For many startup founders (and their investors), taking their company through a successful IPO is something they dream about. Not only does it give shareholders a chance to cash in on some of the value the company has created, but it’s also a sign to the entrepreneur that they have built something truly great.
That said, the road to an IPO is hard and unpredictable and companies must often turn to alternative exit options, such as the corporate acquisition, through which a startup is acquired by a larger company to expand the corporation’s offering, increase market share, etc.
We dug into the PitchBook Platform to find out which corporations have been most actively buying up smaller IT companies in recent years. Our findings are below:
Source: PitchBook
The data reveals some interesting trends. For example, Dell was on a buying spree of sorts between 2010 and 2012, acquiring 12 companies, but has since cooled off, completing just one IT acquisition since then (possibly due to it going private in 2013). Also, it appears some newer tech giants have become more active in the M&A space. Twitter and Dropbox, for instance, have acquired 12 and 11 IT companies in the past three years, respectively.
PitchBook Platform users can click here to see more data on VC-backed IT acquisitions. If you’d like access to this data, contact us today.
