 Sector 2013 2014
111 119 Commerce 38% 36% (-2%)
197 245
62 Online Business
41 22% 18% (-4%)
Service
74 137 Consumer 17% 16% (-1%)
86 105
Enabling/Analytics/
Total # of Deals: 509 Total # of Deals: 668 (+31%) 15% 21% (+6%)
Ad Serving
Commerce Consumer Enabling/Analytics/Ad Serving Mobile Online Business Service
Mobile 8% 9% (+1%)
Number of deals by deal value Description
2013 2014 Total number of deals increased by approx.
62
31% from 509 to 668 deals
46 All sectors saw more deals in 2014 than in
2013
22 Enabling/Analytics/Ad Serving was the
15 16 17 biggest winner percentage-wise followed by
9 6 8 8 Mobile at the expense of other sectors
Huge increase in deals above €100m but
0 - 10 10 - 20 20 - 50 50 - 100 >100 drop seen in deals between €20m and
Deal value (in €m) €50m in 2014
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 12THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
Transactions in Europe’s top Internet countries
Number of transactions3) Description
+24% +26% Buyer Target
+153%
Germany and the UK were the most active
252 251 M&A markets followed by France, the
%change 224
+86% prev. year Nordics and Spain
116 105
167 +13% Spain and Poland saw good traction and are
123 climbing the M&A charts
74 205
54
+28% +0%
+71%
In many countries domestic buyers
+50% +46% -14%
136 146 55 53
41 39 38
+0% +1% +50% dominated the M&A landscape; exceptions
93 20 37
69 24 17 15 were Eastern Europe, Austria and Ireland
35 32 27 28 20 28 12 12 19
11 with a high proportion of international
buyers
Europe2)
Nodics1)
Others3)
Eastern Most international buyers in Ireland were
UK and US companies taking advantage of
Origin of buyers favorable valuations and low language
barriers
International Domestic
Compared to 2013, Eastern Europe has
28% 22% 25% evolved from a young Internet market with
34% 41% 42%
47% 47% 52% 48% mostly domestic buyers to a more advanced
64% 67%
74% 82% market with the second highest percentage
of international buyers
72% 78% 75%
66% 59% 58%
53% 53% 48% 52%
36% 33%
26% 18%
Europe2)
Nordics1)
Others2)
Eastern
1) Nordics: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland
2) Eastern Europe: All eastern countries except Russia and Poland
3) 44 deals without disclosed buyer
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 13THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
International deal flow
Others: 11
USA and Canada dominate
5 the non-European buyer
3 4
5 landscape with 110 of 126
51 6 18
deals
11 3
Despite its growing
9 economical power, no
acquisitions by Chinese
companies have been seen in
2014
11 6
Target countries in Europe of
110 3 non-European buyers are:
2
99 UK (51 transactions)
1 3
1 Germany (18
transactions)
France (11 transactions)
Spain (9 transactions)
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 14THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
Largest European start-up hubs - number of companies receiving venture capital funding
In terms of venture capital
funding, London is by far the
place to be with 187 venture
capital fundings between the
beginning of 2013 and
September 2014
London is followed closely by
21 Berlin with 145 venture
Helsinki capital fundings during the
22 same period
Stockholm
29 Paris is third most important
17 Moscow European city (66) with
Copenhagen
32 Barcelona and Munich third
Dublin
187 21 145
Hamburg Berlin and fourth, respectively
14
London Amsterdam
66
Paris 32 11
13 Munich Vienna
Zurich
27 39
Barcelona
Madrid
Source: Thomson Reuters, EY Research
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 15THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
The European Internet deal climate
1. M&A deals up 31% in 2014
The European Internet Industry not only saw the number of deals increase by approx. 31% compared to 2013, but also a deal climate
characterised by a range of large cap headline deals such as AMAYAs €3.6b acquisition of Rational Group or the Microsoft/Mojang deal
worth about €1.9bn
Although there are concerns about the 2015 deal climate the general attitude is bullish towards M&A activity in the Internet Industry
2. PE, Family Offices, Venture Capitalists with big ideas and Corporates seeking to expand into the Internet
PE, Family Offices, Venture Capitalists as well as Corporates - all competing to provide expansion capital
Once successful, companies has plenty of access to capital for growth acceleration – even from US West Coast VCs
With the continuing strength of the stock market and increasing interest from the US and Asia, positive returns are expected
3. The year of the IPO
2014 the year of the Internet IPO: 27 IPOs across Europe – compared to 9 in 2013 – and proceeds ranging from €1m to a staggering
€1,400m raised by Rocket Internet, the largest European Internet IPO ever
IPOs were used as an exit channel for existing shareholders and as a source for further funding to spur profitable growth, e.g. all
€605m proceeds of the Zalando IPO went to the company with none of the major shareholders exiting
4. US investors invest for growth, European for monetisation
For US American investors, growth is the buzzword in terms of Internet investment decisions; in contrast European Internet investors
focus on business models with a track record of monetisation and therefore prefer to invest in fact rather than fiction
