Brenon Daly oversees the financial analysis of the Market Insight and KnowledgeBase products at 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, having covered more than a quarter-trillion dollars' worth of deal flow for both national publications and research firms.
Brenon began his career in 1991 as one of the initial reporters at Prognosis, the first English-language newspaper in the former Eastern Bloc. While there, he covered the Czech Republic's transition to a market economy, as well as larger financial stories across the region. Brenon moved to Vienna in 1995 to run the local bureau for United Press International. In addition to reporting extensively on Austrian politics and economics, he also coordinated and edited EuroBusiness stories from correspondents in Slovakia and Hungary. After UPI, Brenon moved to an analyst position with the Economist Group, where he researched and wrote reports for The Economist Intelligence Unit and the regional publication of The Economist.
Returning to the US in 1997, Brenon helped establish the editorial voice in the early days of financial news site CBS MarketWatch. During his time there, he helped launch OptionsWatch, covering options trading, and MarketPulse, a minute-by-minute report on stock activity licensed primarily to brokerages. Since 2000, Brenon has focused his reporting on M&A as a reporter for The Deal. During that time, he also sharpened his analytical skills, writing reports for TechDealmaker (since acquired by 451 Research) and the boutique research firm Intellectual Capital Associates.
For most of spring, the US has looked more like a developing country than the world's most powerful economy. Bank failures and a possible government default have rattled the global financial system, while everyday business continues to feel the pinch of higher prices and lower growth. It's enough to make you lose hope.
Big Tech is back on Wall Street. Tech stocks have soared since the pandemic, including a recent rally that's pushing prices back to near their all-time highs. But for the first time in a long time, tech M&A isn't part of the current bull market.
No one wants to do any tech deals right now. Strategic acquirers still can't bank on growing like they once did, while financial acquirers can't bank on credit flowing like it once did. Without either group doing anything significant, M&A spending in May dropped to its lowest level since the COVID-19 outbreak.
The increased stress in the US financial system has made M&A way too stressful for a lot of private equity acquirers. As a result of messy bank failures and the still-unresolved debt ceiling negotiations, buyout shops have slashed their spending on tech transactions to the lowest level since the Great Financial Crisis.
The fledgling rebound in tech M&A spending stalled in April as the ongoing turmoil in the US banking system knocked acquirers out of the market. Uncertainty and instability undermined several sale processes, while also shutting down much of the credit market. For buyers of all types, deals have gotten pushed out.
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