Trend Reports

The highest value deal in 2024 was Synopsys’ announced acquisition of ANSYS, the global leader in engineering simulation, for $32.6 billion.

The largest deal in Q3 2024 was Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners’ announced acquisition of Smartsheet, a leading cloudbased platform for project management and collaboration, for $7.6 billion.

The largest transaction in 1st Half 2024 was Synopsys’ announced acquisition of Ansys, the global leader in engineering simulation, for $32.6 billion.

Software transaction volume increased 19 percent on a quarterly basis, from 424 to 504. Aggregate value increased 2.3 times, from $31.5 billion to $73.3 billion.

The highest value deal in 2023 was Cisco’s announced acquisition of Splunk, a cybersecurity and observability leader, for $28.6 billion.

The largest deal in Q3 2023 was Cisco’s announced acquisition of Splunk, a cybersecurity and observability leader, for $29.9 billion.

The largest transaction in 1st Half 2023 was Nasdaq’s announced acquisition of Adenza, who enable financial institutions to consolidate and streamline their operations with front-to-back solutions, for $10.50 billion.

Software transaction volume saw a two percent uptick over the past three months, from 524 to 533. Aggregate value increased 23% from $31.4 billion to $38.6 billion.

The first half of 2022 saw one of the most expensive acquisitions ever within the gaming industry; the buyout of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. With the acquisition, Microsoft became the second-largest gaming company in the world, behind Sony.

The largest deal in Q3 2022 was Adobe’s announced acquisition of Figma, a web-first collaborative design platform, for $20 billion. This was the highest value transaction ever made by Adobe, surpassing its acquisition of marketing automation software company Marketo in 2018 for $4.8 billion.

The largest transaction in 1st Half 2022 was Broadcom’s announced acquisition of VMware, a virtualization and cloud computing technology company, for $70.36 billion.

Software transaction volume decreased four percent on a quarterly basis, from 670 to 643. Aggregate value rose 36 percent, from $118.3 billion to $160.5 billion. This was the peak for value during the last five quarters.

The four largest transactions in 2021 were healthcare related. These four transactions, with a combined value of $79.30 billion, accounted for one-fifth of the industry’s aggregate value during the year.

The industry’s largest deal in Q3 2021 was Intuit’s announced acquisition of MailChimp, a marketing automation platform best known for its email marketing solutions, for $12 billion.

Three of the industry’s top five largest deals year-to-date were healthcare related.

Software transaction volume increased 19 percent over the past three months, from 631 to 754. This was its peak during the last five quarters. Aggregate value declined 14 percent on a quarterly basis, from $90.4 billion to $77.9 billion. This followed a 43 percent rise in value during Q4 2020. Compared to Q1 2020, volume gained 26 percent and value more than doubled.

The largest deal in 2020 was Salesforce’s announced acquisition of Slack, an enterprise software messaging platform that helps teams and businesses communicate, for $27.48 billion. This was the highest value acquisition ever completed by Salesforce.

The largest transaction in Q3 2020 and year-to-date was Intercontinental Exchange’s announced acquisition of Ellie Mae, a cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry, for $11 billion. Of note, Thoma Bravo acquired Ellie Mae in 2019 for $3.3 billion.

Three of the industry’s top five largest deals year-to-date occurred in the Infrastructure segment: Insight Venture Partners’ acquisition of Veeam Software, a cloud-focused backup and disaster recovery services provider, for $5 billion; a Symphony Technology Group led consortium’s announced acquisition of Dell Technologies’ RSA Security business for $2.08 billion; and Advent International and Crosspoint Capital Partners’ announced acquisition of ForeScout Technologies, which develops device visibility, control, and cybersecurity solutions, for $1.72 billion.

Software transaction volume saw a one percent uptick over the past three months, from 570 to 576. Aggregate value declined eight percent, from $41.9 billion to $38.7 billion, returning to its Q3 2019 level.

The largest deal in 2019 was Salesforce’s announced acquisition of Tableau Software, a data visualization and analysis platform, for $15.7 billion in an all-stock transaction. This was the highest value acquisition ever completed by Salesforce.

The industry’s largest transaction in Q3 2019 was Broadcom’s announced acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security business for $10.7 billion. Of note, Broadcom completed another major industry deal in 2018 with the acquisition of CA Technologies, an IT management software and solutions company, for $18.4 billion.