As a result, the European Internet Industry and its financial spine is built on solid foundations with no bubble likely to burst
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 16THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
The European Internet deal climate
5. PE activity helps to consolidate mature market sectors
Global PE firms are expected to show increasing interest in mature European Internet market sectors, e.g. Classifieds and E-Commerce
This will lead to more PE investments, increased M&A activity and acceleration the continuing consolidation process in matured
sectors of the European Internet Industry as can be seen in Classifieds with Hellmann & Friedmans acquisition of Scout24
6. Increasing popularity of M&A in Adtech
Advertising follows the users as their media consumption habits move away from mainstream TV to YouTube, Instagram, Buzzfeed and
Mobile Games
After years of land grab in the various areas of Enabling/Analytics/Adserving a very diverse and fragmented environment started to
consolidate in 2014. Large agencies and networks acquired digital market share and ad technology
Success will be determined by whoever has the access to usage data and the ability to analyze it. The value chain will shorten via M&A
improving the economics for publishers and advertisers
7. Ongoing innovation and convergence fuels further growth of the European Internet Industry
Internet’s convergence with Health, Automotive and Home (traditionally strong industries in Europe), means every “thing” will be
“smart” leading to huge opportunities for smart entrepreneurs and smart investors – and thereby keeping the current Kondratiev
wave1) alive
Learn more about this in our M&A Reports on The European Software Industry 2014 and The European Life Sciences and Medtech
Industry 2014
1) In economics, Kondratiev waves (also called supercycles or the long economic cycle) are supposedly cycle-like phenomena in the modern world economy
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 17THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW
M&A vs. private placement comparison
M&A vs. private placement activity 2014 Description
M&A deals Private placements The European Internet Industry has seen a
total of 1,402 private placements in 2014
119 201
Commerce was the most active sector
245 485 followed by Mobile
62 263
While Commerce was also highest in terms
of M&A deals, Mobile was conversely the
137
105 243 210 smallest
Total # of deals: 665 Total # of placements: 1,402
The UK led in overall numbers of M&A deals
and private placements, followed by
Commerce Consumer Enabling/Analytics/Ad Serving Mobile Online Business Service Germany and France
The ratio of M&A deals to private
M&A and private placement activity per target region placements was nearly identical for the
majority of regions with private placements
449 M&A Private Placement being approximately twice as many as M&A
374 deals
146
136 293
93 200
69 143
303 109
238 35 86 86
200 68 64 60 56
131 32 44 38 19
108 81 54 40 53 40 44 26 67
17
Europe2)
Nordic1)
Others3)
Eastern
1) Nordic: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland
2) Eastern Europe: All eastern countries except Russia and Poland
3) 86 deals without disclosed target
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 18Top European M&A Deals and Equity Investments
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP EUROPEAN M&A-DEALS AND
EQUITY INVESTMENTS
Selected M&A transactions in 2014
Transaction value
Target Description Buyer Countries
[€m]
Amaya Gaming acquired Rational Group, the world's largest poker business and
owner as well as operator of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands, for $4.9b
(sales multiple of 4.5x; EBITDA multiple of 11.7x). The acquisition of Rational by
3,614
Amaya created the world’s biggest listed online gaming group. It has been a
transformative acquisition for Amaya, strengthening its core B2B operations with a
consumer online powerhouse that creates a scalable global platform for growth.
Microsoft acquired Mojang, the celebrated Stockholm-based game developer, and
the company’s iconic “Minecraft” franchise for $2.5b on September 2014. The
Mojang team will join Microsoft Studios including the studios behind global
blockbuster franchises like Halo and Forza. Microsoft expects to see an immediate 1,931
ROI in 2015. Three founders will leave Mojang following the acquisition. The
decision to sell was designed to help Minecraft continue to grow while freeing up
the founding team to pursue their other interests.
Mail.Ru acquired the remaining 48.01% stake of Russia’s most popular social
network VK.com for a total cash consideration of $1.47b in September 2014. Taking
into account the price paid for the other 51.99% of VK.Com from the first 1,065
investment in 2007 , the total acquisition cost of VK.Com is $2.07b. The acquisition
puts to bed a lengthy battle for the ownership and control of VK.Com.
Following the acquisition of Ogone last year for €360m, Ingenico Group, a global
leader in seamless payments, acquired GlobalCollect, a global online full service
payment provider, for €820m (sales and EBITDA multiples of 2.7x and 16.4x
820
respectively). Fully financed by available cash and bank debt, the transaction
enhances the group’s position as a global leader in seamless payments with the
complimentary qualities of both companies.
