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The second quarter of 2018 proved to be a dynamic period for M&A activity in the Commercial & Consumer Technology sectors tracked by Intrepid. The residential technology segment remained active with Ecobee raising capital and private equity firm Hellman & Friedman (also the owner of res-tech company SnapAV) acquiring SimpliSafe for approximately $1 billion. Both transactions followed Amazon’s notable acquisition of Ring earlier in 2018.
Consolidation remains active in the Pro A/V sector as well with Tailwind Capital-backed Diversified extending its reach internationally through its acquisition of U.K.-based Digitavia and Blackstone completing the massive acquisition of PSAV.
In consumer technology, Gaming M&A activity is white hot. Razer, fresh off its late 2017 IPO, acquired payments companies MOL Global and Rixty to enhance its proprietary Razerpay network; Corsair extended its presence in game streaming with the acquisition of Elgato Gaming; and Trust International, a Dutch lifestyle technology company with an extensive Gaming product portfolio, was acquired by PE firm Egeria. We expect interest in gaming to remain strong as the number of streamers and eSports gamers continues to grow exponentially.
Most recently, our CCT team announced the pending sale of Blue Microphones, a portfolio company of The Riverside Company, to Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI). The companies have signed a definitive agreement and the transaction is expected to close by the end of August 2018. This marks the second M&A transaction with Blue for our team; we had previously advised Blue in 2013 on its sale to Riverside.