Industry Update: E-Commerce M&A – June, 2015

June, 2015

The ecommerce industry continues to see strong activity. Year-to-date ecommerce 2015 transaction volume of 145 deals is on pace with record 2014 levels. During 2014, there were 375 ecommerce transactions, an increase of over 12% from the prior year.

Strategic buyers continue to lead the way for ecommerce transactions. Year-to-date 2015, strategic buyers accounted for 85% of the buyers with financial buyers making up the difference. During 2014, ecommerce strategic buyers accounted for just over 85% of the buyers.

For announced transactions (albeit a limited sample size), ecommerce multiples saw a modest increase from 10.5x EBITDA and 0.7x revenue in 2014 to 11.2x EBITDA and 0.9x revenue year-to-date 2015.

Peakstone equally weighted ecommerce index continues to outperform the S&P 500.

Notable publicly announced 2015 transactions:
– Gamestop entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Geeknet for approximately $130 million.
– Bluestem Brands signed a definitive agreement to acquire Orchard Brands for approximately $410 million.
– Expedia entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Orbitz for $1.4 billion.

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