The largest deal in 1st Half 2019 was Salesforce’s announced acquisition of Tableau Software, a data visualization and analysis platform, for $15.7 billion in an all-stock transaction. This was the highest value acquisition ever completed by Salesforce.

Software transaction volume saw a two percent uptick over the past three months, from 588 to 599. After rising 56 percent in Q4 2018, aggregate value fell 48 percent, from $88 billion to $45.5 billion. Deal activity improved 18 percent and value gained 33 percent when examined on a year-over-year basis.

The industry’s largest transaction in 2018 was IBM’s announced acquisition of Red Hat, which provides open-source software products to the enterprise community, for $32.95 billion.

The industry’s largest transaction in Q3 2018 and year-to-date was Broadcom’s announced acquisition of CA Technologies, a provider of information technology (IT) management software and solutions, for $18.4 billion.

The largest deal in 1st Half 2018 was private equity firm KKR’s announced acquisition of BMC Software, which offers cloud and IT management solutions to enterprises, for $8.5 billion. Of note, BMC was acquired in 2013 by a private investor group led by Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital for $6.69 billion.

Software transaction volume declined eight percent over the past three months, from 539 to 498. Deal value gained 15 percent, from $31.7 billion to $36.6 billion. This was the industry's third consecutive quarterly increase in value.

The Infrastructure segment's largest transaction in 2017 was Thales SA's announced merger with Gemalto, a digital security company that offers mobile connectivity, payment technology, and data protection solutions, for $6.51 billion.

The largest cybersecurity related transaction in Q3 2017 was DigiCert's announced acquisition of Symantec's website security and related public key infrastructure (PKI) solutions for $950 million. DigiCert offers identity and encryption for web servers and Internet of Things devices.

The Niche segment, which is targeted to specific vertical markets, and the Infrastructure segment combined were responsible for eight of the industry's top ten highest value deals in 1st Half 2017.

Software transaction volume increased 16 percent over the past three months, from 456 to 528. Deal value gained 75 percent, from $29.4 billion to $51.4 billion. Volume throughout the past five quarters reached its peak in Q2 2016, whereas value reached its zenith in Q3 2016.

The industry's largest transaction in 2016 was Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) announced spinoff of its software business and the merger of those assets with Micro Focus International for $8.73 billion.

The largest transaction in Q3 2016 and year-to-date was Oracle Corporation's announced acquisition of NetSuite in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) sector for $9.3 billion. NetSuite's cloud-based platform provides an integrated solution for ERP, CRM, and e-commerce.

The Infrastructure segment's largest deal in 1st Half 2016 was Symantec Corporation's announced acquisition of Blue Coat Systems in the cyber-security sector for $4.72 billion.

Software transaction volume experienced a seven percent gain over the past three months, from 491 to 523. Deal value fell 81 percent, from $111.5 billion to $21.6 billion. There were four transactions in Q4 2015 with a combined value of approximately $86 billion. This included Dell's announced acquisition of EMC Corporation for $67.5 billion. If these four deals are excluded, value decreased 15 percent from Q4 2015 to Q1 2016. Aggregate value also declined nine percent on a year-over-year basis.

The largest transaction in 2015 was Dell, Inc.'s announced acquisition of EMC Corporation, a provider of cloud computing, data storage and other infrastructure technologies, for $67.48 billion. This was the highest value deal ever recorded in the industry.

The largest transaction in Q3 2015 and year-to-date was The Carlyle Group's announced acquisition of Veritas Technologies Corporation, a provider of storage and server management software solutions, for $8 billion.

The largest transaction in 1st Half 2015 was Permira and CPP Investment Board's acquisition of Informatica Corp., a provider of enterprise data integration software and services, for $4.77 billion.

Software transaction volume experienced an uptick over the past three months, from 460 to 464. Deal value rose 21 percent, from $18.7 billion in Q4 2014 to $22.6 billion in Q1 2015. The top ten largest transactions accounted for 42 percent of the industry's total value in Q1 2015, as opposed to 64 percent in Q1 2014.

Four of the top ten highest value deals in 2014 occurred in the Business Software segment, which consists of software designed for general business practices and not specific industry markets, making it the best represented segment in the top ten list.

The largest transaction in Q3 2014 was SAP's acquisition of Concur Technologies, a provider of travel and expense management solutions, for $7.6 billion.

