5 megatrends that topped M&A deals in 2Q12

The cloud/SaaS megatrend drove the highest volume - so what are the other megatrends?

According to Ernst & Young, many 2Q12 deals involved smart mobility cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), social networking, big data analytics, and a growing sense of blur, with convergence of these technologies an increasing factor in global technology M&A. Cross-sector and cross-industry deals underscored the way in which these five long-term megatrends are generating disruptive innovation in the technology sector while also leading to technology-enabled innovation in other industries.

The cloud/SaaS megatrend drove the highest volume and value of global technology transactions for the second consecutive quarter. There were four cloud-driven deals among the quarter’s top 10, including the purchase of a SaaS company that also hosts a web-based B2B business exchange, two deals in which companies outside of the technology sector are buying data centers to offer cloud services and a purchase of a cloud hardware and software company. In addition, a handful of deals pointed to a blurring between cloud data centers and high-performance computing, typically the domain of research scientists and defense agencies.

Advertising and marketing technology targeted by diverse buyers

All five disruptive megatrends came together to drive dozens of advertising and marketing technology transactions in 2Q12, including several by the largest global advertising firms. Big data analytics that understands customers’ and prospects’ social networking activity was key to many of these deals. Other targeted technologies included marketing automation, SaaS and tools for optimizing mobile and online campaigns.

Social M&A value driven up by enterprise, patent-related deals

The integration of social functions into enterprise software continued to grow in 2Q12 as a deal-driving trend, with a related transaction appearing for the first time among the quarterly top 10 deals. Patent-related deals involving diverse technologies topped US$2b, with social networking representing more than a quarter of the related disclosed value deals.

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