ABCs of Tech Business in 2016: Acquisitions, Buyouts and Consolidation

The business part of any venture witnesses the most extreme of situations. There are companies which face the ruthless tyranny of a buyout while some thank their stars when saved by acquisitions. Whatever the path may be, cruel or rewarding, it always ends in consolidation of industry. Suffice it to say, the ‘A’ and ‘B’ always lead to ‘C’. So, here is a list of ‘A’s and ‘B’s this year, some of which lead to the ‘C’ of that industry:

1. Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn

While Facebook and Google are thought of as cool kids on the block, Microsoft has always ensured that its identity remains like that of men in suits in the tech world. And its latest acquisition, for a whooping amount of $26.2 billion, further strengthens that image. Being a highly professional organisation, Microsoft acquiring a professional social network wasn’t surprising at all. The LinkedIn social network will be quite helpful in taking the MS Office suite to the next level, adding a social component to the work, thereby connecting professionals and their work more effectively. Also, Lynda.com, a website which offers tutorials was acquired by LinkedIn some time back, which Microsoft sees as an opportunity.

2. Dell merges with EMC

If you thought $19.3 for WhatsApp was high, then this will blow your mind. Dell, the computer multinational behemoth, has acquired EMC, a computer storage company for the highest amount ever in the tech world for $67 billion. Yes! You read it right, it’s 67 billion. The merger has started and will take some time to complete. The effects and verdict of this merger will probably be visible to us by 2017 or 2018. A lot of things, from policies to name, from logos to software design, will change. Only time will tell the verdict of this expensive marriage.

3. Verizon buys the struggling Yahoo!

What once was a company valued at over a $100 billion, got sold at an amount of $4.8 billion. Verizon, the telecom giant acquired Yahoo, which had been fighting for survival for quite some time now. The deal includes the real estate and some intellectual property of the company but doesn’t include the valuable stake of Alibaba group in the company. With this deal, Verizon can go head to head against Google and Facebook in the field of advertisement.

4. Myntra buys Jabong

Flipkart owned Myntra acquires Jabong for $70 million. This move is one of those that will consolidates the e-commerce market in India today. Flipkart has made a statement that it still is one of the key players in the business and is here to stay. With Jabong and Myntra, Flipkart has gained the majority in terms of fashion e-commerce. With this buyout, Flipkart and Amazon are currently the two major pillars while Snapdeal and others are in supporting roles.