Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Hit €100 Billion in 2006

Press Release - January 26, 2007

The global technology sector went on a major consolidation spree last year, with the value of tech-related mergers and acquisitions reaching €100 billion ($130 billion) for the first time since the dot-com boom.

Recent research indicates that the technology industry saw a total of 18 so called “mega-deals” (valued at over €1 billion) in 2006, up from 14 in 2005. The largest of last year’s deals was the €11.1 billion marriage between France’s Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent Technologies, which united two of the world’s top telecom equipment vendors into a single global monolith.

Numerous smaller acquisitions, many at the hands of private equity investors, also helped to boost the technology sector’s M&A activity in 2006.