Contact: Brenon Daly
The greybeards got even busier in Q2. After a record start to 2014, old-line acquirers in the tech, media and telecommunications (TMT) markets spent even more on M&A in the just-completed second quarter. The aggregate value of all TMT transactions across the globe in Q2 totaled a post-recession record of $143bn, roughly three times the typical amount spent in recent quarters, according to The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase.
Telecom purchases dominated the spending totals for the April-June period, accounting for four of the five largest deals in Q2. Included in that tally is AT&T’s $49bn planned acquisition of DIRECTTV, which stands as the second-largest TMT transaction since 2002.
On the other side of the lifecycle, startups haven’t particularly figured into recent deal flow. There was just one early-stage company exit among the 20 largest Q2 acquisitions. (And frankly, with Beats Electronics running at more than $1bn in revenue and having raised $500m in funding, we’re not so sure the headphone maker would still be considered a startup.) For comparison, the sales of six startups made the list of the 20 largest deals of Q1 2014.
Overall, Q2 spending on M&A came in 13% higher than the level for TMT transactions in the first three months of this year. Taken together, the $270bn shelled out so far in 2014 exceeds the full-year spending totals for every year since 2008. Further, the frenetic activity puts 2014 on track to surpass an astonishing half-trillion dollars worth of TMT acquisitions this year.
Recent quarterly deal flow
|
Source: The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase