1st Half 2011 Key Highlights

  • The largest transaction in 1st Half 2011 was Microsoft Corporation’s announced acquisition of Skype Technologies SA, from an investor group lead by Silver Lake Partners, for $9.08 billion.
  • Google, Inc. was the most active Software Industry acquirer by volume, with 13 acquisitions: SageTV, Zynamics, AdMeld Inc., PostRank Inc., Sparkbuy Inc., TalkBin, PushLife Inc., Green Parrot Pictures, BeatThatQuote.com Ltd., Next New Networks, Inc., FFlick, SayNow and eBook Technologies Inc.
  • There were 171 financially sponsored transactions in 1st Half 2011, with an aggregate value of $15.62 billion, representing 13 percent of the total volume and 19 percent of the total value, respectively.

1st Half 2011 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume increased by 10 percent in1st Half 2011from 2nd Half 2010, with 1283 transactions in 2nd Half 2010 and 1413 in 1st Half 2011.
  • Total transaction value in 1st Half 2011 increased by 28 percent over 2nd Half 2010 from $63.5 billion in 2nd Half 2010 to $81.1 billion in 1st Half 2011.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 5590 transactions between 2009 and 1st Half 2011, of which 1711 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $239.5 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 3879 undisclosed transactions to be $51.6 billion, totaling $291.1 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past two and a half years.

The largest transaction tracked by Berkery Noyes between 2009 and 1st Half 2011 was Comcast Corporation’s acquisition of NBC Universal, a subsidiary of General Electric Company, for $22.85 billion.

Median disclosed multiples for all transactions covered in this report were 10.7 times EBITDA and 1.69 times revenue.