Technology companies are of particular importance in the age of digitalization and shape the development of all industries. The M&A partnership Globalscope enables IFBC to support its clients in the worldwide search for suitable target companies and interested buyers.
Digital transformation is leading to comprehensive social and economic changes. Through increased use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G technology and robotic production, existing processes and services can be improved, and new solutions can be created. One of the main drivers of digitisation are semiconductor manufacturing companies, who are increasingly challenged by a rapidly growing demand and constant pressure to innovate.
Software and infrastructure are increasingly offered as a service to both companies and private customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend towards remote working has also accelerated massively. As a result, audio, and video streaming as well as collaboration software have experienced a major boom. Furthermore, service providers had the opportunity to establish themselves as reliable partners for both companies and consumers.
Technological progress creates new opportunities for sharing infrastructure and services. Companies as well as consumers increasingly prefer flexible usage models and service solutions over investments in products. In this context, subscription-based payment models and advertising-financed revenue solutions are increasingly replacing traditional one-off payments. On the one hand, this offers new opportunities for sustainable customer loyalty. On the other hand, companies often require new financing models for these new payment methods.
In August 2020, the parent company of UPC announced the takeover of Sunrise Communications AG. The transaction was approved by the Swiss Competition Commission in late October 2020. Liberty Global thus initiated the delisting of the Sunrise shares from the SIX Swiss Exchange and the fully integration of Sunrise into the group structure.
On 8 September 2020, Netcetera and Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) announced a strategic partnership. In this context, G+D participated in Netcetera and became an anchor shareholder. The Zurich-based Netcetera is a global software company with cutting-edge IT products and individual digital solutions in the areas of secure digital payment, financial technologies, media, transport, healthcare and insurance.
The Swiss company SoftwareONE, a leading provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology, acquired the Australian company GorillaStack in May 2020. GorillaStack is a leader in cloud cost management and real time event monitoring, and one of the few companies holding the Amazon Web Services Cloud Management Tools competence status for resource and cost optimization.
The following graphs analyse the technology, media and telecommunications industry over the past five years. The graphs show the development of the average semi-annual transaction multiples as well as a comparison between the trading multiples of listed companies in individual sub-sectors and per region as of the end of June 2020. The analysis is based on the Bloomberg database. In terms of size, a distinction is made between companies/transactions with a market capitalization of below (low-mid market) or above (large companies) USD 150 million.
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