Direct Hits
Thanks to the steady convergence of direct marketing and the Internet, the number of U.S. acquisitions and strategic mergers in the direct marketing industry hit 1,846 in 1998 – a record number worth $29.4 billion, according to New York City-based investment bank Gruppo, Levy & Co.’s annual DM Strategic Transaction Index.
Acquisitions represented the largest category of strategic transactions last year, growing 28 percent to 602 deals compared with 1997. The largest acquisition was Office Depot, Inc.’s $2.9 billion purchase of cataloger Viking Office Products, Inc. Cendant Corp.’s $1.6 billion purchase of travel services marketer National Parking Corp. was second.
Internet services provider iXL Enterprises, Atlanta, GA, ranked as the most acquisitive company of ’98, buying 12 businesses including NetResponse LLC, Commerce WAVE, Inc., Micro Interactive, Larry Millet Productions, and Image Communications.
Equity investments became the second fastest growing category of transaction, rising 102 percent to reach 178 deals in 1998.
