2012-07-20 Berkery Noyes Releases First Half 2012 M&A Report For Private Equity in the Information Industry
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NEW YORK — July 20, 2012 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its first half 2012 mergers and acquisitions trend report for Private Equity in the Information Industry.
The report analyzes merger and acquisition activity in the private equity market for the first half of 2012 and compares it with activity in the four previous six-month periods. It features transactions made by financially sponsored acquirers within the Information Industry, including purchases made by subsidiaries or platforms of private equity firms.
Berkery Noyes’ data showed that total volume increased two percent. Vista Equity Partners and Hellman & Friedman each had seven Information Industry transactions in first half 2012, making them the most acquisitive private equity firms by volume. Total value decreased eight percent, from $18.90 billion to $17.33 billion.
M&A activity in the Health and Pharmaceutics segment rose 62 percent and reemerged as the largest vertical market segment tracked in this report. One of the most active related buyers was TPG Capital, which acquired iMDsoft, DecisionView, and PharmARC Analytic Solutions. Lifestyle and Entertainment, previously the largest market segment, leveled off by 21 percent in first half 2012. This came in the aftermath of a 46 percent improvement in second half 2011.
Private equity M&A within the Software portion of the Information Industry remained flat throughout 2011 but increased 15 percent during the last six months. Three of the top ten overall Software deals in first half 2012 were backed by private equity firms. This consisted of Turaz’s announced merger with Misys for $2 billion, Apax Partners and JMI Equity’s announced acquisition of Paradigm for $1 billion, and GTCR’s announced acquisition of CAMP Systems International for $675 million. These deals together accounted for 21 percent of financially sponsored transaction value in the Information Industry.
“Large private equity firms keen on making acquisitions are likely to continue pursuing deal opportunities in the middle and lower middle market,” stated John Shea, Managing Partner at Berkery Noyes. “There are several factors contributing to this. First, they are finding that it currently takes longer in some instances to sell their portfolio companies, which can temporarily limit the amount of capital they have available to invest elsewhere. Second, they are facing heightened competition from strategic buyers, as was demonstrated by the bidding process for Quest Software between Insight Venture Partners and Dell.”
A copy of the FIRST HALF 2012 M&A REPORT FOR PRIVATE EQUITY IN THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY is available at the Berkery Noyes website.