According to a newly released analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the total value of tech and telecom transactions announced around the plague-ravaged world in 2020 topped $602bn, according to 451 Research’s M&A KnowledgeBase.
Q3 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
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Chris Hohn the founder and manager of TCI Fund Management was the star speaker at this year's London Value Investor Conference, which took place on May 19th. The investor has earned himself a reputation for being one of the world's most successful hedge fund managers over the past few decades. TCI, which stands for The Read More
451 Research is the enterprise and emerging technology research group of S&P Global Market Intelligence and was acquired by the division in December 2019.
S&P Tech M&A: A Record No One Saw Coming
By Brenon Daly
January 7, 2021
In a year dominated by a global health emergency that no one saw coming, 2020 also notched a record that virtually no one saw coming: Tech M&A spending last year soared to its highest level since the dot-com collapse. Astonishingly, almost impossibly, the total value of tech and telecom transactions announced around the plague-ravaged world in 2020 topped $602bn, according to 451 Research's M&A KnowledgeBase.
Last year's record performance came in a historically abrupt boom-bust cycle. A recession-led decline that typically grinds lower for years only knocked dealmakers out of the market for a few months in 2020. By summer, acquirers' pent-up demand -- combined with Wall Street's confidence in the tech sector to thrive, not just survive, during the pandemic – flooded into the tech M&A market:
- After spending on acquisitions in Q2 dropped to its lowest quarterly level in a decade, the average totals for both Q3 and Q4 came in more than six times higher than spring's slump, according to the M&A KnowledgeBase.
- Deal volume also picked up dramatically in the back half of the year, our data indicates. Acquirers in both the fall and winter quarters announced 40% more transactions than Q2, helping to make 2020 the busiest overall year for tech deals since 2016.
The against-the-odds recovery in tech M&A even outpaced the stunning bull market rebound on Wall Street. (On a total return basis, the S&P 500 climbed 18% in 2020, led by a 44% gain by the tech names in the benchmark index, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.) Tech acquirers and investors enjoyed one of the few true 'V-shaped' recoveries in last year's otherwise ruinous COVID-19 pandemic.
Annual Tech M&A Spending vs. S&P 500 Performance, 2004-2020
Source: 451 Research M&A KnowledgeBase; S&P Global Market Intelligence
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