The most active strategic acquirer year-to-date was Google Inc. with 11 industry transactions: Appurify, mDialog, Divide, Quest Visual, Inc., StackDriver, Adometry, Inc., Spider.io, SlickLogin, DeepMind, Impermium and BitSpin.

Software transaction volume declined four percent over the past three months, from 435 to 419. However, this represented a 14 percent increase compared to Q1 2013. Deal value gained 72 percent, from $22.6 billion in Q4 2013 to $38.8 billion in Q1 2014. This rise in aggregate value was attributable in large part to Facebook's acquisition of Whatsapp, a cross-platform mobile messaging application, for $16 billion. The top ten largest transactions accounted for 61 percent of the industry's total value in Q1 2014, compared to 55 percent in Q4 2013 and 38 percent Q1 2013.

Five of the top ten highest value deals occurred in the Niche Software segment, which consists of software designed for use in specific industry markets. Four of these five transactions were located in the finance vertical.

The most active financial sponsor year-to-date was Vista Equity Partners with 11 industry transactions, six of which occurred in Q3 2013. In terms of purchase price, Vista Equity Partners completed several notable deals during the quarter, such as the acquisition of Active Network, Inc. for $904 million, the acquisition of Omnitracs for $800 million, and the acquisition of Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. for $644 million.

The largest transaction for 1st Half 2013 was the announced acquisition of BMC Software by a private investor group, led by Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, for $6.81 billion.

Transaction volume in the Software Industry decreased seven percent in Q1 2013, from 362 to 336 acquisitions. Deal value fell 53 percent, from $15.8 billion to $7.4 billion. There was one software acquisition above the $1 billion threshold, compared to three such transactions in Q1 2012. The peak for transaction volume and value during the past 15 months occurred in Q2 2012.

The most active private equity acquirer in the Software Industry in 2012 was Vista Equity Partners with 12 transactions.

The most active Software Industry acquirers in Q3 2012 were Google Inc. and EMC Corporation with four transactions each. Through its subsidiary VMware Inc., EMC Corporation acquired Log Insight from Pattern Insight Inc., Nicira, Inc. and DynamicOps, Inc.

The largest announced transaction for 1st Half 2012 was Cisco Systems, Inc.'s acquisition of NDS Group, a subsidiary of Permira, for $4.96 billion.

Q1 2012 transaction volume in the Software Industry declined 10 percent compared to the previous quarter, returning closer to the quarterly average for 2011, which was 375 transactions.

The largest transaction for 2011 was HP's acquisition of Autonomy Corporation for $10.28 billion.

The most active acquirers within the Software Industry through Q3 2011 were EMC Corporation and Google Inc. with 10 acquisitions each.

The largest transaction in 1st Half 2011 was Microsoft Corporation's announced acquisition of Skype Technologies SA, from an investor group lead by Silver Lake Partners, for $9.08 billion.

Software transaction volume has remained consistent in Q1 2011 from Q4 2010, while value dropped 30%, a decline which can be attributed to the lack of multiple billion dollar transactions during the quarter, which have historically bolstered the industry's aggregate transaction value. 2010 saw over 10 transactions valued at more than $1 billion, while Q1 2011 had only eBay, Inc.'s purchase of GSI Commerce, for $2.14 billion,the largest transaction of the quarter.

The largest transaction in 2010 was Intel Corporation's announced acquisition of McAfee, Inc. for $7.55 billion.

The most active acquirer within the Software Industry through Q3 2010 was Google Inc. with 17 acquisitions, 10 of which occurred within Q3 2010. Google Inc. has made additional purchases in 2010, but we did not classify those as within the software industry.

The most active buyer in the Software Industry was Google Inc., with 9 transactions.

The largest transaction for 2009 was Oracle Corprations announced acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Inc for $7.08 billion.

The most active buyer in the Software Industry, in terms of volume of transactions announced for the 1st Half of 2009, was Oracle Corporation with 5 transactions. These include the acquisitions of Conformia Software, Inc., Virtual Iron Software, Inc., and mValent, Inc., as well as the pending acquisitions of Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Relsys International, Inc.

The Software Industry’s most active buyers in 2008, based on the number (volume) of announced transactions, were Autodesk, Inc. and Oracle Corporation, each with 9 businesses purchased either directly or through a partner or affiliate.