Contact: Brenon Daly
The choppiness that was felt in the overall M&A market in 2011 also came through in the totals for the year. While the number of transactions hit a five-year high, spending on tech deals in 2011 didn’t necessarily keep pace. The total value of transactions announced last year around the globe rose 17% to $219bn. Still, the increase in 2011 represented the second straight year of higher M&A spending following the dramatic decline in the recession of 2008-2009. However, the total for 2011 is only about half the value of deals announced in the previous years of the tech bull market.
Overall, dealmaking in 2011 started slowly, but then dramatically picked up in late spring and early summer. But that rebound stalled as uncertainty around European stability pushed out acquisitions, or canceled them altogether. The concerns knocked M&A spending in November to the lowest monthly level seen since the depths of the recession in February 2009. And while spending did rebound in December to a more typical level of nearly $20bn, the final few months of 2011 were hardly a robust time for significant transactions. Just one of the 10 largest deals of last year was announced in the final quarter of 2011.