The Death of the Media Merger

Mergers and acquisitions in the media world were big business in 2008, with over $150 billion in deals being closed. That was the highest level since 2001 (you know, the last time the economy collapsed).

Drill a bit deeper into those figures, however, and you’ll notice something fishy going on. Four of those deals — Harrah’s Entertainment, Clear Channel, DirecTV, and Sirius XM Radio — actually happened in 2006 but took two years to close. The value of the quintet was more than $75 billion, meaning the actual value of deals in 2008 was $74.6,

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