Disruptive Power of Tech Spawns Buyouts, Spin-Offs

Although the number of IT acquisitions declined slightly in the third quarter, the overall value of industry deals increased markedly, according to new research from PwC. That's good news for companies developing tech innovations that are considered "must-haves" among major players, such as Oracle, Apple and Facebook. Overall, individual deals in the third quarter averaged $470 million, up 19% from the second quarter, and eight deals exceeded $1 billion. (One interesting aside: The entrepreneur behind one of those 10-figure deals happens to be a famous rapper and record producer.) The IT industry is setting a pace to make 2014 "the second most active year in technology deals since the last major recession," Rob Fisher, the U.S. technology industry deals leader for PwC, said. He also pointed to "the recent surge in spin-off activity, [which] reflects the urgency … to compete in a future that requires agility alongside innovation." PwC bases its findings on data transactions provided by Thomson Reuters and additional research.