Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are one of the most attractive and strategic ways for companies to develop in the current landscape. Through M&As, businesses can bring their specialist technology and heritage together to create something exciting for their target audience. 2019 was no stranger to M&As, with a number taking place over the year. In light of this, we’ve put together our list of the top 10 M&As of 2019.
Finally, Salesforce, the world leader in customer relationship management software, took a huge step forward to increase its business analytics capabilities in June. The company struck a deal with Tableau, a leading developer of data visualisation and business intelligence software. The acquisition was worth £11.97 billion ($15.7 billion) in total. According to the Co-CEO and Chairman of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, the purchase of Tableau allowed Salesforce to combine the world’s leading CRM with the leading analytics platform on the market. Tableau helps today’s companies understand data, while Salesforce assists in helping companies understand customers.
In June, Google, the world’s leading search engine and cloud technology provider, struck a deal with business analytics software developer, Looker. The purchase, worth £1.98 ($2.6 billion), is intended to expand the offerings in the business intelligence landscape for the Google Cloud environment. Looker stood out as one of the most prominent startups in the business analytics environment. In particular, the company offers a platform for data applications, business intelligence, and embedded analytics. Google Cloud customers will be able to benefit from Looker’s multi-cloud versatility. Furthermore, they can take advantage of it’s ability to access Software-as-a-Service application data. This includes that from tools like Zendesk, Marketo, Salesforce, and more.
Apple, a company known around the world for its innovative smartphone technology, reached an agreement in July to purchase the 'majority' of Intel’s smartphone business. The £760 million ($1 billion) deal has major implications on the future of the smartphone market. The two companies announced the deal in July and said that Apple would be taking on 2,200 employees from Intel. Not only that, Apple would also take on some intellectual equipment and property from the digital chip maker. Like many M&A decisions, the merger between Apple and Intel was considered for a number of months before it finally came to light. The purchase is sure to allow Apple to continue developing some of the most innovative phones in the industry.
Another leading brand in the consulting and digital technology landscape, Accenture, decided to purchase Droga5 in April. The purpose behind the M&A decision was to blend the creative abilities of one of the leading ad agencies in the country, with the expertise of one of the nation’s top solution provider brands. According to Head of Accenture Interactive, Glen Hartman, Accenture is focused on helping clients deliver and create the best experiences on the planet. With Droga5, the company wanted to help drive big ideas into the limelight. As a result, customers can easily discover the benefits of the Accenture environment.
Global IT services, consulting, and digital transformation powerhouse Capgemini also made a crucial M&A deal in 2019. In June, it announced that it planned to acquire a leading provider of R&D and engineering services, Altran. Specifically, the deal intended to make Capgemini a leader in delivering digital transformation services to today’s growing companies. The CEO and chairman of Capgemini, Paul Hermelin, said that the combined power of the two businesses would create outstanding opportunities for the expanding Capgemini organisation. Capgemini plans to build on its Internet of Things, cloud, edge computing, AI, and 5G strategies following the acquisition.
Elsewhere, in June, technology solutions provider Insight agreed to purchase PCM in a £443 million ($581 million) deal. The acquisition was regarded as one of the most significant in the landscapes at the time, creating a new $9 billion powerhouse solution provider. As a result, buying PCM meant that Insight suddenly had access to an additional 40 locations worldwide. Insight's CEO, Ken Lamneck, noted that the acquisition would help to further transform his company into a leading global solutions provider.
In April, Juniper Networks, a leader in networking products including network switches, routers, and security solutions, completed the acquisition of Mist Systems. The Mist Systems brand is best known for its AI solutions. Specifically, Juniper planned on using Mist’s AI offering to boost sales in the enterprise with an end-to-end AI-driven approach. Thanks to Mist, Juniper was able to differentiate itself in the networking environment. In particular, it is one of a few companies capable of serving today’s enterprises on an end-to-end basis. Mist started off by bringing AI-driven operations to the WLAN environment.
DXC Technology, one of the world’s leading companies in the business transformation landscape, announced it’s impending acquisition of the Luxoft brand in January 2019. The acquisition was worth £1.52 billion ($2 billion) in cash. As a result, Luxoft, the digital consultancy, gave DXC access to some of the best creative minds and digital talent in the industry. DXC's CEO, Mike Lawrie, said the companies had been talking about a potential deal since the summer of 2018. However, the idea only came to fruition at the beginning of 2019.
In February 2019, Zix, a company responsible for making leading email security and archiving technology, announced the strategic acquisition of AppRiver. AppRiver, creators of their own cloud platform, brought Zix a new opportunity to expand their offering with a broader compliance and security suite. According to Zix, the number of partners the company was working with shot from 400 to 4,000. Overall, the deal was valued at £209 million ($275 million). Additionally, this purchase has also allowed the Zix brand to practically double in size, strengthening its global position significantly.
On 17 March, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HP) announced its decision to purchase Cray for a total price of £990 million ($1.30 billion). Cray is an innovative technology company, designed to help support the management of artificial intelligence (AI), massive data centres, and simulation via supercomputing technology. According to HP, the purchase will help the company accelerate it’s performance in the digital environment. Not only that, but it will also bring fresh vitality to its operations. In particular, the buyout from HPE marked the company’s formal entry into the world of supercomputers. Simultaneously, it helped HP serve clients in the education sector better too.
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