The Japanese Internet giant Rakuten acquired the Cyprus-based messaging
platform & app maker Viber for $900m in February 2014. With this acquisition
Rakuten entered the global messaging market. Viber is the largest transaction by 658
Rakuten, an active acquirer in the last few years e.g. buying Kobo for $315m in
cash.
BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners acquired the car rental platform
CarTrawler from the founder PE investor ECI Partners and other individual
shareholders. BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners acquired majority and 453
minority stakes respectively whilst the management team retained a significant
shareholding. CarTrawler was valued at multiples of 0.9x sales and 20.6x EBITDA.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 20THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP EUROPEAN M&A-DEALS AND
EQUITY INVESTMENTS
Selected M&A transactions in 2014
Transaction value
Target Description Buyer Countries
[€m]
Axel Springer increased its share in the online classified ads business, Axel Springer
Digital Classifieds, from 70% to 85% with the option to purchase the remaining
shares. If the option is exercised, the global growth investor General Atlantic will 446
receive Axel Springer shares as consideration. The purchase price for the 15% was
€446m in cash valuing the classifieds business at €2,973m.
NASDAQ-listed social gaming firm Zynga bought the Oxford-based game-maker
NaturalMotion for $527m in January 2014. NaturalMotion has had a string of
mobile game hits such as CSR Racing and Clumsy Ninja. With this acquisition Zynga
387
has entered the lucrative mobile games market seen as the next step in
transforming the company which has struggled to replicate its previous success
with desktop games Farmville and Mafia Wars.
Food delivery service company Delivery Hero also stepped up its game with a
consolidation play – the acquisition of one of its German rivals Pizza.de. According
to rumors the purchase price was approx. €290m. With this acquisition Delivery ~290
Hero boosted its scale on home turf and core market. It is an open secret that
Delivery Hero is considering an IPO following its competitors Just Eat and grubHub.
NASDAQ-listed Progress Software acquired Bulgarian Telerik, a leading provider of
application development tools, for $262.5m on a sales multiple of 4.4x. Telerik
enables its 1.4 million strong developer community to create compelling user
207
experiences across cloud, web, mobile and desktop applications. Telerik's revenue
for the last twelve months was over $60 million, with annual bookings growth of
over 20%.
Through its big data division Dunnhumby Tesco, the world’s second-largest retailer,
bought into ad tech by acquiring Berlin-based Sociomantic for approx. £120m.
Sociomatic is an ad tech company specializing in programmatic and retargeting
~150
advertising with an emphasis on e-commerce. Sociomantic was different to a lot of
other ad tech startups in that it had never raised venture funding and was
bootstrapped.
NMG acquired the Munich-based global online luxury business mytheresa.com.
which generates net sales of approx. €100m and delivers exclusively designed
fashion merchandise to 120 countries worldwide. The fashion site is successful in
1501)
Germany and the rest of Europe, and gaining traction in Asia. With the acquisition
NMG is making a step forward in its international and digital expansion plans and to
reach more custumers globally through the Internet..
1) It was reported from different sources that the initial payment was €150m plus an earn-out of up to €50m
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 21THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP EUROPEAN M&A-DEALS AND
EQUITY INVESTMENTS
Selected equity investments in 2014
Transaction value
Target Description Investor Countries
[€m]
Rocket Internet AG formerly known as Rocket Internet Gmbh is an incubator and
venture capital firm specializing in incubation, early-stage, and start-ups. The
company received pre-IPO funding of €435m from United Internet for a 10.7% 819
stake. PLDT, a Philippian-based telecom company, saw its stake diluted to 8.3%. The
transaction valued Rocket Internet at €4.3bn.
Delivery Hero Holding GmbH, the German online food ordering site, received total
funding of €392m led by Insight Venture Partners. The funding was the fourth
largest funding ever received by a European tech company. The funding valued the 392
company at €1bn and the proceeds will be used to support the growth of Delivery
Hero.
Victoria Plumb Ltd. is an online bathroom products retailer. The company received
funding of €241m from TPG, a leading global private equity firm. According to the
company TPG’s investment will help the company accelerate its growth and set the 241
benchmark for the UK bathroom retailing industry. For TPG this was the second
investment in the bathroom sector after selling Grohe to Lixil Corp. in 2013.
Adyen B.V provides payment solutions for merchants across the globe. The €200m
funding, led by General Atlantic, will be used to expand its operations globally with
200
a particular focus on North America and Asia Pacific. The funding round valued
Adyen at a post money valuation of approx. €1.5bn.
