Mooreland Partners Publishes 2014 Technology M&A Report

LONDON, March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mooreland Partners (http://www.moorelandpartners.com), a leading global technology-focused M&A advisory firm, today announced the publication of its annual 2014 global technology M&A report offering a unique insight into the flow of M&A transactions between continents, and in particular the transatlantic link. The report provides an in-depth look at M&A in the technology industry through the analysis of 4,186 global M&A transactions that occurred in 2014, representing a record year for technology M&A activity with a 14 percent increase year-on-year, and more than $1 trillion in deal flow. The full report can be viewed at http://www.moorelandpartners.com/images/reports/2014%20Tech%20MA%20Report.pdf

"A lot of companies are hoping to be bought by tech giants like Google and Facebook, but buyers don't always come from where investors and entrepreneurs expect them as our 2014 research shows," said Peter Globokar, Managing Director at Mooreland Partners. "There is a groundswell of increased technology M&A being transacted cross-border. Our 2014 Technology M&A Report provides key input for technology investors and entrepreneurs with the insights they need to understand how the exit market for their own business is taking shape."

The Mooreland Partners 2014 Technology M&A Report analyzed statistics from 4,186 global technology transactions and data cultivated from Mooreland Partners, Capital IQ and 451 Group. Major highlights include:

• 4,186 technology companies were sold globally in 2014, representing an increase of 14 percent year-on-year, and more than $1 trillion in deal flow between investors, entrepreneurs and their teams.
• The number of transactions with a value in excess of $500m grew a staggering 50 percent year-on-year from 2013 to 2014.
• Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter were the most active buyers and collectively acquired a total of 76 companies, of which only 17 were in Europe. Google doubled the total number of their acquisitions while Yahoo halved theirs during 2014.
• 450 companies changed hands across the Atlantic in 2014. Cross-border deal activity that involved a target and a buyer in different countries increased by almost 25 percent year-on-year. 300 European companies were acquired by U.S. buyers and 150 U.S. companies were acquired by European buyers. 
• While 85 percent of U.S. targets were acquired by US buyers, 66 percent of European companies were acquired by buyers from another country (17 percent by a company from another European country).

Mooreland Partners forecasts even more transatlantic activity in 2015 due to increased flows of financial and human capital between the two continents: a growing number of U.S. venture capital and private equity investors are looking across the pond to invest into start-up and growth companies at more reasonable entry prices. The "Transatlantic Bridge", which represented over ten percent of global M&A in 2014, will continue to strengthen in 2015, driven by weakened European currencies and cash piles held in Europe by U.S. corporations. European startups will continue to move their CEOs and even their headquarters to the East or West Coast U.S. hubs much earlier and in greater numbers than ever before, hoping to be better positioned for a high value exit in one of the most active technology ecosystems in the world.

ABOUT MOORELAND PARTNERS 

Founded in 2002, Mooreland Partners is a leading independent investment bank providing M&A and private capital advisory services to the global technology industry, serving clients from its offices in Silicon Valley, Greenwich (CT), and London. Mooreland's team of almost 50 banking professionals delivers industry domain and transaction expertise across all major technology sectors including communications technology, mobile and digital media, enterprise software and services, as well as industrial technology and electronics. Follow @MoorelandGlobal  on Twitter or learn more at www.moorelandpartners.com.

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SOURCE Mooreland Partners

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