ONLINE RECRUITMENT M&A

There has been speculation lately about Monster Worldwide being for sale, including a story in Reuters last Friday about LinkedIn’s potential interest in the Internet jobs search company. However, after conducting an initial assessment, LinkedIn has stated that it has no plans to acquire Monster. Besides looking at Monster’s strategic options, Silver Lake Partners has been mentioned as a potential private equity buyer.

Monster, which acquired rival HotJobs.com in 2010, is facing competition from a number of aggregators such as Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com. CareerBuilder, another one of Monster’s competitors, made two acquisitions in April. The online career site acquired CEVIU and Top Language Jobs last month to further solidify its international presence.

In a March blog post, Berkery Noyes considered M&A activity in human resources technology, with an emphasis on how cloud computing and SaaS are impacting the landscape. Oracle’s acquisition of Taleo for $1.9 billion, a talent management deal announced in February, is the most prominent example.

A more recent transaction, CallidusCloud’s acquisition of 6FigureJobs, also confirms this trend. 6FigureJobs focuses on resources and content for recruiters and senior level job seekers in an income range over $100k. The recruiting process now often includes video resumes, as well as social and mobile technologies during the interview phase, making M&A an attractive option for enterprises seeking to improve their HR offerings.

CUSTOMER RELATIONS SOFTWARE AND TECH M&A

Transaction volume relating to customer relations software increased 33 percent between 2010 and 2011, from 67 to 89 transactions. There have been several notable transactions thus far in 2012 as well. 

Most recently, IBM announced its acquisition of Tealeaf Technology. Tealeaf, with its array of analytics software, allows marketers to gain additional insight as to how customers interact with business websites. With this knowledge, companies are better positioned to improve their digital marketplace and therefore the online consumer experience. One key goal behind acquiring Tealeaf is for IBM to build momentum behind its “Smarter Commerce” initiative.

A few days before the announced acquisition of Tealeaf, Intuit announced its acquisition of Demandforce for $423 million. Demandforce enables small and medium sized businesses to automate their marketing and customer communications. Intuit believes Demandforce’s SaaS model will help them grow their customer base and revenue per customer. 

Also of note, Facebook acquired another mobile company in April besides Instagram. Tagtile, a startup, is a more traditional type of acquisition for Facebook. Tagtile is used by businesses to increase their number of repeat purchasers. Consumers can download an iOS or Andoid app to pay for purchases, which allows them to earn loyalty points. Business owners benefit by collecting data that allows them to engage in specialized direct marketing campaigns.

HUMAN RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY M&A

One of our prior posts discussed Oracle’s announced acquisition of Taelo for $1.9 billion and SAP America’s acquisition of SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion. Two recent Online & Mobile transactions illustrate how companies involved with human resources technology, especially cloud-based, are seeking to grow through acquisition. 

Last week, Saba Software acquired HumanConcepts. Saba delivers HR enterprise solutions through the cloud, while HumanConcepts assists companies with growth, resizing, and reorganizing their workforces. This acquisition shows that large enterprises are increasingly interested in improving their management of human capital.

Three weeks ago, Cornerstone OnDemand announced its acquisition of Sonar6. Cornerstone has an integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that consists of several cloud offerings related to human resources. Sonar6, meanwhile, focuses on cloud-based talent management in the small and mid-sized market. According to Cornerstone, Sonar6 will be rebranded and remain as a separate product specifically targeting small businesses.

SECURITY SOFTWARE M&A

There continues to be M&A interest pertaining to Internet-based (i.e. cloud security) software. In this post, we’re highlighting three recent transactions. The companies that were acquired offer either cloud based and/or Software-as-a Service (SaaS) cyber security solutions in the space.

This week, TrustWave Corp. announced its acquisition of M86 Security. According to TrustWave, one of the key objectives of the acquisition is to incorporate Web security into its product portfolio.

Two weeks ago, Juniper Networks announced its acquisition of Mykonos Software, and Alert Logic acquired Armorlogic. Mykonos Software uses deception technology to prevent hackers in real-time while Amorlogic develops web applications to proactively deter cyber attacks.

In addition, social networking sites are beginning to take necessary steps and investments to secure their users data, which is an ongoing concern. Twitter’s January acquisition of Dasient, a cloud based technology company that helps avert malware attacks, is just one example.

FULL YEAR 2011 TRENDS REPORTS - HEALTHCARE M&A

These managing director quotes pertain to our Pharma & Healthcare Industry report:

 “In 2011, M&A-driven expansion of strategic healthcare technology and information platforms by major players, some private equity-backed, continued as a dominant trend, stated Jeffrey Smith, Managing Director in Berkery Noyes’ Healthcare and Life Sciences group. “This trend will continue in 2012, offering an active market, competitive sales processes, and excellent valuation opportunities for independently-owned companies providing software, information, data, communications and services solutions to the healthcare and life science industries.”

“The healthcare information and technology (“HIT”) mergers and acquisitions market was robust in 2011 as buyers looked to acquire rapidly growing companies, principally software enabled solutions (SaaS and Cloud enabled), in highly attractive niches to accelerate their own growth and offer fuller suites of world class products to the dynamic and growing healthcare marketplace,” said Tom O'Connor, Managing Director in Berkery Noyes’ Healthcare and Life Sciences group. “In 2012, we expect to see an increased deal flow and attractive prices for sellers from both strategic and financial buyers, but strategic buyers, like in 2011, will dominate the buyer universe.”

According to Jonathan Krieger, Managing Director in Berkery Noyes’ Healthcare and Life Sciences group, “the number of HIT transactions increased for the 3rd consecutive year and valuation multiples continued to rise. The enactment of the HITECH Act has catalyzed the adoption of IT by both payors and providers and has resulted in a very favorable M&A market for private companies that wish to pursue liquidity events.”