Last week, a writer for “Inc.” asked what I thought about a recent article in which someone valued the White House at $75 – $80M. I told him that whoever came up with that figure clearly doesn’t understand what drives value. That discussion led to the brief article below on how to value anything (in a competitive market.)

Click here to read the article.

It was a fun exercise. We thought you might be interested.

Kenneth Marlin
www.MarlinLLC.com

Below is a link to our May 2012 Market Update. As you will see, it provides our sense of M&A values, activity and trends for the dozen plus technology, information and healthcare sectors that we follow.

Click here for our Market Update

This month we saw multiple transactions announced with, again, many transactions well under $200M. One of these involved our client, Ideas International, which has agreed to be acquired by Gartner, a leading global source of information and research. Ideas International is a leading independent supplier of IT market research, based in Hornsby, Australia, and represents our first sale of a publicly traded company in Australia.  This reinforces our belief that strategics and financial sponsors continue to show a willingness to pay reasonable values for firms that show scale, growth, and a prominent position in the marketplace, but have little appetite for mega-deals.

A few of the notable deals:

• Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) agreed to acquire Demandforce for $423.5M, and additionally acquired AisleBuyer for an undisclosed amount;
• Nasdaq OMX acquired NOS Clearing for NOK 230M ($40M);
• Freepoint Commodities agreed to acquire J.P. Morgan Metals & Concentrates Trading Unit;
• Google acquired TxVia;
• CoStar Group (Nasdaq: CSGP) acquired LoopNet for $762M;
• Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) to acquire X-Rite (Nasdaq:XRIT) for $625M;
• Dassault Systemes (EPA:DSY) agreed to acquire Gemcom Software International for €272M ($360M);
• MICROS (Nasdaq:MCRS) Systems agreed to acquire Torex Retail Holdings for £162.5M ($270M);
• Kinnser Software raised $40M From Insight Venture Partners in Series A Round;
• Gartner Australasia agreed to acquire Ideas International (ASX: IDE) for AUD 20M ($21.16M);
• WhiteGlove House Call Health raised $12.9M in a Series E Round;
• 3M acquired CodeRyte for an undisclosed price; and
• IBM agreed to acquire Vivisimo.

As you will see in the report, a few of the largest deals were consummated by public strategic acquirers. As examples: CoStar acquired online real estate marketplace LoopNet, Intuit acquired small-business application developer Demandforce and virtual shopping assistant AisleBuyer, and Dassault purchased mining software provider Gemcom.

Several of the deals fell within the financial technology sector, where activity remains robust. Nasdaq OMX acquired NOS Clearing, Google acquired TxVia, and Freepoint Commodities agreed to acquire JP Morgan’s Metals and Contentrates Trading Unit. We expect the significant activity in all sectors to continue within the small/middle market.  As rates continue to hit record lows – Companies around the world are looking to use the over $1 Trillion corporate cash to acquire products services, capability, technology, geography, revenue and EBITDA that they are otherwise finding difficult to achieve organically.

We hope you will find this month’s newsletter useful. We are always available to answer questions.

Below is a link to our April 2012 Market Update. As you will see, it provides our sense of M&A values, activity and trends for the dozen plus technology, information and healthcare sectors that we follow.

Click here for our Market Update

This month we saw multiple transactions announced with, again, the majority of transactions well under $200M. One of these involved our client, IMS Research, which was acquired by IHS, a leading global source of information and analytics. IMS Research is a leading independent supplier of market research and a consultancy to the global electronics industry, based in Wellingborough, UK. This reinforces our belief that strategics and financial sponsors are showing a willingness to pay reasonable values for complimentary firms that show scale, growth, and proprietary technology, but have little appetite for mega-deals.

A few of the notable deals:

• Vista Equity Partners Seems to be the Winner of the Misys Process with an Offer of £1.3 ($2.0Bn);
• LSE Agreed to Acquire Majority Stake in LCH.Clearnet for €813M ($1.1Bn);
• SS&C Announced Improved Offer to Acquire GlobeOp for £448M ($717M);
• NetCracker Technology Corporation, Subsidiary of NEC Corp., Agreed To Acquire Information Management Business From Convergys Corporation for $499M;
• Verisk Analytics Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSK) Agreed to Acquire MediConnect Global Inc. for $349M;
• Nuance Communications (Nasdaq:NUAN) Agreed to Acquire Transcend Services (Nasdaq:TRCR) for $300M;
• Monitise (LSE: MONI.L) Agreed to Acquire Clairmail for £110M ($173M); and
• Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) Agreed to Acquire Loopt for $43M.

As you will see in the report, a few of the deals showed companies capitalizing on growth in the mobile sector. As examples: Green Dot acquired the mobile marketing technology provider Loopt and Monitise agreed to acquire Clairmail, which focuses on mobile banking and payments.

