Digitalisation of global business helps turbocharge IT & Business Services M&A, says Hampleton Partners’ report
London, UK – 3 February 2022. The latest IT & Business Services M&A market report from Hampleton Partners, the international technology mergers and acquisitions advisor, reveals a 23 per cent increase in the number of M&A transactions in the second-half of 2021 compared to 2H2020 – 538 deals compared to 437.
As for the whole year, 902 deals were recorded in 2021 compared to 818 deals in 2020, a 10 per cent increase in the number of M&A transactions between 2020 and 2021.
Hampleton’s report identifies several key sector trends, including: the role of private equity players accounting for 35 per cent of all transactions over the past 30 months, and financial acquirers paying out higher EBITDA at 10.3x compared to 8.4x for their strategic counterparts.
Miro Parizek, founder & principal partner, Hampleton Partners, said: “Global IT services spending is anticipated to continue strongly in 2022 after the astronomical increases seen in 2021. We are now wholly familiar with the idea that the changes in workforce behaviour towards remote and hybrid models catalysed digitalisation. The divergence from traditional, pre-pandemic work environments instilled greater demand for cloud-based services to replace legacy, on-site infrastructure. Firms are being forced to respond to this reorientation by increasing investment and IT budgets. This has turbo-charged M&A activity in the sector.”
Top acquirers still strong in 2H2021
Prolific acquirer, Accenture, continued its acquisition spree in 2H2021, acquiring a further 20 companies in the six months to December. The company’s acquisitions in 2H2021 fell into three categories: firstly, firms operating within an IT vendor ecosystem such as Microsoft, SAP, Salesforce, or AWS; secondly, IT consultancies focused on horizontal technologies such as cybersecurity; and finally, consultancies catering to specific verticals such as manufacturing and digital commerce.
Professional services firms continue to make the most acquisitions overall, with notable activity from Accenture and Deloitte who are looking to serve all new client needs in the cloud.
Top two acquirers over the past 30-month period and their three latest acquisitions
Accenture – 84 acquisitions
Headspring LLC software & consulting services
Tambourine Inc. Salesforce-based e-commerce SaaS development
ClearEdge Partners Inc. outsourced services
Presidio – 17 acquisitions
Arkphire Ireland Ltd. [dba Arkphire] Irish IT services
Coda Global LLC cloud consulting & managed IT services
Home Theater Technologies smart systems integrator
IT & Business Services M&A 2022
Miro Parizek, said: “The increase in deal volume perhaps comes as verticals dependent on the expertise provided by the IT Services market reach an inflexion point: adapt to the reorientation in market drivers or fall by the wayside.
“In 2022, we anticipate that transaction volume in the sector will plateau and that valuation metrics will either remain stable or continue their upwards trajectory in the case of EV/EBITDA.”
Hampleton’s IT & Business Services M&A report analyses transactions, trends and activity across the Integration, Technology and Support Services segments as well as IT Outsourcing.
Download the full Hampleton Partners’ IT & Business Services M&A Market Report 1H2022:
https://www.hampletonpartners.com/reports/it-business-services-report/
