While the pandemic is far from over, M&A activity has surged globally in the first quarter of 2021. According to Reuters and Refinitiv, while the number of deals was up only 6% from a year ago, the total value of pending and completed deals rose 93% to $1.3 trillion.
Key factors in getting deals done is not only the heightened demand for deals from strategics, Private Equity funds and blank check companies but also the boom in the stock market and low borrowing cost. Further sell-side price expectation has come down making it easier for investors to price companies and assets.
At RKCA, I am also seeing an increased level of interest from U.S. private company business owners who were contemplating a sale in the near term weighing the options of selling their companies in 2021 and capitalizing on the lower capital gains tax rates. While President Biden’s bill is far from final and will likely change as it works through Congress, the notion of the capital gains tax rates going up from 23.8% to 43.4% has been a catalyst for business owners to consider near terms options seriously.
Here are some of the M&A transactions that caught my attention over the last few months.
May 17, 2021 – ABRY Partners, LLC entered in to a definitive agreement to acquire Concentrix Insurance Solutions from Concentrix Corporation
May 1, 2021 – ABRY Partners spearheads a merger between Aspect Software and Noble Systems in a $1 billion transaction
April 11, 2021 – Microsoft Corporation entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nuance Communications, Inc. for $19.4 billion
March 23, 2021 – ServiceNow, Inc. signed an agreement to acquire Intellibot
March 16, 2021 – Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nanorep Technologies Ltd. from LogMeIn Kft.
March 1, 2021 – TTEC Digital, LLC signed an agreement to acquire Avtex Solutions Holdings, LLC from Norwest Equity Partners for $490 million
December 31, 2020 – TELUS International (Cda) Inc. completed the acquisition of Lionbridge AI from Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.
December 21, 2020 – RingCentral, Inc. acquired DeepAffects
December 8, 2020 – Brookfield Business Partners L.P. and its institutional partners completed the acquisition of an unknown majority stake in Everise Holdings from Everstone Capital Asia Pte Ltd for $360 million
Link to additional information on the above deals
Sources: Reuters, CapitalIQ, Company Websites
