2015 acquisitions: Microsoft rises, Google falls
When one company rises, another falls – at least in regard to acquisitions. Newly release 2015 data from CB Insights reveals that out of eight major technology giants, five had less merger and acquisition activity. Counted in terms of the number of deals, not the deal values, Microsoft rose far and above the others at 18 acquisitions, with Yahoo falling far behind with only one.
Soaring ahead of the pack, under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has steadily increased its acquisition efforts year after year, with a nearly 200 percent increase in 2015 from its 10 M&As in 2014.
Most interesting, however, was the fall in Google's M&A figures. While some of this fall may be due to a redirection of resources, another reason for this fall may be attributed to the creation of Alphabet, Google's parent company, at the end of last year. Now used as a significant acquisition multi-conglomerate for Google and other industry players, the creation of this company may skew future M&A results.
"The most dramatic decreases in acquisitions were from Yahoo and Google, which had been on a major acquisition spree to the previous two years," Madeline Vuong wrote at Geek Wire. "Google made fewer than half the acquisitions it made the year before, with 16 acquisitions in 2015, compared to 35 the year prior. That said, Google still had the second highest number of deals made in 2015 among tech biggies, despite being down internally year-over-year. And Google has made the most acquisitions of all the tech giants over the past five years."
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