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Search engine giant Google has been looking for deals in more ways than one this year. The company has made 21 acquisitions, and several of its targets have been companies that offer daily deals, coupons, and loyalty cards. DailyDeal, Zave Networks, The DealMap, and Punchd Labs are all 2011 Google acquisitions in the online coupon and/or loyalty card area.
Berkery Noyes, an investment bank specializing in technology and information content, says 17 of Google’s 21 purchases this year have been online and/or mobile companies. The firm today released its third quarter report on merger and acquisition activity in these industries. One of the four deals outside this space is of course Google’s $12.5 billion deal to buy Motorola Mobility. Last year Google bought 26 companies in the online and mobile industries, according to Berkery Noyes.
In a sign that profit margins may be on the rise in the online and mobile space, the report said that the median EBITDA multiple for these deals rose from 13.0 in the 2nd quarter to 13.8 in the 3rd quarter, while median revenue multiples declined from 2.6 to 2.1.
