Dear Clients & Friends,
Below is a link to our August 2012 Market Update. As you will see, it provides our sense of M&A values, activity and trends for the dozen plus technology, information and healthcare sectors that we follow.
Click here for our Market Update
This month we saw multiple transactions announced with, again, the vast majority of transactions well under $200M. One of these involved our client, Correlix, Inc., which was acquired by TS-Associates plc. This was our sixth transaction in the first seven months of the year. Correlix is a capital markets software company that provides a latency management service to capital markets. We continue to see strategics and financial sponsors willing to pay reasonable values for technology-based firms that show scale, growth, and a prominent position in the marketplace.
Some other notable recent deals include:
- TMX Group’s (TSX:X) shareholders agreed to be acquired by Maple Group for C$3.8Bn ($3.8Bn);
- Roper Industries (NYSE:ROP) agreed to acquire Sunquest Information Systems for $1.4Bn;
- JPMorgan’s One Equity agreed to acquire M*Modal (Nasdaq:MODL) for $1.1Bn;
- VMware (NYSE:VMW) agreed to acquire Nicira Networks for $1.3Bn;
- Cielo (BOVESPA:CIEL3) agreed to acquire Merchant e-Solutions for $670M;
- State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) agreed to acquire Goldman Sachs Administration Services for $550M;
- SAIC (NYSE:SAI) agreed to acquire maxIT Healthcare for $493M;
- IHS (NYSE:IHS) acquired Invention Machine for $40M;
- SciQuest (Nasdaq:SQI) agreed to acquire Upside Software for $22M;
- CSG Systems International (Nasdaq:CSGS) agreed to acquire Ascade for $19M;
- Aquiline Capital acquired a Majority Stake in BI-SAM Technologies for an undisclosed amount; and
- S&P Capital IQ acquired Credit Market Analysis from CME Group (Nasdaq:CME).
Certainly one of the most talked-about events this month has been the $440M trading loss due to a technology disruption and subsequent recapitalization of Knight Capital. Though predicated by an undesirable turn of events, the immediate financing from Jefferies, Blackstone, Getco, TD Ameritrade, Stephens and Stifel underscores the appeal of financial technology companies.
Meanwhile, healthcare technology also remains of high interest to many, and although it is predominately a domestic industry, we are starting to see more commitments by Private Equity firms venturing into the overseas healthcare markets. This month, Marlin Equity’s portfolio company, Hospedia, purchased Extramed, a UK-based patient management software developer. Last month, TA Associates acquired a controlling stake in the Indian-based healthcare BPO company, Omega Healthcare, for $93M.
Finally, we are quite pleased to note that, last week, Acquisition International, the monthly magazine and newsletter publisher serving our industry, named Marlin & Associates as the USA TMT Advisory Firm of the Year. This award was the “culmination of a six month search for the very best M&A teams in the world.” It is always gratifying to be recognized by our peers.
We hope you will find this month’s newsletter useful. We are always available to answer questions.