EU Business News August 2017

4 EU BUSINESS NEWS / August 2017 NEWS , Hampleton Part- ners, an interna- tional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and corporate advisory firm for technology companies, issued 11 technology M&A market reports for 2H 2017 in the key business segments of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), automotive tech- nology, cybersecurity, digital mar- keting, e-commerce, enterprise software, financial technology, in- ternet of things (IoT), IT services, and SaaS & cloud services. “Overall, our research shows that technology M&A cooled down in the first half of 2017,” says Miro Parizek, principal partner of Ham- pleton Partners. “However, it is critical to be more nuanced and to look deeper into specific sectors and the related data when as- sessing deal activity and planning strategy.” Parizek adds “M&A and funding is accelerating in select sectors, as more ‘non-technology’ or tra- ditional companies and private equity firms move to acquire and invest in technology and innova- tion. Artificial intelligence, aug- mented reality/virtual reality, and cybersecurity are three of the most promising sectors for tech- nology M&A right now.” Key findings in the technology M&A market reports for 2H 2017 include the following: Artificial Intelligence : Ac- quisitions of AI related targets speeds up dramatically as deal volume increases 179% versus the previous year. Total M&A re- lating to artificial intelligence now exceeds 100 transactions in the last 24 months to June 2017, in concert with the growing media attention dedicated to the sector. Hampleton Partners Sees Strong Tech M&A Activity Research by Hampleton Partners analyses key trends in 11 technology sectors including artificial intelligence, augmented reality/ virtual reality and cybersecurity.