Amid the on-going coronavirus pandemic, 2021 followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, continuing to be an unpredictable, and at times incredibly difficult, year. But one thing that stayed constant was the steady flow of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across the tech sector.
According to research by Global Data, global tech M&A deals had already neared $3 trillion by Q3, largely supported by the tech, media, and telecom sectors. Although nothing rivalled Xilinx’s $35 billion acquisition of Advanced Micro Devices in 2020, last year did see Intuit buy Mailchimp for $12 billion and Square splash out a princely sum — $29 billion — for Afterpay.
GlobalDataGlobal mergers and acquisitions value.
As for whether 2022 will maintain last year’s pace, early signs seem to suggest there will be no slowing of big deals across the industry, with cybersecurity and collaboration software already proving to be hot areas.
Here are the biggest enterprise technology acquisitions of 2022 so far, in reverse chronological order:
March 8: Google buys cybersecurity company Mandiant
Google will acquire cyberdefense and response firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion, in a move to offer an end-to-end security operations suite and advisory services from its cloud platform.
“Cybersecurity is a mission, and we believe it’s one of the most important of our generation,” Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “Google Cloud shares our mission-driven culture to bring security to every organization. Together, we will deliver our expertise and intelligence at scale via the Mandiant Advantage SaaS platform, as part of the Google Cloud security portfolio.”
March 3: Snowflake buys Streamlit for $800M
Data cloud company Snowflake has acquired Streamlit for $800 million, enabling developers and data scientists to build apps using tools with simplified data access and governance.
Streamlit’s open-source framework allows developers and data scientists to build and share data apps quickly and iteratively, without the need to be an expert in front-end development. According to Streamlit, the platform has had more than 8 million downloads and more than 1.5 million applications have been built using it.
“At Snowflake, we believe in bringing together open standards and open source with industry-leading data governance and security,” Snowflake Co-Founder and President of Products Benoit Dageville said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “When Snowflake and Streamlit come together, we will be able to provide developers and data scientists with a single, powerful hub to discover and collaborate with data they can trust to build next generation data apps and shape the future of data science.”
Feb. 28: Rakuten Symphony acquires Kubernetes platform Robin.io
The recently launched telco-focused arm of Japan’s Rakuten Group, Rakuten Symphony, has acquired Robin.io, a startup offering a Kubernetes platform optimized for storage and complex network applications.
The two companies did not disclose the price of the acquisition. Since first launching, Robin.io has moved beyond its original focus on storage to offer a more full-featured Kubernetes platform, providing large telcos with ways of automating 5G services applications on Kubernetes and orchestrating private 5G and LTE deployments.
“Robin.io’s technology innovations over the last several years will now get a much bigger canvas to lead the vision for cloud-native transformation for the industry. Our vision to deliver simple to use, easy to deploy hyperscale automation is very well aligned,” said Robin.io CEO Partha Seetala.
Feb. 24: Cloudflare acquires security startup Area 1 Security
Cloudflare announced plans to acquire Area 1 Security for around $126 million, using both cash and stock to fund the acquisition.
Cloudflare has its own suite of zero-trust security products designed to prevent data loss, malware and phishing attacks, even when employees aren’t using their office network or a VPN. This deal will see the company add email security to this portfolio.
Area 1 Security has developed a product that stops phishing attacks sent via email before they reach an inbox. The company claims to have blocked more than 40 million phishing attempts in 2021 alone.
Cloudflare cCo-founder and CEO Matthew Prince said in a statement: “To us, the future of Zero Trust includes an integrated, one-click approach to securing all of an organization’s applications, including its most ubiquitous cloud application, email. Together, we expect we’ll be delivering the fastest, most effective, and most reliable email security on the market.”
Feb. 15: Intel to acquire Tower Semiconductor
Intel announced plans to acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion, giving it access to more specialized production as it looks to take advantage of growing demand for semiconductors. The deal has been approved by both company boards, but is expected to take as long as 12 months to move through the normal regulatory channels.
Intel announced last year that it was planning to enter the foundry market to produce chips designed by their customers. Tower has been investing in multiple locations in recent years to boost capacity for 200- and 300-millimeter chips. It serves “fabless” companies, who design chips but outsource manufacturing, and integrated device manufacturers.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger sees the move as a good fit for the company’s vision. “Tower’s specialty technology portfolio, geographic reach, deep customer relationships and services-first operations will help scale Intel’s foundry services and advance our goal of becoming a major provider of foundry capacity globally,” he said in a statement.
Feb. 15: Akamai acquires Linode for $900M
Akamai has entered into an agreement to acquire Linode, an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform provider, for approximately $900 million. Akamai reportedly expects Linode to add about $100 million in revenue for FY22.
Founded in 2003, Linode has positioned itself as an IaaS alternative to public cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Unlike many of its competitors, Linode says it had not raised outside funding, boasting it “has successfully run a profitable business since [its] inception.”
“The opportunity to combine Linode’s developer-friendly cloud computing capabilities with Akamai’s market-leading edge platform and security services is transformational for Akamai,” Akamai CEO and co-founder Tom Leighton said in a statement. “Akamai has been a pioneer in the edge computing business for over 20 years, and today we are excited to begin a new chapter in our evolution by creating a unique cloud platform to build, run and secure applications from the cloud to the edge.”
