Our key takeaways on Software, Digital Services, Fintech, Digital Media and Marketplaces.

SOFTWARE
“Q1 2020 will forever be defined by the health and economic challenges stemming from COVID-19. In our report, we discuss our perspectives on related trends and predictions for the near-term: recurring and profitable growth to remain a huge focus, and serving mobile and distributed workforces being critically important for the economy and business operations. Unique and thriving SaaS companies in core sub-sectors will likely command pre-COVID-19 valuations from consolidators looking for strategic acquisitions and financial sponsors with related theses. Moreover, public SaaS companies continue to trade highly: 9.9x LTM revenue and 8.4x NTM revenue on average,” said Jonathan Cantwell, Partner at GP Bullhound.

Download GP Bullhound’s Q1 2020 Global Software Market Perspectives here.

DIGITAL SERVICES
“This quarter we focus on the opportunities and challenges COVID-19 presents for the digital services sector. In this highly turbulent market, consumer behaviour is rapidly turning towards the major digital platforms. A robust strategy is more important than ever for brands and we see opportunity for the best placed digital services providers to emerge even stronger. In addition, we focus on the increase in consolidator activity in Latin America and the disruption we are seeing in retail marketing,” said Simon Nicholls and Greg Smith, Partners at GP Bullhound.

Download GP Bullhound’s Q1 2020 Global Digital Services Market Perspectives here.

FINTECH
“In our Q1 update we provide our insights on COVID-19’s impact on fintech and which sub sectors are likely to be worse off. While deal activity has slowed over the past two quarters, we find the current market environment fertile for M&A growth in certain sectors. Also, while public valuations have been hit hard in the past three weeks, we see risk for further downside as companies start reporting earnings and revising guidance downwards,” said Claudio Alvarez, Partner at GP Bullhound.

Download GP Bullhound’s Q1 2020 Global Fintech Market Perspectives here.

DIGITAL MEDIA
“In Q1, COVID-19 brought a boost in users, subscribers and hours of consumed content for many global digital media players. Despite the market volatility in February–March, corporate finance activity stayed strong in Q1, with major transactions completed in digital video, audio and gaming. However, it remains to be seen how usage gains will be affected by potentially negative longer-term factors of the crisis: content production difficulties, lower online advertising rates, technology infrastructure overload and slowing deal activity,” said Alec Dafferner, Partner at GP Bullhound.

Download GP Bullhound’s Q1 2020 Global Digital Media Market Perspectives here.

MARKETPLACES
“In our Q1 update, we provide our insights on COVID-19’s impact on the wider consumer internet sector and the sub sectors likely to be affected most. We believe the current market environment is accelerating certain businesses and that there is space for M&A growth in certain sectors. Public valuations have been hit and despite the recent recovery in early April, we expect further downside as pricing readjusts to lower earnings. However, this has been a watershed moment for most categories, accelerating the shift to online and being positive for most marketplaces long-term,” said Alessandro Casartelli, Executive Director at GP Bullhound.

Download GP Bullhound’s Q1 2020 Global Marketplaces Market Perspectives here.

About GP Bullhound
GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999, the firm today has offices in London, San Francisco, Stockholm, Berlin, Manchester, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid and New York. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com

Enquiries
SOFTWARE: Jonathan Cantwell, Partner, at jonathan.cantwell@gpbullhound.com
DIGITAL SERVICES: Simon Nicholls, Partner, at simon.nicholls@gpbullhound.com
Greg Smith, Partner, at Greg.Smith@gpbullhound.com
FINTECH: Claudio Alvarez, Partner, at claudio.alvarez@gpbullhound.com
DIGITAL MEDIA: Alec Dafferner, Partner, at alec.dafferner@gpbullhound.com
MARKETPLACES: Alessandro Casartelli, Executive Director, at alessandro.casartelli@gpbullhound.com