OZON, a Russian online company which operates various sites in sectors such as
travel, e-commerce and delivery services, received funding of €109m by Sistema, a
subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). Sistema received a stake of 10.9% and all
109
existing shareholders will remain with the company. The proceeds will be used to
further enhance OZON’s online presence, while MTS will leverage the company’s
logistic infrastructure.
momondo, an online travel media & technology company that publishes flight deals
in the UK and internationally, received €101m in funding from Boston-based PE
firm Great Hill. The funding valued momondo at more than €180m with Great Hill 101
receiving a majority stake. The funding will be used to further focus on growing the
business and capitalise on the double-digit growth rates in the travel meta market.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 22THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP EUROPEAN M&A-DEALS AND
EQUITY INVESTMENTS
Selected equity investments in 2014
Transaction value
Target Description Investor Countries
[€m]
Klarna, based in Sweden, provides payment solutions for online shopping. The
company received a €90m funding for its purchase of Germany-based Sofort which
completed in March. While the transaction value was undisclosed, reports indicate 90
a purchase price of above €100m. With the acquisition, Klarna now provides
payment solutions to 60% of all German online retailers.
Takeaway.com, an online food ordering & delivery site, announced a Series B
funding of €74m co-led by new investor Macquarie Capital and existing investor
74
Prime Ventures. The merger of Lieferando and Takeway.com was part of the
transaction.
Sarenza SA, a French online retailer of footwear, received €74m funding led by
bpifrance and HLD. The funding will be used to finance the company’s international 74
+ 2 Family
expansion and achieve its sales goal of €500m within five years.
Offices
BlaBlaCar received €73m in a Series C founding led Index Ventures at a post money
valuation of more than €750m. BlaBlaCar’s success is based on the increasing
interest of investors & consumers in the sharing community. It operates an online
platform that connects drivers who have empty seats with people looking for a ride
through the largest car share service in Europe.. The funding will be used to 73
develop new markets outside Europe, where the company already enjoys
significant market share in most developed countries. BlaBlaCar only currently
charges commission for car shares in France and Spain, so the funding will also be
used to develop the business model in other existing markets.
Westwing, a German-based e-commerce company with a focus on home and living,
has secured a €72m funding led Tengelmann Ventures from Germany. Westwing
Home will also use the funds to reinforce its position as a major player in the home 72
and living e-commerce market. Furthermore, Westwing will expand its business
globally with a focus on Brazil, Russia and France.
Elasticsearch develops and delivers an open source search engine solution for
developing Web sites or online systems. It has received €51m in a Series C round
51
led by new investor New Enterprise Associates. Benchmark Capital and Index
Ventures were returning investors in the round.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 23THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP GERMAN M&A-DEALS AND EQUITY
INVESTMENTS
Selected M&A transactions in 2014 with German involvement
Transaction value
Target Description Buyer Countries
[€m]
Axel Springer increased its share in the online classified ads business Axel Springer
Digital Classifieds from 70% to 85% with the option to purchase the remaining
shares. If the option is exercised, the global growth investor General Atlantic is to 446
receive Axel Springer shares as consideration. The purchase price for the 15% was
€446m in cash valuing the classifieds business with €2,973m.
Food delivery service company Delivery Hero is also participating in the
consolidation play by acquiring one of its German rivals Pizza.de. According to
rumors the purchase price was approx. €290m. With the acquisition of Pizza.de ~290
Delivery Hero got a big boost in scale on its home turf being also its core market. It
is an open secret that Delivery Hero is also considering an IPO following its
competitors Just Eat and grubHub.
Through its big data division Dunnhumby Tesco, the world’s second-largest retailer,
bought into ad tech acquiring Berlin-based Sociomantic for approx. £120m.
Sociomatic is an ad tech company specialized on programmatic and retargeting
~150
advertising with an emphasis on e-commerce. Sociomantic stands apart from a lot
of other ad tech startups in that it had never raised venture funding and was
bootstrapped.
NMG acquired global online luxury business mytheresa.com. The Munich-based
mytheresa.com generates net sales of approx. €100m and delivers exclusively
designed fashion merchandise to 120 countries worldwide. The fashion site is quite
1501)
successful in Germany, has good acceptance in the rest of Europe, and is gaining
traction in Asia. With the acquisition NMG is making a step in its international and
digital expansions and reach more costumers globally through the Internet.
Klarna acquired SOFORT AG, an innovator for secure payments on the Internet,
from the majority shareholder Reimann Investors for SEK 1.3b. They will join forces
to become one of the leading independent European online payment providers.
145
The acquisition was financed using a capital injection from existing shareholders.
Both companies will retain their brands. The announcement of the transaction was
in 2013, the closing in 2014.
Fyber is a Web-based technology advertising service company, empowering
application developers to execute smart advertisement monetization strategies
across various connected devices through a unified mobile supply side platform.
127
RNTS Media N.V. signed an agreement to acquire Fyber in cash and stock. Under
the terms of the deal, RNTS paid €12m cash and issued 46m shares as
consideration.
1) It was reported from different sources that the initial payment was €150m plus an earn-out of up to €50m
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 24THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP GERMAN M&A-DEALS AND EQUITY
INVESTMENTS
Selected M&A transactions in 2014 with German involvement
Transaction value
Target Description Buyer Countries
[€m]
In May, Daily Mail and General Trust Plc, a British media house, sold its online job
board business to StepStone, exiting its activities in this area. Among others
evenbase operates jobsite.co.uk, CityJobs.com and eMedCarreers.com. The deal
115
will help StepStone and its parent company Axel Springer Digital Classifieds to
increase its already large stake in the European online job board market. Evenbase
will benefit from StepStone’s expertise and scale.
In June Axel Springer Digital Classifieds signed an agreement to acquire a 51% stake
in Car & Boat media, a France-based company that operates the leading French
used car platform LaCentrale.fr and leading market place for boats
71
Annoncesbateau.com. While Axel Springer Digital Classifieds will once more
increase its European footprint in the digital classifieds market, it also adds the
automotive sector to its classifieds portfolio.
Econa Shopping operates the coupon portals Sparwelt.de and Deals.de. The entire
company was acquired for €28m by RTL Interactive. RTL, being already active in the
online coupon business, will further expand its existing business. As part of the
28
transaction the entire management team of Econa will stay with the company and
keep developing the online portals. Thanks to its media power RTL can increase
brand awareness of Econa.
match.com acquired FriendScout24 from Scout24 Holding for €18m on July 17,
2014. FriendScout24 provides online dating service. match.com, which operates in
Germany under Neu.de, acquired with FriendScout24 one of its major competitors 18
on the German market. match.com pushed with this acquisition the consolidation
in the online dating industry.
NASDAQ-listed Telenav acquired skobbler for $23.8m in cash and stock in January
2014. The consideration comprised $19.2m cash and $4.6m Telenav common stock.
Telenav expects that all skobbler employees will join Telenav as part of its OSM
18
team. skobbler develops and sells smart location-aware applications and map
technology for mobile devices. The company focuses on the development of
location technology based on OpenStreetMap.
Unister – No. 1 in German OTAs – acquired TravelViva the number three in the
market – to strengthen its position in the German travel market and grab additional n.a.
market share. Both companies will benefit from synergies and economies of scale.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 25THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP EUROPEAN M&A DEALS AND
EQUITY INVESTMENTS
Selected equity investments in 2014 in Germany
Transaction value
Target Description Investor Countries
[€m]
Rocket Internet AG formerly known as Rocket Internet Gmbh is an incubator and
venture capital firm specializing in incubation, early-stage, and start-ups. The
company received pre-IPO funding of €435m from United Internet for a 10.7% 819
stake. PLDT, a Philippian-based telecom company, saw its stake diluted to 8.3%. The
transaction valued Rocket Internet at €4.3bn.
Delivery Hero Holding GmbH, the German online food ordering site, received total
funding of €392m led by Insight Venture Partners. The funding was the fourth
largest funding ever received by a European tech company. The funding valued the
392
company at €1b and the proceeds will be used to support the growth of Delivery
Hero. Potentially a big part of the funding Delivery Hero invested in the acquisition
of its German competitor Pizza.de.
Westwing, a German-based E-Commerce company with a focus on home and living,
has secured a €72m funding led Tengelmann Ventures from Germany. Westwing
Home will also use the funds to reinforce its position as a major player in the home 72
and living E-Commerce market. Furthermore, Westwing will expand its business
globally with a focus on Brazil, Russia and France.
Rocket Internet’s foodpanda grabbed $60m in its third round of funding.
foodpanda operates an online food ordering platform. The company’s platform
enables to online food ordering from restaurants. It operates in a number of South 45
American countries, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. This funding round brings the
total foodpanda has raised so far to $108m.
Webtrekk GmbH announced that it has received €25 million in its third round of
funding from new investor DPE Deutsche Private Equity GmbH in June 2014.
25
Webtrekk provides digital intelligence solutions enabling companies to optimize
their digital efforts by offering Web analytics and Website optimization.
auctionata received $30m funding from its existing shareholders. It is an online
auction platform for buying and selling unique or collectible items and goods. Its
services include valuations; catalogue descriptions and photography; storage,
22
logistics, and transport; sale at auction or in its gallery; and payment processing.
Last April the company raised over $20m to boost growth through technology
upgrades and a New York auction studio.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 26THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – TOP EUROPEAN M&A DEALS AND
EQUITY INVESTMENTS
Selected equity investments in 2014 in Germany
Transaction value
Target Description Investor Countries
[€m]
GoEuro issued common stock pursuant to an exemption provided under Regulation
D. The transaction included participation from 18 investors including New
Enterprise Associates, Battery Ventures Hasso Plattner Ventures and Lakestar.
