Information Technology: McGladrey Quarterly Private Equity Deal Flow Profile Q3 2011 Insight Analysis Experience the power of being understood. SM Powered by PitchBook
McGladrey Announces the Q3 2011 Private Equity Deal Flow Profile McGladrey is proud to present the Q3 Quarterly Private Equity Deal Flow Profile for the information technology industry. Powered by PitchBook, the Deal Flow Profile provides a representation of U.S. private equity deal activity, performance and trends for the industry. Information technology is one of the fastest growing and most visible industries for private equity investment today. The IT industry continues to attract significant attention from private equity investors, moving up to be the third most active industry for PE investment this past quarter. Investment is being driven by the realization by many that the industry has matured significantly over the last decade and that its current performance is for real. PE firms stung from making the wrong choices in the last Internet boom by trying to act early and often, and those that sat on the sideline too long, not convinced that the recent recession was completely over, have re-entered and begun investing again, setting in motion the early phases of a multi-year investment cycle, says Charles DelGrande, managing director of the Media & Technology Group at McGladrey Capital Markets. Private equity investors currently face the large pressure of a $466 billion capital overhang. Donald Lipari, national executive director, Private Equity Services for RSM McGladrey, believes that deploying this much dry powder over the next few years will be difficult with the current finite number of deals and seemingly infinite amount of capital between PE firms and strategic buyers. Hector J. Cuellar, president of McGladrey Capital Markets, cautions PE firms that aggressive buying tactics will create bad deals or problematic investments and that leaning heavily on relationships to help early sourcing of companies to deploy capital prudently may be the right strategy. Dedicated to serving the middle market the primary area of private equity investment McGladrey meets the needs of private equity firms and their portfolio companies with integrated transaction advisory, tax, audit, consulting and investment banking services. With more than 300 clients in the information technology industry, we have a large team of professionals who work almost exclusively with emerging and technology-based organizations. In the past two years, we have completed more than 50 due diligence engagements in the software/technology industry. The rest of this report profiles investment trends and activity to give you a better understanding of the current private equity environment in the U.S. information technology industry. Donald A. Lipari National Executive Director, Private Equity Services RSM McGladrey, Inc. 212.372.1235 don.lipari@mcgladrey.com Charles DelGrande Senior Managing Director McGladrey Capital Markets 312.634.4344 charles.delgrande@mcgladrey.com Hector J. Cuellar President McGladrey Capital Markets 714.327.8636 hector.cuellar@mcgladrey.com David Van Wert Manager, Transaction Advisory Services RSM McGladrey, Inc. 415.848.5338 david.vanwert@mcgladrey.com www.mcgladrey.com [ 2 ]
IT Private Equity Deal Flow by Year IT Private Equity Deal Flow U.S. private equity investment in the information technology industry has had an active start to 2011 with 108 deals totaling over $14.25 billion of invested capital thus far. The second quarter was responsible for 52 of those deals, totaling $7.2 billion. During the same quarter, the IT industry accounted for 15 percent of the total PE deal flow, a large increase from the 9 percent it represented in Q2 2010 and enough to make it the third most active industry for PE investment for the second quarter in a row. In addition, PE-invested capital in IT companies rose from $1.8 billion in Q2 2010 to $7.2 billion in Q2 2011. Exits also turned in a robust first six months with 50 completed, totaling $5 billion. Factors driving these positive trends include hot areas such as SaaS, larger median deal sizes and higher valuation multiples. David Van Wert, manager of Transaction Advisory Services for RSM McGladrey, noted that these investment trends will continue but sooner or later memories of the dot com boom will return and force investors to look at what is real and what is not. The rest of this report will cover investment and exit trends at the intersection of private equity and information technology. IT Private Equity Deal Flow by Quarter *Through 2Q 2011 www.mcgladrey.com [ 3 ]