We hope you will find this month’s newsletter useful. We are always available to answer questions.

Please note that our Hong Kong Office has relocated. Its new address is 45/F, The Lee Gardens, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

Dear Clients and Friends,

Today, our client IMS Research announced that it has been acquired by IHS, a leading global source of information and analytics. We are pleased to have been the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to IMS Research on this transaction.

IMS Research is a leading independent supplier of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry, offering syndicated market studies, custom research and consultancy services. Its clients include most of the household names in the industry. IMS Research has offices in Europe, the US, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

The press release can be read here. We thought you would be interested.

Dear Clients & Friends,

We are pleased to announce that Jonathan Kaufman is joining our team as a partner and will open a new Marlin & Associates office in San Francisco. This is the second new office that we have opened in recent months.  In July, we announced the opening of our office in Hong Kong, China to complement our existing offices in New York; Washington, DC; and Toronto, Canada.

Jonathan brings to our clients more than a decade of international experience advising firms in the technology and financial services sectors, including eight years in investment banking at UBS and Deutsche Bank.  He has executed more than $100 billion of mergers and acquisitions and IPOs, LBOs and other financings during his career, and has advised firms in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. We believe that he will be a great addition to our team. Jonathan can be reached via email at jkaufman@marlinllc.com.

The press release is below.  We thought you might be interested.

Dear Clients & Friends,

Below is a link to our March 2012 Market Update. As you will see, it provides our sense of M&A values, activity and trends for the dozen plus technology, information and healthcare sectors that we follow.

Click here for our Market Update

This month M&A announced two transactions on which we advised: In the Financial Technology sector, we advised NYSE Euronext on the acquisition of minority interest in Fixnetix Ltd (London, UK). And in the Healthcare IT vertical, we advised Navinet, Inc., on the sale to Lumeris Corporation, the innovative, cloud-based health IT provider; Pittsburgh-based, Highmark Inc., Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania’s Independence Blue Cross.

Of course, the other news for the Exchange sector was the failed $7.4Bn between New York Stock Exchange and German exchange Deutsche Börse. The planned merger was called off after the European Union said it would block the union because of concerns about a monopoly.

This month we saw the announcements of four transactions with values over $1Bn. Again, the majority of transactions were well under $200M. This reinforces our belief that strategics and financial sponsors are showing a willingness to pay reasonable values for complimentary firms that show scale, growth, and proprietary technology, but have little appetite for mega-deals.

A few of the notable deals:

• Itau Unibanco Acquired Redecard S.A. for R$11.8Bn ($6.8Bn);
• Oracle Corporation Agreed To Acquire Taleo Corp for $1.8Bn;
• Misys plc Agreed To Acquire Temenos Group AG for £926M (USD $1.2Bn), however, the bidding isn’t over;
• Glory Limited Agreed to Acquire Talaris Topco Limited from Carlyle Group LP for £650M ($1.02Bn);
• TPG Agreed to Acquire GlobeOp Financial Services for £508M ($802M);
• The Hearst Corporation Acquired Additional 10% Stake in Fitch Group for $177M.

As you will see in the report, a few deals showed strategics diverging from their core focus: As examples, TELUS, a wireless telecommunications provider, purchased Wolf Medical Systems, a cloud-based electronic health record, while Verizon entered a partnership with Health Evolution Partners to gain a pipeline of health technologies. We do not see a return to the diversification trend of the 1960’s.

We hope you will find this month’s newsletter useful. We are always available to answer questions.

Today, our client NYSE Euronext announced that it has agreed to acquire a strategic interest in Fixnetix Limited, the London-based provider of ultra-low latency data, co-location, trading services and risk controls.  The agreement includes an option for NYSE Euronext to acquire the remainder of Fixnetix over the next three years.  We are pleased to have been the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to NYSE Euronext on this strategically important transaction.

Fixnetix, winner of the 2011 Deloitte Technology Fast50 UK, provides outsourced managed services across multiple asset classes to global banks, hedge funds and proprietary trading groups seeking ultra-low latency trading, market data, hosting, infrastructure connectivity and risk management solutions. The company has a presence in 33 co-location and proximity hosting centers across Europe and the US and offers trading access to more than 50 markets worldwide. NYSE Technologies and Fixnetix will continue to operate independently.  Where appropriate, the companies intend to work together to offer customers integrated market access to liquidity venues in Europe, the Americas and Asia.  The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

The NYSE Euronext press release can be read here. We thought you would be interested.

We are pleased to have been the financial advisor to NaviNet on this multi-party, transformative transaction.