Jan 31: Citrix to be acquired by private equity firms for $16.5B
Cloud computing and virtualization company Citrix is being acquired by private equity firms Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital for $16.5 billion. It’s been reported that Vista plans to combine Citrix with Tibco, which it acquired in 2014 for $4.3 billion.
The all-cash deal will see the publicly traded Citrix go private and will include the assumption of Citrix’s debt, the companies said.
In a statement announcing the acquisition, Bob Calderoni, chair of the Citrix board of directors and interim CEO and president said: “Over the past three decades, Citrix has established itself as the clear leader in secure hybrid work. Our market-leading platform provides secure and reliable access to all of the applications and information employees need to get work done, wherever it needs to get done.”
Jan. 31: Sony buys US game developer Bungie in $3.6B deal
Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony announced it’s buying Bungie, the gaming studio responsible for titles such as “Destiny” and “Halo,” for $3.6 billion.
Bungie started life in the early 1990’s, building games for Mac computers, until it was bought by Microsoft in 2000 to become part of Microsoft Game Division. In 2007, Bungie split off from its parent company, although Microsoft retained a minority stake and continued to partner with Bungie on publishing and marketing of its biggest selling game, “Halo,” and future projects.
“Today, Bungie begins our journey to become a global multi-media entertainment company,” CEO Pete Parsons wrote in a blog post announcing the deal. “We will continue to independently publish and creatively develop our games. With SIE’s support, the most immediate change you will see is an acceleration in hiring talent across the entire studio to support our ambitious vision.”
Jan. 18: Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7B
Microsoft announced it’s acquiring Activision Blizzard for an eye-watering $68.7 billion — $26 billion more than the company paid for LinkedIn in 2016. The deal is Microsoft’s biggest-ever and set to be the largest all-cash acquisition on record. It will help boost the company’s standings in the videogaming market, bringing titles such as “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft,” and “Overwatch” onto its Xbox platform.
In a blog post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said: “As a team, we are on a mission to extend the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet. We all know that gaming is the most vibrant and dynamic form of entertainment worldwide and we’ve experienced the power of social connection and friendship that gaming makes possible.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, in a seperate statement, highlighted gaming as one of the most dynamic and exciting entertainment categories across all platforms, and said it “will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms.”
The acquisition raised eyebrows beyond the sheer size of the sale price, however. In July 2021, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed suit against Activision Blizzard, citing “numerous complaints about unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation” at the company.
Activision Blizzard has been accused of sexual harassment and discrimination, under-paying female workers, union-busting, and of having a “frat boy” work culture and “rock-star” mentality. In November, Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout and have put forward a petition with more than 700 signatures demanding CEO Bobby Kotick be removed.
While Microsoft did not address the issues when announcing the acquisition, speculation quickly emerged about whether Kotick will continue after the deal is finalized. The Wall Street Journal reported “the companies have agreed that he will part when the deal closes.”
Jan. 5: Google buys Siemplify for $500M
Google has announced its acquisition of cybersecurity company Siemplify for $500 million. The Israel-based cybersecurity startup specializes in end-to-end security services for enterprises, typically referred to as security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) services.
Google and Siemplify have both confirmed the acquisition, noting that Siemplify will be integrated into Google Cloud Platform, and specifically its Chronicle operation. In a blog post, Sunil Potti VP/GM, Google Cloud Security stated that both companies “share the belief that security analysts need to be able to solve more incidents with greater complexity while requiring less effort and less specialized knowledge.”
“With Siemplify, we will change the rules on how organizations hunt, detect, and respond to threats,” he said.
Forrester Analyst, Allie Mellen, noted that “A SOAR tool has been the missing piece for Google’s Chronicle offering since practically its inception — other security analytics platforms began incorporating SOAR as early as 2017.
“This acquisition is an important step in providing a unified offering to practitioners and in being able to compete more directly in the security analytics platform space,” Mellen said.
Jan 4: Zoom acquires Liminal assets
Zoom has announced it had acquired assets from Liminal as part of its ongoing ambition to enhance the future of events.
Liminal, a start-up company that offers event production solutions built largely on Zoom’s SDK, will now form part of Zoom’s team that intends to develop best-in-class programs and solutions that can be accessed online from anywhere in the world. By adding these capabilities and more to its events management offerings, Zoom seeks to continue to be the leading comprehensive, one-stop, hybrid events management platform in the market.
As part of the asset acquisition, two of Liminal’s co-founders, Andy Carluccio and Jonathan Kokotajlo, will join Zoom, and have the shared ambition to provide more dynamic and customisable event offerings solutions to customers.
In a blog post detailing the purchase, Zoom’s Chief Marketing Officer, Janine Pelosi, said: “Liminal’s software can connect multiple HD video feeds from Zoom to production-grade hardware and applications. By adding these capabilities and more to our events management and production offerings, we believe we will continue to be the leading comprehensive, one-stop, hybrid events management platform in the market.”
Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.
