Our 2007 Annual Report is a comprehensive analysis of software industry mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and venture capital investments of the past year. The Annual Report also analyzes public software company financial and stock market performance and identifies key trends affecting the software equity markets in 2007. And of course, our 2007 Annual Report takes a look at the year ahead, including a forecast of software industry M&A and IPO activity and valuations in 2008, and the underlying economic factors and industry trends. The 2007 Software Industry Equity Report includes data, analyses and insight indispensable to software industry entrepreneurs, investors, executives, analysts, investment bankers and professional advisors.
Report Highlights:
- How did public software companies – the most acquisitive buyers of private software companies – perform financially in 2007? Which software sectors did the market reward, and which were punished? How will the coming downturn impact their M&A mindset, and purchase prices?
- How did median exit valuations vary by software sector (ERP, PLM, Security, etc.) in 2007? Looking at 24 different categories, why the spread from 1.7x TTM revenue to 4.6x TTM revenue?
- Will vertical market software companies remain in demand by enterprise players seeking to penetrate specific SME markets and by larger verticals anxious to consolidate their markets in 2008? What verticals were most active in 2007?
- Will the bloom come off the SaaS rose in 2008? How did pure play SaaS provider exit multiples compare to software M&A valuations overall in 2007? How did the financial performance of public SaaS companies measure up?
- Eighty-six buyers made three or more software company acquisitions in 2007. Who were they, what did they acquire, and how much did they pay?
- The number of private buyers dropped precipitously in 2H07. What was the driving factor? What will private equity firms do with the public software companies they’ve taken private if the IPO market is closed, revenue growth stalls and leveraged debt payments become unduly burdensome?
- More than 89% of software M&A transactions in 2007 reflected the same buyer motive. What’s driving buyers today?
- What will happen to software M&A valuations and transaction volumes if IT capital spending declines as predicted, and public software companies struggle to grow revenue?
- Just how much does median exit valuation vary by size of buyer? Conversely, do larger private software companies ($20 million + sellers) receive significantly higher multiples than smaller ISVs?
- How did venture capitalists treat the software industry in 2007? Are early stage companies attracting more funding? What were the software IPOs of 2007 and what companies are in the pipeline for 2008? How much did they raise and how did they close the year? How will investor confidence and market conditions in 2008 affect the software IPO pipeline?
2007 Annual Software Industry Equity Report Topics:
U.S. Economy: Leading Indicators, IT Spending, Employment Outlook, 2008 Forecast
Public Software Company Financial Performance
Public Software Company Stock Market Performance
Software Company Initial Public Offerings
Software Company Venture Capital Investments
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition Data
Software Industry Merger and Acquisition Trends
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Most Active Buyers
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Most Active Categories
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Purchase Price Multiples by Category
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Deal Consideration
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Public vs. Private Buyers and Sellers
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Transactions by Product Category
Software Industry Merger & Acquisition: Analysis of Select Software Transactions