Contact: Brenon Daly
Every year in our M&A Outlook, 451 Research looks ahead and highlights a number of the most significant trends that are expected to shape acquisition activity and valuations for key IT sectors in the coming year. All of the transaction data comes from 451 Research’s M&A KnowledgeBase , while the outlook and predictions for acquisition activity within the specific sectors come from extensive research and forecasts from the more than 100 analysts at 451 Research – who, collectively, will write about 4,500 reports this year on the strategy, innovation and financial events at the companies they cover. The 80-page report, which is our version of an M&A playbook, is now available for download.
In addition to highlighting many of the major trends in their sectors, 451 Research’s analysts also put specific names to the strategy by speculating on deals that could get printed this year. (Altogether, our 2016 M&A Outlook maps nearly 250 potential target candidates to broader themes, including 50 specific parings. Two of the companies we highlighted as attractive acquisition candidates have already been snapped up since we finished writing our forecasts.) In the same vein, our analysts also put forth almost 50 companies that we think are of a size and mind to go public in 2016, even as the IPO market remains a rather inhospitable place.
Similar to overall 451 Research coverage, the 2016 M&A Outlook covers activity from the datacenter all the way out to the device, not only offering insight on the technology developments in each of those sectors, but also bringing a financial consideration to the transactions. The 2016 M&A Outlook report opens with an overview of the tech M&A market, including activity of both corporate and financial acquirers, the valuations they are paying (and expect to pay) as well as what broad forces are likely to shape deals in the coming year. Following that, we feature specific reports from seven sectors: software; systems and storage; information security; enterprise mobility (including the Internet of Things); hosting and managed services; networking; and DCT and eco-efficient IT. Download the full 2016 M&A Outlook.