21
GoEuro is a European travel planner platform. GoEuro currently operates in seven
European countries. The new funding will be used for market expansion and
ramping up the company’s rate of growth.
NetVacation announced that it had received €20m in a Series C round in November
2014. The transaction included participation from new investors Altpoint Ventures
and Target Ventures and existing investors including Holtzbrinck Ventures Gmbh,
20
Hasso Plattner Ventures Management GmbH, and DIMA Ventures. NETVACATION
operates cruise portals Dreamlines which provides cruises, club ships, river cruises
and sailing trips.
The transaction included participation from a new investor Vostok Nafta for $7.5m
and existing investors, DN Capital, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Texas Atlantic Capital, and
Sixt family. Quandoo provides a user interface that offers local commerce services
19
including booking and cashier services. It will use this cash to extend its market
Germany, Austria and Italy across Europe as well as launching in APAC and Latin
America.
Mediakraft Networks announced it received €16.5m in a second round of equity
funding led by new investor, Iris Capital, in July 2014. The transaction included
participation from other new investor, Capnamic Ventures, and existing investor,
17
Shortcut Ventures GmbH. Mediakraft Networks provides internet television
services. Recently Mediakraft had negative press coverage with angry celebrities,
mismanagement and scaling problems. Hopefully the funding helps to solve that.
Home24 received €16m in funding in December 2014. The company issued treasury
shares. The round included participation from new and existing investors.
Returning investor Rocket Internet AG invested €10m increasing its stake by 0.3% to 16
49.8%. The round was raised at a post money valuation of €815m. Home24 offers
home and furniture products online and offers home delivery services.
Windeln.de announced that it received €15m in an equity round of funding in May
2014. The transaction included participation from new investor, DB Private Equity
and existing investors, DN Capital, Acton Capital Partners, MCI Management, and
15
360 Capital Partners. In January 2015 Windeln.de received additional €45m in
funding led by Goldman Sachs and DB Private Equity. Seems the company is
preparing for an IPO.
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 27Trends and Selected Transactions Presented by Globalscope
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – GLOBALSCOPE PERSPECTIVE
Trends and selected transactions presented by Globalscope
Globalscope Partner M&A trends Germany 2015 Top Internet transaction Germany 2014
■ German Internet companies continue to mature and ■ “My top internet transaction 2014 in Germany was
are becoming interesting targets for PE investors the acquisition of Pizza.de by its rival Delivery Hero.
■ Whilst Mobile companies are practically in their The transaction was not only one of the largest
infancy they often disrupt the market. Therefore we internet deals in Germany in 2014 but also a big step
will see high M&A and fundraising activities in this in the consolidation of food delivery market. It is a
sector prime example of how quickly company builders
■ Germany, as the growth engine and anchor of internationalize. Pizza.de was commonly considered
stability in Europe, attracts investors attention with as the top dog of German food delivery companies.
Internet companies being their first European port of However, it was being overrun by its financially
Mark Miller
Partner at CatCap call stronger competitors and therefore faced a limited
Germany number of strategic options going forward. ”
■ M&A is no longer just about growth but about
synergies, cost reduction and reducing competition
Globalscope Partner M&A trends UK 2015 Top Internet transaction UK 2014
■ Driven by new technology and changing consumer ■ “Google’s acquisition of Artificial Intelligence start-up
behavior & regulations, we have seen a large influx DeepMind for more than $400M was one of the most
of funding in Fintech over the past few years remarkable acquisitions of 2014”
■ With London being the focal point of the European ■ “Acquiring DeepMind will help Google to compete
financial services market, we expect to see against other major tech companies as they try to
significant M&A activity soon, driven either by VCs gain business advantages by investing in deep
looking for exits or strategic investors snapping up learning.”
their innovative and agile competitors ■ “This is expected to help them create new types of
Paddy MccGwire
Managing Partner at ■ As in 2014, SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and products and services that can understand and learn
Cobalt Corporate Finance cloud) will remain the main driver of Internet from the vast amounts of unstructured data clogging
United Kingdom transactions in UK up the Web”
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 29THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – GLOBALSCOPE PERSPECTIVE
Trends and selected transactions presented by Globalscope
Globalscope Partner M&A trends France/Belux 2015 Top Internet transaction France/Belux 2014
■ Accounting for almost one fifth of all transactions in ■ “Two years ago, rumor has it that Infosys was ready
the French and BeLux markets, ad-tech companies to put €400m on the table to buy Clear2Pay NV until
continue to whet the appetite of investors. negotiations broke up. Eventually, in 2014, FIS Inc.
