1st Half 2010 Key Highlights

First Posted: 07/7/10 05:10 PM ET | Updated: 07/29/10 10:27 AM ET


  • The largest transaction for 1st Half 2010 was Visa, Inc.’s pending acquisition of CyberSource Corporation for $1.84 billion.
  • Of the top 10 largest transactions by value, five occured within the E-Commerce segment.
  • Strategic acquisitions represented 88 percent of the total volume and 85 percent of the total value for 1st Half 2010.

1st Half 2010 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume increased by 31 percent from 383 in 2nd Half 2009 to 499 in 1st Half 2010.
  • The segment with the largest increase in value was SaaS/ASP with a 79 percent increase from $1.95 billion in 2nd Half 2009 to $3.49 billion in 1st Half 2010.
  • The segment with the largest increase in volume was E-Marketing & Search with a 47 percent increase from 83 transactions in 2nd Half 2009 to 122 transactions in 1st Half 2010.
  • The segment with the largest decrease in value in 1st Half 2010 over 2nd Half 2009 was E-Content with a 60 percent decrease from $2.06 billion in 2nd Half 2009 to $850 million in 1st Half 2010.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 1891 transactions between 2008 and 2010, of which 600 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $51.49 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of the 1291 undisclosed transactions to be $16.41 billion, totalling $67.90 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past 30 months.

The largest transaction tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2008 and 2010 was Cisco Systems, Inc. who acquired Starent Networks for $2.56 billion.

The most active buyer by volume in the past 30 months was Google, Inc., with 20 purchases, half of which occured within the last half-year period.