Brenon Daly directs the financial analysis of the Market Insight and M&A KnowledgeBase products at 451 Research from S&P Global Energy Horizons. He is responsible for all financial coverage within those product lines, as well as supporting investment- and acquisition-related activity by investment banking and private capital clients. Brennon arrived at S&P Global through its 2019 acquisition of 451 Research. Before joining 451 Research in mid-2006, Brenon worked at research boutique for technology-focused hedge funds, as well as trading equity and options on his own book. Brenon began his career in 1991 as a founding reporter at the first English-language newspaper in the former Eastern Bloc. Brenon moved to Vienna in 1995 to run the local bureau for United Press International before taking on 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. In addition to earning a degree from the University of Kansas, Brenon studied at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) and the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria).
Although tech M&A often looks like an uninterrupted series of peaks, the market currently finds itself stuck on a plateau — and a rather low one at that. Spending in the third quarter came in at just half the level of the year-ago quarter. Blame AI for the uninspired consistency in dealmaking right now.
The kicker about the expected IPOs by Anthropic and OpenAI is that the AI giants will be going public at a time when the public is going against them. From data center moratoriums to possible regulatory clampdowns, the popular backlash against AI could complicate the next source of funding for these capital-hungry companies.
The company's priced-for-perfection IPO only works if its vision for AI is exactly how the market plays out. However, a just-published 451 Research report suggests that more than a few users and providers of the still-emerging technology aren't necessarily seeing things that way. Even the trend's kingmaker has hedged a bit.
After vast amounts of capital spending on AI in recent years, Research Director Brenon Daly joins podcast host Eric Hanselman to discuss how reduced cash flow and dwindling reserves are hitting the M&A markets.
AI angst scared a lot of acquirers out of the tech M&A market earlier this year. But the buyers that have come back since then have found something they haven't seen in a long time: discounts. Some of the bargains established during the industry's "re-rating" have stuck around as clearing prices.
Dealmakers didn't take much work with them on their vacations in August. As they opted for beach reads rather than deal memos, the summer vibes resulted in a summer slump for the tech M&A market. Spending on acquisitions dropped for a second consecutive month, plunging to less than half the level of August 2025.
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