Summer 2021: The strong M&A market continues
Red hot M&A market
The M&A market remains red hot with the IoT space being no exception. Both the macro and micro pictures are looking bright with a significantly improved COVID-19 situation and multi-trillion dollar federal relief packages being rolled out in the US while both strategic and financial investors compete for assets in the emerging IoT space. We expect to see a continuation of this strong activity, especially as many try to beat the clock by closing a transaction prior to the expected tax rate increases (likely taking effect at the start of 2022).
In this edition of our IoT M&A newsletter, we highlight the activity taking place within the fleet management space, in which technologies are being increasingly utilized in new applications and end markets, well beyond just transportation.
Quarterly IoT M&A activity snapshot
Total global IoT deal volume in Q1 ’21 40
The IoT sector saw 176 deal announcements during the past five quarters
$20.1bn Aggregate deal value in Q1 ’21
The aggregate IoT sector deal value was $93.1bn during the past five quarters
Strategic vs. private equity investors
(based on Q1 ‘21 deal volume)
Target geography
(based on Q1 ‘21 deal volume)
Source: M&A data from Research451 database
Notable IoT transactions by sector
From May 2020 to April 2021
Total number of deals TTM April 2021: 138
30
Transportation
- Bridges Fund Management invested $88M in Matrix Telematics in March 2021
- Bridges invested through its Sustainable Growth Fund in line with its key impact themes of Healthier Lives and Sustainable Planet, highlighting Matrix’s impact on improving driver safety
20
Smart Building
- Latch, maker of LatchOS, a full-building enterprise SaaS platform, went public via a SPAC valued at $1.56B in a post-money valuation representing a 6.3x EV / Revenue multiple, after being acquired by Tishman Speyer (TS) Innovation Acquisitions in January 2021
- TS plans to leverage its global real estate platform to accelerate Latch’s product and market expansion of its ecosystem around full building operating systems
20
Industrial
- Microsoft acquired The Marsden Group Europe, a UK-based developer of advanced analytics in support of IoT solutions, in March 2021
- The acquisition is expected to enhance Microsoft’s ability to create new customer value by leveraging Microsoft cloud, edge, and AI solutions
20
Healthcare
- Hill-Rom Holdings acquired EarlySense’s Contact-Free Continuous Monitoring Software for $32.7M in February 2021
- The acquisition highlights Hill-Rom’s continued commitment to building a differentiated suite of connected solutions that improve patient outcomes
9
Energy
- Schneider Electric led a consortium for an investment in Uplight, an end-to-end energy technology solutions provider, in March 2021 in a deal valued at $1.5B
- The investment highlights the transformation of the energy grid to renewable sources
8
Smart Ag
- Wilbur-Ellis Holdings acquired Probe Schedule, an irrigation management software company, in December 2020
- The acquisition helps bring quality irrigation water management (IWM) software field data directly to growers to increase productivity
31
Sector Agnostic
Source: M&A data from Research451 database
We continue our regular dialog with leading IoT and industrial IoT companies and would be happy to discuss the insights we have gathered as one of the most active M&A advisors in IoT. To read the full report, download the PDF below.
