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Q3’18 was a whirlwind quarter for M&A and financing activity in the technology sector. The quarter opened with a semiconductor company’s surprising acquisition of a software vendor for more than $18 billion in July and closed with five $1 billion-plus software and tech-enabled services buyouts in September. The quarter featured a number of notable transactions as well as resurgence in M&A activity from some of the technology sector’s most prominent players.
Q3 also saw buyouts of certain SaaS businesses that are no stranger to acquisition: Marketo, which was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in May 2016, was sold to Adobe in September, while Intralinks traded hands for the third time in less than two years during its September sale to SS&C Technologies. These announcements are evidence that technology corporations and sponsors have been interested in creating value where it can be found and are not timid when it comes to paying strategic multiples for strong, growing businesses.