In leap year, tech M&A falls

Posted by on March 2, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada The extra business day in February did little to prop up tech M&A volume, as the number of deals announced last month dropped to one of the lowest levels seen in the past year. The 257 tech acquisitions we recorded in February was one-third less than January’s total and 17% less than [...]

Deep-pocketed acquirers could bid up capacity-planning valuations

Posted by on February 28, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada In a recent report, my colleague Rachel Chalmers discusses opportunities for some of the largest IT firms to fill holes in infrastructure management capacity planning through M&A. However, if bidding increases for the remaining startups in this sector, valuations could rise above the current estimated $100m record set by VMware’s Integrien acquisition. [...]

Shakeout looming in MDM sector?

Posted by on February 27, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada The crowded mobile device management (MDM) sector is likely to see a shakeout in the near future. By one account, there are already more than 80 firms vying for space in the growing MDM market. As the sector’s more notable vendors increasingly advance ahead of the competition, we expect laggard firms will [...]

Few targets left in FEO, but are there any buyers?

Posted by on February 17, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada In the past year, networking vendors have acquired many of the independent front-end optimization (FEO) startups, further narrowing the field in this already niche sector. In fact, there are only a few notable independents left. But is this really a race to consolidate the market, or are acquirers simply adding these capabilities [...]

Cable & Wireless Worldwide may lose independence

Posted by on February 13, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada, Thejeswi Venkatesh Just two years after parent company Cable & Wireless Group split itself into two businesses, the consumer division Cable & Wireless and the business services unit Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW), CWW may once again find itself as part of a larger organization. Vodafone confirmed Monday that it is in [...]

SaaS, SaaS and more SaaS

Posted by on February 9, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada Oracle today announced the $2bn acquisition of Taleo, and SAP is getting closer to completing its $3.6bn purchase of SuccessFactors. Both announcements come less than a month after Oracle closed its $1.5bn RightNow Technologies buy. These transactions are the largest we’ve seen in the SaaS sector. However, we doubt they represent the [...]

Selling to Facebook

Posted by on February 7, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada Rather than buy into Facebook after it debuts on the open market, many companies may consider selling to the social networking giant after its IPO. Facebook is already rich with cash, and is about to become much richer. Meanwhile, its M&A strategy has so far focused on acquiring smaller startups for their [...]

j2 Global buys into CRM, nabs Landslide Technologies

Posted by on February 6, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada J2 Global continues to diversify its business through M&A, this time with the acquisition of Landslide Technologies. The company’s latest deal, its second in as many weeks, is j2′s first CRM purchase – a stark contrast from its recent M&A plays, which have focused primarily on propping up its managed messaging business [...]

IBM plays small ball in big market

Posted by on February 2, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada, Vishal Jain, Chris Hazelton After a streak of batting in the majors, Big Blue recently took a swing in the minor leagues. The company’s recently announced pickup of Worklight is one of the smallest deals it has announced in more than two years. (In fact, Worklight’s $70m price tag is a fraction [...]

Sizing the SaaS M&A market

Posted by on January 31, 2012

Contact: Ben Kolada Traditional IT service providers, accustomed to an on-premises model of delivering products and services, have been rapidly buying into the SaaS sector to fulfill enterprises’ demand for SaaS offerings. The result has been a rapid increase in both the volume and value of SaaS deals announced. The most notable are Oracle’s RightNow [...]

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