The S&P Global 451 Research Tech M&A Outlook Survey found that the value of technology deals announced in 2021 exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in history – and 69% of respondents predicted that the pace would continue or increase in 2022.
As a subset of that, cybersecurity M&A activity hit an all-time high with total deal value reaching $74.1 billion, more than the total of the previous four years combined. This massive growth in M&A activity should make organizations take a step back, press pause, and truly examine how they are spending their hard-earned capital, especially as financial storm clouds gather on the horizon. Financial markets have already changed significantly since the S&P Global report was published in January 2022.
It’s not my area of expertise to speculate on the impact to M&A activity in the rest of 2022, but I am interested in how the M&A activity that has already occurred impacts buyers of cybersecurity technology. It takes a lot of time for these acquisitions to sort themselves out so that companies can offer a truly integrated offering.