NaviNet securely links leading health plans, industry partners and the government to hundreds of thousands of physicians, clinicians and other healthcare professionals. More than 75 percent of the nation’s physicians are enrolled in the NaviNet Network, which touches 121 million covered lives.  The new partnership expects to leverage NaviNet’s best-in-class network and use the new enhanced capabilities from Lumeris to partner with physicians and hospitals, helping them facilitate the administrative, clinical, and financial tasks necessary to deliver more accountable care. They expect to support new payment models; enhance patient safety; and increase physician and patient satisfaction while working to lower healthcare costs.  The transaction is expected to close in about 30 days and is subject to customary closing conditions.

The NaviNet press release can be read here. We thought you would be interested.

Below is a link to our February 2012 Market Update. As you will see, it provides our sense of M&A values, activity and trends for the dozen plus technology, information and healthcare sectors that we follow.

Click here for our Market Update

This month we saw many small to midsize transactions and few of size – this reinforces our belief that strategics and financial sponsors are showing a willingness to pay reasonable values for complimentary firms that show scale, growth, and proprietary technology, but remain somewhat risk averse when it comes to larger deals.  We did see:

• VeriFone Acquired Point International from Nordic Capital for €760 ($996M);
• BMC Software Agreed to Acquire Numara Software for $300M;
• Symantec Acquired LiveOffice for $115M; and
• SAI Global Agreed to Acquire Compliance 360 for $42.3M.

As you will see in the report, most deals were smaller. MedData, a Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) company, purchased MedDirect which provides patient-pay and communication services, while Trizetto expanded their managed care focus with the acquisition of Medical Data Express. Several exchanges entered into transactions to add technical capabilities. And Guidewire raised $115M in its IPO.

Additionally, there was continued strategic activity in Asia-Pacific, where Nomura Research Institute acquired Anshin Software; and Deutsche Borse acquired China Consumer Sentiment Survey, thus highlighting the growing impact of the Asian consumer on business leaders’ outlooks.

We hope you will find this month’s newsletter useful. We are always available to answer questions.

Click here for our Market Update

2012 seems to be starting much as 2011, with credit markets relatively tight but plenty of interest in firms that have scale, growth, and proprietary technology.  As you will see in the pages that follow – for 2011, overall transaction volume in the sectors we serve increased about 5% above 2010.

2011 was a strong year for us too – our strongest ever – and we thank our clients and friends for their support.  We worked with them in Brussels, Doha, London, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, Vancouver, and more.  Along the way, we won some awards: The M&A Advisor named our firm a finalist for Boutique Investment Bank of the Year. The Association for Corporate Growth, together with The M&A Advisor awarded our firm six “Deal-of-the-Year” awards, including Corporate and Strategic Acquisition-of-the-Year, Middle Market Deal-of-the-Year, and Information Technology Deal-of-the-Year. In December, the M&A Advisor honored two transactions on which we advised as part of their special “Deals of the Decade” Celebration. We added staff in 2011 and opened an office in Hong Kong. A few weeks ago, we announced the addition of Tom Conigliaro, an industry veteran and Goldman Sachs alumnus, to our team in New York.  We have been busy.

For the past eight years, while at Goldman Sachs, Tom led “Hudson Street”, and Goldman’s investments into (and, in some cases, exits from) firms such as:  iSuppli , Lusight, Medley, Trim Tabs, QSG, Pacific Epoch, Wall Street on Demand, and Epocrates (Nasdaq: EPOC).  During this period, Tom traveled the world: vetting hundreds of companies; meeting key industry players; leading investments; serving on more than a dozen boards; and leveraging his operating experience to advise portfolio companies on ways to improve productivity and performance.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2003, Tom spent 16 years at Merrill Lynch where, among other things, he ran an independent research and clearing business.  This experience provided Tom unique insights into the dynamic needs of investment managers, investment bankers, traders, and operations professionals and the knowledge of what it takes to match those needs with solutions from a myriad of service providers.

“We are fortunate to have attracted Tom to our team”, commented Ken Marlin, Founder and Managing Partner of Marlin & Associates.  “His combination of real-world operating experience and transactional expertise is a hallmark of our firm.”

Click here to read our press release.

• NYSE Euronext, which Marlin advised on the sale of Hugin Group (Oslo, Norway and Paris, France) to Thomson Reuters. This transaction originally won The M&A Advisor’s Deal-of-the-Year Award in 2010; and
• Triple Point Technology, Inc. (Stamford, CT), which Marlin advised on its recapitalization by ABRY partners. This transaction originally won The M&A Advisor’s Financing Deal-of-the-Year Award in 2007.

Both transactions were featured as the M&A Advisor celebrated the best-of-the-best from their ten-year history recognizing the leading transactions.

To read further, please click here.