A Look Into Top Tech Acquirers By Year

Large number of companies are been acquired every year, and acquisitions turns out to be massive ones. This year we have already seen a few massive tech M&A with WhatsApp, Nest and Oculus alone being acquired for more than $24 Bn in aggregate exit value. Recently, CB Insights by using its data has come out with a report, where it has ranked the most active tech acquirers by year, so as to give a complete outlook of who’s snatching up the most private tech companies and how the active acquirer landscape has shifted over time.

Key Takeaways

• Google, Facebook, IBM, Cisco, and 3D Systems are the 5 companies consistently rank in the top tech acquirers by year.
• Google was displaced from the number one position by Yahoo! in only one year – 2013.
• Zynga went on an acquisition spree between 2010 and 2011 gobbling up lots of small private game development shops but has slowed down significantly since due in large part to its subpar public market performance
• IBM and Cisco both remain active acquirers of tech companies but have become relatively less active over time
• Over the time period, Google has acquired 2 times as many companies as 2nd place acquirer, Yahoo!
• In total, the top acquirers of 2009 made 55 disclosed private company acquisitions compared to the 200+ that have already occurred in 2014.

Have a look at the top acquirers by year

Here are the highlights that show the companies that have consistently been top acquirers and some of the movements in their M&A rankings over time.