As technology companies continue to chase revenue growth, the first quarter of 2017 continued to be significant for global deals in the technology sector. While software and chip deals seemed to dominate, trends also emerged involving technology IPOs and telecommunications and internet deals. Below is an overview of key deal activity in the technology sector for Q1 2017.
1. The first quarter prize goes to Toshiba: Globally, the largest technology-sector deal in play in the first quarter of 2017 was Toshiba’s offer on January 17 to sell its memory chip operations—a deal valued at $26.56 billion. The Toshiba assets are attracting attention from a number of private equity and strategic buyers and consortia. Bids are in progress, including a recent offer led by KKR & Co LP and the Japanese government-backed Innovation Network Corp of Japan fund. News reports indicate that Toshiba is planning a second round of bidding in May.
