Israeli Tech M&As Up 102%, Totaling $9.9 Billion in 2019

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of Israeli technology companies totaled $9.9 billion in 2019, a 102% increase year-over-year, according to a report published Tuesday by accounting firm PwC Israel. The average deal size in 2019 was $124 million, an increase of 53% compared to last year's average of $81 million.

Only acquisitions that have officially closed were included in PwC’s report, leaving out several notable acquisitions such as the $6.9 billion acquisition of Israeli chipmaker Mellanox Technologies Ltd. by Nvidia Corporation, as it is still pending certain regulatory approvals. The report also excludes companies which were already publicly listed when acquired. The total of all exits of Israeli companies in 2019, including deals that were excluded from the report, is $22.9 billion, PwC said. The total number of deals surpassing the $100 million mark increased to 24 in 2019, compared to 17 in 2018. An increase was also registered in the total number of acquisitions above $5 million, with 2019 seeing 80 such deals,an increase of 31% year-over-year.

While American companies and investors were responsible for only 48% of the aquisitions, they spent $8.8 billion doing so, or 89% of the total yearly sum. Investors and companies from the EU acquired 12% of the Israeli tech companies acquired in 2019, but spent only $386 million, or 4% of the yearly M&A total.

The computing and software sector continued to lead in terms of deals, totaling $4.5 billion, followed by the internet sector and the semiconductor sector respectively.

As the decade is drawing to a close, 2019 was the third-best year for Israeli tech M&As in terms of total deal value, following 2014 and 2015, but the best year in terms of deal number. The decade is set to conclude with a total of 587 Israeli tech M&As valued at $70.8 billion.