Media and telecom M&A in the U.S. and Canada saw an upward trend during August, with a total of 118 sector deal announcements with disclosed transaction values during the month, the second-highest amount for the year to date and up 45.7% year over year.
By comparison, the sector saw 106 deal announcement in July and 81 deal announcements in August 2020.
Lumen Technologies Inc.'s agreement to sell its incumbent local exchange carrier business in 20 U.S. states to funds managed by Apollo Global Management Inc. affiliates for $7.5 billion was the month's largest deal.
Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, LionTree Advisors LLC and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are the financial advisers to Apollo Global for the transaction, whereas BofA Securities Inc., Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are serving as the financial advisers to Lumen. Neither party disclosed any financial advisory fees associated with the deal.
August's second-largest media and telecom deal was French media conglomerate Vivendi SE's sale of 7.1% of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Universal Music Group Inc.'s share capital to Pershing Square Capital Management LP and its affiliates for $2.8 billion. Under the transaction, Pershing Square paid $21.78 per share in cash to acquire 128,555,017 shares of Universal Music from Vivendi. The parties did not disclose any advisers for the deal.
Penn National Gaming Inc.'s agreement to buy the remaining stake in Score Media and Gaming Inc. for about $2.02 billion was No. 3 on the list. Under the agreement, Penn National will pay $17.00 in cash along with 0.2398 share for each share of Score Media, putting the total purchase consideration at $34 per share. On completion, Penn National and Score Media will own 93% and 7% of the combined company, respectively.
Code Advisors LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisers to Penn National for the transaction, while Score Media received financial advisory services from Canaccord Genuity Corp., Greenhill & Co. Canada Ltd. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. The companies did not disclose advisory fees.
