Private equity firms set to invest billions in tech market consolidation

CLEVELAND, Aug. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Jeff Christian from Jeff Christian & Company "there will be a significant increase in merger and acquisition activity within specific San Francisco and Boston and specialized market segments." M&A activity nationwide will remain flat or slightly down as most research indicates. However in areas where there has been significant venture capital investment we will see a rapid increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions. This will be as a result of a number of dynamics occurring simultaneously. The number one reason is as a result of a traditional 5 to 6 year cycle where there has been a significant amount of venture capital investment made in a few specific new technologies. This usually follows the success of one or two major companies and the birth of a new market segment. A good example would be the early success of Facebook and the reaction from the technology venture capital community. Jeff Christian quotes, "Almost overnight, venture capitalists were quickly investing in new social media companies and related supportive internet technologies." Also there was a renewed investment activity in specific areas of software. Another key factor is that large companies that have been sitting on a lot of cash like Apple, Oracle, Microsoft and IBM, are rapidly buying up these types of companies that they see as strategically important.

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The San Francisco area and Boston have the highest concentration of start ups and successful technology companies. Originally it was because of technology and entrepreneurs coming out of Stanford and MIT. Today the momentum continues. That's also where the money is, most of the venture capitalists in technology are headquartered near San Francisco or Boston.

At the end of this 5 to 6 year cycle after the significant investment by VCs in these new markets occurred, the most successful companies begin to make acquisitions of their own, many times backed by a private equity firms, or become acquired creating new market leaders. An example here would be Salesforce.com that has been a very active acquirer. A leading force is private equity firms coming in and driving consolidation efforts providing capital to existing companies and building companies around Backable CEOs. Some private equity companies are beginning to adopt the Backable CEO model. The innovators and originators of this strategy is GTCR, Chicago. As a result of this current M&A activity and consolidation plays that will occur, Jeff Christian predicts that 2 to 3 new major market leaders will be born in both Boston and San Francisco, companies that we don't know today will become household names. 

Notes for Editors

About Jeff Christian

Jeff Christian is considered one of the pioneers in Talent Equity and Backable CEOs. Jeff Christian & Co mobilizes extraordinary leadership talent and the ideal financial resources required to transform an idea or a company into a market leader. Jeff as the Founder and CEO of Christian & Timbers (now CT Partners) built the firm into the market leader in technology and one of the market leaders in the industry. Some of his work included CEO HP, F5 Networks and Board work for Adobe, Biogen, HP & the last 2 Board searches for Steve Jobs. Jeff was the Founder and Managing Partner of two successful venture capital firms and has built many companies as an investor, founder and one of the top five search professionals in the industry. He is the author of 'The Headhunter's Edge' published by Random House and has been on the Forbes Midas list of top deal makers for 4 years.

Jeff Christian & Co are the leaders in Talent Equity. Jeff Christian & Co has designed Talent First, the most advanced methodology and process allowing us to secure and ensure the absolute best leadership talent for start ups, turn arounds, fast growth companies, major consolidation plays and large global corporations.

Sue Roochove, co-founder and VP Marketing, was indispensable in the creation of Talent First. She was able to utilize her knowledge and experience as an early adopter of social media and sales & marketing automation to make Talent First into one of the most critical components of our business model allowing Talent First to be the highly effective product that it is today.  

For more information about this article please contact:

Jeff Christian 216.543.4606

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SOURCE Jeff Christian & Company