Advertisers understand the potential from cross- acquired the company and its state-of-the-art
channel campaigns and measurements. Moreover, technologies for about €375m. European Fintech
Criteo or Teads (whose IPO is scheduled in 2015) benefits from the harmonized payment system
pave the way for continuous consolidation. requirements which bolster innovation. Although
■ In 2013, Ingenico’s acquisition of Ogone hit the London is undoubtedly Europe’s Fintech hub, major
Daniel Schneider headlines. Last year, Fintech sector M&A kept its deals are expected in other countries mainly at banks’
Partner at Tenzing momentum and we expect it to accelerate given initiative.”
Partners PSPs maturity
Luxembourg
Globalscope Partner M&A trends the Netherlands 2015 Top Internet transaction the Netherlands 2014
■ We are seeing an ongoing market consolidation, ■ “Two examples of ongoing industry consolidation:
both autonomous (market leaders outpacing the The acquisition of Ziggo by Liberty Global (UPC),
average market growth) and via M&A a €10b merger of cable companies that creates a
■ PE funds are more and more comfortable with dominant player on the Dutch market for
Internet companies as many have proven business Internet and television
models with stable (and growing) cash flows. This Warner Bros (Time Warner) acquisition of Dutch
results in an increase in PE investments in Internet multi media production company Eyeworks, a
companies and an overall increase in deal activity €200m deal that will create the scale for
■ Long-awaited (and feared) entrance of Amazon into successful Eyeworks concepts to prosper
Martijn Peters the Netherlands? In 2014, Amazon launched its 1st
Partner, Globalscope globally”
commercial activities and there is widespread
the Netherlands
speculation about potential acquisitions of leading
Dutch e-tailers
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 30THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – GLOBALSCOPE PERSPECTIVE
Trends and selected transactions presented by Globalscope
Globalscope Partner M&A trends Spain 2015 Top Internet transaction Spain 2014
■ Following the macroeconomic recovery and ■ “In March 2014, Schibsted acquired Spanish internet
improvement of business conditions, the Spanish business Milanuncios for €50M, plus a 10% stake of
M&A market is expected to steadily grow in 2015 Schibsted Spain. Founded in 2005, Milanuncios is an
■ International M&A players are actively analyzing online classifieds business. In 2010, Milanuncios
investment opportunities in the Spanish market, overtook Spanish leader Segundamano (already
confident that the recovery and growth will owned by Schibsted) in web traffic. Today
consolidate in the short term Milanuncios has 17 million active users and more
■ Likewise, Spanish Private Equity firms have improved than 60 million visits per month. Schibsted is a
César Prado López access to financial sources and raised new funds for Norwegian media group with operations in 29
Founding Partner at Next a total (as of Dec 2014) of €4.3 billion (+88%) countries and revenue of ca. €2billion.”
Corporate
Spain
Globalscope Partner M&A trends Poland 2015 Top Internet transaction Poland 2014
■ The online retail market will continue its rapid ■ “2014 was marked by disposals of several non-core
consolidation, driven by declining margins and the businesses by Naspers in Poland with the company
perceived threat of Amazon’s entry to Poland implementing its strategy to focus on the core
■ A massive wave of VC funded startups are maturing business of Allegro.pl; “
and expect to finally be noticed by potential ■ “2014 was also the year of a number of very exciting
acquirers, both internationally and domestically international M&A deals with targets being acquired
■ Polish startups are increasingly eyeing international by international players: Kontomierz (Fintech) by
markets, once their business model has been tested Kreditech, Travelist (travel club) by Secret Escapes,
Marcin Majewski
locally, or more and more often target US and EU Gastronauci (restaurant reviews) by Zomato.”
Deputy Managing Director
at Augeo Ventures markets from the outset; as a result we expect a
Poland growing trend for international fund raisings
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 31THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – GLOBALSCOPE PERSPECTIVE
Trends and selected transactions presented by Globalscope
Globalscope Partner M&A trends Sweden 2015 Top Internet transaction Sweden 2014
■ Sweden has seen increasing M&A activity for the ■ “In September Microsoft acquired the game
past few years with 2014 recording the highest developer Mojang, the creator of the global online
transaction activity since 2008 and 2015 is looking to success Minecraft, for $2.5b making the Mojang
be even stronger owner, Marcus “Notch” Persson, one of the most
■ We are therefore expecting to see high demand for successful Internet entrepreneurs in history
M&A in most parts of the Internet industry, from ■ “This transaction again confirms Stockholm as a
cloud services to e-commerce significant tech hub on a global scale that produces
■ Sweden, and Stockholm in particular, is establishing truly successful internet companies such as Mojang,
Johan Frenckner itself as an international technology center and we Skype, Spotify, Klarna and King”
Managing Partner at are expecting to see increasing interest from
ScandCap
international investors looking to invest in the
Sweden
forefront of the Internet industry
Globalscope Partner M&A trends Greece 2015 Top Internet transaction Greece 2014
■ Greek Internet companies are maturing and ■ “Greek online travel agency Travelplanet24 has
becoming interesting targets for Private Equity received financing of €3.5m from the Elikonos
investors Jeremie and Odyssey Jeremie Partners investment
■ Key areas of focus: online travel, digital advertising, schemes. The funding received by Travelplanet24 is
online food delivery, e-commerce, mobile apps said to be the largest capital investment made so far
in Greece through the Jeremie program.”
