Scott Denne is a Senior Research Analyst with 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, where he covers technology M&A and private equity. His research explores changes in deal-making and shifts in valuation. His reports cover broad movements in the tech M&A markets, private-equity investments, analysis of specific deals and forecasts of deal activity in multiple sectors of the software industry.
He has spent more than 15 years covering technology companies and capital markets as a journalist and analyst. Prior to joining 451 Research, Scott covered startups and venture capital for several Dow Jones publications, including VentureWire, Private Equity Analyst and The Wall Street Journal. He has been quoted by financial and technology publications, including TheStreet.com, Wired, CNBC.com, AdExchanger and CMSwire.
Prices just keep going up for sellers. Amid an M&A market that's generating extraordinary premiums, many buyers are closing deals well above what they'd agreed to. Having renegotiated its merger agreement with Cisco, Acacia Communications has become the latest to land a higher price ahead of closing.
Dealmakers overwhelmingly expect the tech M&A market to build off its record run in 2020. Respondents to the Tech M&A Leaders' Survey delivered their most optimistic forecast in almost seven years, with two-thirds of them anticipating an increase in acquisitions. And there was hardly a naysayer to be found " only 6% said activity would decrease.
The initial shock of a global pandemic, its accelerating spread and the accompanying economic damage have not been enough to make acquirers rethink their earlier commitments. Despite all of the uncertainty throughout 2020, few buyers or sellers called off M&A agreements.
Software bets keep getting bigger and bolder. A record run of 11-figure acquisitions of application software companies propelled that corner of the tech M&A market to a new high. And improving budgets could keep the prints coming into the new year.
As we plan for the new normal, gauging long-term behavioral shifts will greatly depend on consumers' attitudes toward, and continued adoption of, new experiences. Depending on the situation, certain segments of consumers will adopt more enduring behavioral shifts, while others will revert to pre-pandemic behaviors. With the rise in digital experiences, businesses are expected to reshuffle the proverbial deck of priorities to implement technologies that drive stickier relationships and competitive differentiation.
As the global pandemic pushes more customers online, GoDaddy moves in the opposite direction, picking up point-of-sale provider Poynt in a $320m deal that gets it a foothold in physical stores. The need to integrate physical and digital sales in the wake of COVID-19 is driving the longtime web hosting firm, and others, into omnichannel payments.
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