Deal Activity by Sector Median Deal Size ($M) Deal Flow Details The software sector continues to be the most active area for private equity IT investment with 42 percent of deal flow, followed by IT services with 24 percent. According to Van Wert, IT services companies are an attractive investment in the ever changing technology landscape, because services companies are always required as a peripheral to the latest technologies. IT investment areas that are continuing to garner a lot of buzz include social media, SaaS and cloud companies. Investors are willing to pay higher multiples for these companies, according to Van Wert, as people no longer see IT as a pocket protector industry but rather as the hot new thing and on the cutting edge. PE Transactions (Total $ Amount) by Sector Capital Invested Details The first half of 2011, with $14.25 billion of capital invested, is the best first six months in the decade for the IT industry. This figure is 45 percent higher than the first half of 2007, a year often regarded as the peak of private equity activity. DelGrande expects to see strong deal flow and strong pricing trends to continue as PE firms deal with the fear of being left behind. Private equity firms have invested $7.2 billion in communications and networking, ranking the sector second in 2011 across all of private equity. The software sector continues to be strong with $5.3 billion of capital invested. DelGrande believes that companies in the communications and networking sector addressing the bandwidth demand and capacity through infrastructure-based solutions will continue to encounter increased demand. PE Transactions (Count) by Deal Type *Through 2Q 2011 www.mcgladrey.com [ 4 ]
Number of Companies Information Technology Add-ons as a Percentage of Deal Flow Add-on Deals in the Information Technology Industry Add-on activity (PE-backed companies/platforms acquiring other companies) totaled almost 60 percent of all buyouts in the information technology industry during the second quarter. Interestingly, this percentage is much higher than that of other industries and above private equity as a whole, which is at about 50 percent of buyouts. DelGrande thinks it might indicate that PE firms remain a bit risk-averse and are opting to adopt acquisition strategies in support of an existing, proven and reasonably successful anchor investment. The most popular IT sector for add-on activity during the first half of 2011 was software with 21 deals, followed by IT services with eight. Selected Information Technology Q2 2011 PE Transactions Company Name Investor(s) Sector Amount ($M) Novell Activant Solutions Attachmate, Elliott Management, Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital, Thoma Bravo Apax Partners Software Software $2,200 $1,024 Epicor Software Apax Partners Software $976 NPG Cable Cequel III, Charterhouse Group, GS Capital Partners, Oaktree Capital Management, Quadrangle Group, Suddenlink Communications, The Jordan Company Communications & Networking $350 Spectrum Control API Technologies, Vintage Capital Management Hardware $270 Conexant Systems Golden Gate Capital Semiconductors $197 Equitrac Nuance Communications Software $157 i/o Data Centers JP Morgan Asset Management, Sterling Partners Services $105 Triad Semiconductor Development 72 Semiconductors $6 www.mcgladrey.com [ 5 ]
IT PE Exits (Count) by Quarter Private Equity Exit Activity Despite a large inventory of mature portfolio companies, PE firms sold less than half of the number of IT companies as they invested in during the second quarter. However, even though they are net buyers in the industry, PE firms are beginning to steadily show an increased focus on exits as shown by four quarters of consistent exit activity. The first half of 2011 was a record start to a year in terms of IT exits for private equity. The most popular method for exiting investments is through sales to strategic acquirers (corporate acquisitions), which accounted for 80 percent of exits in the second quarter. Van Wert sees the strong demand from corporations for PE-backed companies in the information technology industry as the result of the rapid pace of change and development which requires constant innovation from companies, either organically or acquisitively. In terms of sectors, software continues to dominate exit activity, accounting for 59 percent of the second quarter s exits, followed by communications and networking. Look for PE exit activity in the space to continue to be fairly robust as investors look to take advantage of current tech valuations and market opportunities. IT PE Exits (Count) by Year IT PE Exits by Sector *Through 1Q 2011 www.mcgladrey.com [ 6 ]
The following list shows a detailed breakdown of the PitchBook industry codes for the information technology industry. 6. Information Technology 6.1 Communications and Networking 6.1.1 Cable Service Providers 6.1.2 Connectivity Products 6.1.3 Fiberoptic Equipment 6.1.4 Internet Service Providers 6.1.5 Telecommunications Service Providers 6.1.6 Wireless Communications Equipment 6.1.7 Wireless Service Providers 6.1.8 Other Communications and Networking 6.2 Hardware 6.2.1 Computers, Parts and Peripherals 6.2.2 Electronic Components 6.2.3 Electronic Equipment and Instruments 6.2.4 Office Electronics 6.2.5 Storage 6.2.6 Other Hardware 6.3 Semiconductors 6.3.1 Application Specific 6.3.2 General Purpose 6.3.3 Production 6.3.4 Other Semiconductors 6.4 Services 6.4.1 Consulting and Outsourcing 6.4.2 Systems and Information Management 6.4.3 Other IT Services 6.5 Software 6.5.1 Application Software 6.5.2 Automation/Workflow Software 6.5.3 Communication Software 6.5.4 Database Software 6.5.5 Educational Software 6.5.6 Internet Software 6.5.7 Multimedia and Design Software 6.5.8 Network Management Software 6.5.9 Operating Systems Software 6.5.10 Software Development Applications 6.5.11 Vertical Market Software 6.5.12 Other Software 6.6 Other Information Technology 6.6.1 Other Information Technology www.mcgladrey.com [ 7 ]
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