■ There are 4 active tech VCs, with their investment
horizon ending at the end of 2015. They have ■ “The investment will be directed to the faster growth
approximately €35m to invest in 2015 in of the company abroad, new technologies and
Pantelis Papageorgiou
tech/internet companies potential acquisitions in countries of strategic
Founding Partner at First
interest,’ the company’s CEO, Philipp Brinkmann, said
Athens Corporate Finance
in an announcement.”
Greece
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 32Commerce
THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – COMMERCE
2013 vs. 2014 Comparison
Number of deals by sub-sector Relative number of deals by sub-sector
2013 2014 Sub-sector 2013 2014
38 52 E-Commerce/
Comparison Shopping/ 54% 48% (-6%)
118 Couponing
35 107
50 Jobs/ Classifieds/
9% 10% (+1%)
Dating
17
25 Transactions/
18% 20% (+2%)
Total # of Deals: 197 Total # of Deals: 245 (+24%) Auctions/ Payments
E-Commerce/ Comparison Shopping/ Jobs/Classifieds/ Transactions/ Auctions/ Travel/ Rental/ Housing Travel/ Rental/
19% 22% (+3%)
Couponing Dating Payments Housing
Number of deals by deal value Comment
22 2013 2014 Total number of deals in the commerce
sector has increased by approx. 24% from
197 to 245 deals
11
All subsectors saw more deals in 2014 than
8 9 8 8
in 2013
6
4 E-Commerce/ Comparison Shopping/
3
1 Couponing lost about 6% relative share
Huge increase of deals between €0m -
0 - 10 10 - 20 20 - 50 50 - 100 >100 €10m and above €100m
Deal Value (in €m)
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 34THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – COMMERCE
Transactions in Europe’s top Internet countries
Number of transactions and origin of buyers Description
In absolute numbers Germany is the most
Buyer Target
attractive country for acquisitions in Europe –
48 potentially due to its large number of
39 inhabitants and economic strength
29 28 The Nordic countries became an attractive
target but Nordic companies have also been in
55 acquisition mode
47 48
35 34 10 8 The UK still remains a significant market for
4 8 5
14 13 12 3 4 buyers and particularly for foreign players given
7 8 8 43 4 51 6
the low language barrier
German companies have also been relatively
Nordics
Europe
Others
Eastern active in their acquisition efforts resulting in a
total of 48 transactions
Buyer’s background It is interesting to note that approx. 22% of
buyers in the Commerce sector are internet
124
software and services companies
54 Last year, internet retail companies were the
most active buyers due to the ongoing
consolidation in the e-commerce market
25 E-commerce remains the largest sub-sector in
17
13 12 terms of deal numbers but also among internet
software and services companies taking
increasing interest in the
Internet Asset Internet Retail Hotels, Resorts Publishing Other transaction/auction/payments sector
Software Management and Cruise Lines
and Services and Custody
Banks
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 35THE EUROPEAN INTERNET INDUSTRY – COMMERCE
Transactions in Europe’s top Internet countries
Private placement heatmap Description
Average Deal Value (in € m)
18 The Private placement heatmap shows a
E-Commerce/ Comparison Shopping/ different picture to M&A activity in Commerce
17
Couponing1)
16 E-Commerce has attracted the most number of
investments in absolute terms as well as in
15
average deal value
14
In Jobs/Classifieds/Dating a relatively low
13 number of fundings can be seen with relatively
12 low funding rounds
11 Travel/Rental/Housing has nearly doubled the
10
number of financing rounds compared to 2013
Transactions/ Auctions/Payments has increased
9
the total number of financing rounds as well as
8 the average size of the round
7 Financial investors have often invested in
6 syndicates to minimize their risk
Transactions/ Auctions/
5 Payments3) Compared to last year, a significant increase in
Jobs/Classifieds/ average deal value can be seen for nearly every
4 Dating2) sub-sector
3
Travel/ Rental/ Housing4) In addition to generally larger investments, the
2
increase has been driven by large fundings for
1 companies such as Delivery Hero or Adyen
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
Number of Transactions 1) 64 placements undisclosed, average volume refers to remaining 131 placements
2) 7 placements undisclosed, average volume refers to remaining 36 placements
2013 2014 3) 45 placements undisclosed, average volume refers to remaining 117 placements
4) 27 placements undisclosed, average volume refers to remaining 59 placements
CatCap GmbH | M&A Report: The European Internet Industry 2014| 36You can also read
