Biggest M&A of 2017 and the Channel Impact

From CenturyLink finalizing its acquisition of Level 3 Communications, to Broadcom buying network vendor Brocade Communications, 2017 was another big year of M&A involving companies that do business in the channel.

And a number of the companies and/or assets fetched billions of dollars.

According to 451 Research’s M&A KnowlegeBase, there has been $319.5 billion in technology M&A in 2017, down from the $505.9 billion spent on tech targets in 2016, which was a bit less than the record total in 2015.

“Private equity is one of the few categories of buyers that’s more active this year than last,” said Scott Denne, research analyst at 451 Research. “Private equity firms and the companies they control spent almost $95 billion on more than 800 tech companies. Though those firms still have plenty of money to put to work, the pending tax bill could lower their ability to deduct interest payments and lower the prices they’re willing to pay.”

Gina Villanueva, an industry analyst in the consumer communications services group at Frost & Sullivan, said although AT&T’s Time Warner acquisition is still pending, wireless operators continued to advance their position in the communications market through M&A.

“For example, Verizon’s acquisition of Straight Path brings the communication operator one step closer in the race to deploy 5G, and T-Mobile’s bid at the 600 MHz FCC spectrum auction improves its coverage and experience for its users,” she said.

In the gallery below, we look at 10 deals that exceeded $1 billion and what they mean to those involved. We excluded acquisitions in which the financial details weren’t disclosed.