Everybody is talking about Facebook with the recent announcement that they are preparing to go public through an initial public offering (IPO), the biggest tech IPO since Google. Reports have said the price could value the company between $75 and $100 billion. What does this mean for Facebook’s M&A strategy?
In its IPO filing Facebook revealed that it spent $68 million in cash and stock on acquisitions in 2011. Raising $5 billion in capital will give Facebook the leverage to look for bigger deals and might be a sign of a very acquisitive year.
The continuation of two mega-deals (SAP & HP) this quarter is remarkable, despite the difficult times in which we now find ourselves where as effect a substantial reduction in the number of transactions has taken place. The fact remains however that especially in the beginning of Q4 market dynamics where still very much in motion.
Andy Rooswinkel (49) studied Business Economics and started as a trainer of accounting software at Compu’Train B.V. in the Netherlands. Andy than moved to the ERP vendor Unit 4 Software B.V. First active in channel sales followed by chairing the SMB division. Few years later promoted to the management board. Andy was responsible for worldwide alliances; product management; marketing and co-responsible for mergers and acquisitions. Part of Andy's track record includes his contribution to a very successful IPO and various acquisitions thereafter including post acquisition activities.
The annual Gartner ITxpo symposium has started this week in Barcelona. Gartner reported that worldwide security services spending is on pace to reach 35.1 billion dollars in 2011. More and more organizations prefer to take up IT security as a service. Gartner expects sales in IT security will grow to over 49 billion dollars in 2015.
This quarter was marked by increasing uncertainty in the merger and acquisition market by the Euro crisis and the economic / fiscal problems in the U.S. Still a few surprising planned mega deals, but larger and medium-sized deals are postponed. Smaller acquisitions however with a solid strategic focus on growth have been undiminished.
We can already say that 2011 has shown us how vulnerable businesses and governments are in the area of IT and information security.
Remarkable transactions this quarter were introduced in the HR market through the acquisition of 
The market for acquisitions continues to stay in motion. From our buyers and sellers database we have posted a quarterly update with our latest clients in portfolio for sale. Please contact us for more information about our the following buying opportunities:
under pressure to divest their consulting divisions. Their opinion was that Consulting and public Auditing in large companies was incompatible and could lead to conflict of interest and lack of objectivity or critical attitude in the performance of the audit function.
No less than four notable acquisitions (NRAI, Twinfield, Toppower, Lexi-comp) this quarter by Wolters Kluwer. Remarkable deals because of the intended position Wolters Kluwer aspires to get internationally and also in the Netherlands. The former editor of paper editions has become a solid competitor for Afas, UNIT 4, Visma / Accountview and Exact.
