According to a new analysis from Outsell, Inc., the market for information in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa is heating up so fast that it has the potential to outpace the American market within two years or less. Outsell has valued the industry overall to reach $448 billion by 2010, at a forecasted compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5 percent from its current $380 billion valuation.

During a presentation today on “The Global Industry Outlook” at Outsell’s Signature Event, Chief Analyst Leigh Watson Healy noted that information industry revenues generated in Asia and the EMEA regions (Europe, Middle East and Africa) are poised to surpass North, South and Central American revenues within one to two years. The scales are already tipping in that direction. American information industry revenues are currently 53 percent of the worldwide total, with EMEA and Asia at 47 percent.

Outsell's Signature Event, co-produced with The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), is a global, invitation-only conference of CEOs, COOs, Presidents and Managing Directors of major information industry companies—from integrated media companies to search companies, aggregators, and research organizations. This year’s conference is taking place November 11-13 in Kiawah Island, SC.

With the changes ahead, Ms. Healy advised information industry executives to “drive speedier time to market, be clear on your value proposition, and insist on an agile mindset, organization and processes.” She also unveiled Outsell's 10 predictions for the information industry in 2008. Among them: Outsell sees a reinvention of business processes ahead as software, content and communities converge. In addition, the firm expects the next evolution of the Internet experience to be Web 3D.

In a presentation on “M&A Outlook and Valuations,” JEGI Founder and CEO Wilma Jordan emphasized that transaction values within the media industry remain robust. In the first nine months of 2007 alone, the value of M&A transactions totaled $59.5 billion, 18 percent greater than the $50.5 billion total for all of 2006. During this period, transaction multiples have reflected buyers’ assessments of which sectors will be high growth, with consumer online media and interactive marketing services generating the highest multiples.

Since 2001, Ms. Jordan noted, M&A deal activity has been on an upward trend. For example, growth in the total value of M&A transactions in the B2B, B2C, and marketing services markets has far outpaced the growth of the markets themselves. On a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) basis, transaction value grew 27 percent, while market size increased just five percent.

According to JEGI’s research, interactive media is expected to grow from seven percent market share in 2006 to 14 percent market share in 2010, driving 40 percent of the growth for the media industry. As legacy media companies retool their portfolios due to the disruption of the Internet, they will continue to plow funds into acquisitions. “We expect major media companies to invest 20-30 percent of their market caps into higher growth businesses over the next few years,” Ms. Jordan said.

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