Mergers, acquisitions and capital raise transactions in online media accounted for 615 deals worth $44.4 billion in 2007, according to a recently released report from Peachtree Media Advisors, a New York City-based investment banker specializing in interactive media.

The deals were almost evenly split between consumer and b-to-b. Consumer market transactions totaled $10.8 billion, or 24.3 percent of the market, while business services totaled $11 billion or 24.7 percent of the market, according to the report.

The Consumer Publishing, Aggregator and Ad Supported Content category had the most number of deals at 114 and the second highest total deal value at $7.6 billion (the Travel/Rental/Housing category led the way with $8.6 billion, thanks in large part to the Expedia spin-off). The Consumer Publishing category eclipsed both the Applications, Technology and IT sector (61 deals, $7.5 billion) and the Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization sector (26 deals, $6.8 million).

Consumer Publishing, Aggregator and Ad Supported Content also boasted the largest number of deals with 114. Social Networking posted the second highest number of deals at 85 with $2 billion in value, and Blogs/User Generated Content accounted for 42 deals worth $268 million.

2007 New Media Deals