Unlike IPOs, 2016 was pretty active for tech M&A. The year resulted in $612.9 billion in global tech deals, according to Dealogic, which made it the second best year for acquisitions. It nearly kept up the pace of record-setting 2015, where we saw&$691.4 billion&in tech transactions across the world.
A confluence of factors led to consolidation amongst semiconductors and enterprise tech. Some big bets were also made on automotive technology.
And expert dealmakers expect the trend to continue.
“We predict that 2017 will be strong,” says Jamie Leigh, a partner at Cooley. They’re expecting&“continued private equity&focus on tech and big buyers looking to remain competitive in the market places as sectors converge.”
Sam Angus, partner at Fenwick & West says “we will see demand for AI, security, big data and cloud companies/technologies as the large incumbents companies seek to expand their market positions in these areas.”
So what were the biggest deals of 2016? These were the top 11:
1/11
Qualcomm buys NXP Semiconductors
SoftBank buys ARM Holdings
Microsoft buys LinkedIn
Analog buys Linear Technology
Quintiles Transactional buys IMS Health
Oracle buys NetSuite
Samsung buys Harman
Samsung Electronics announced in November that it would pay $8.9 billion (including debt) for Harman International Industries. The goal is to boost Samsung’s automotive technology, where Harman has been innovative. In addition to its popular speakers, Harman has developed navigation systems for connected cars. (Photo: Manuel Blondeau/AOP.Press/Corbis via Getty Images)
8/11
Micro-Focus buys Hewlett Packard Enterprise (software)
In 2015, Hewlett-Packard split into two companies. And in 2016, HP divided up even more. UK-based Micro-Focus unveiled its plans to buy the software assets of HPE for $8.8 billion. Through the deal, the enterprise software company will be inheriting HPE’s big data and security businesses.
Tencent buys (most of) Supercell
Tencent paid $8.6 billion for 84% of Supercell. The Chinese investment company bought a controlling stake in the Finnish maker of hit games like Clash of Clans, betting that it will continue to recreate this viral success. The deal valued Supercell above $10 billion.
Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) buys HPE (enterprise services)
Another chunk of HP’s business got separated in 2016. Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) is paying $8.3 billion (including debt) for its IT services business. HPE shareholders will still own 50% of the merged companies.
11/11
Didi Chuxing buys Uber China
After a bitter rivalry, few expected Uber to throw in the towel on its Chinese business and sell to Didi. But $7 billion was what it took for Uber to walk away and focus on the parts of the world where it excels. Many suspect that Uber did this to clean up its balance sheet ahead of an eventual IPO.
Author : Katie Roof
Source : https://techcrunch.com/gallery/the-11-biggest-tech-acquisitions-of-2016/
