Technology M&A Insights 2009

Welcome to the 2009 edition of Technology M&A Insights from PricewaterhouseCoopers. This report provides an overview of M&A in the global technology sector during 2008 with analysis and comment on the market’s principal trends, driving forces and outlook for 2009.

What a year it has been. The sheer magnitude of the global financial meltdown has reshaped the landscape since the summer, resulting in a crisis of confidence and varying degrees of paralysis in the transaction and financing markets. Against this background, it is perhaps surprising to be looking at an end of year score card which shows deal activity in the technology sector down only 20% in volume terms.

The technology sector has certainly held up better than many other industries. The harsh lessons learned from the bursting of the technology bubble in 2001/2 have left the industry better placed to deal with the challenges it is facing today. The key question for 2009 will be whether transaction activity can hold steady in the new world where cash is once again king and capital is in short supply.