A fourth quarter spike in mergers and acquisitions of venture-backed companies has industry watchers looking forward to a promising year.
Dow Jones VentureSource said corporate acquirers spent $7.3 billion snapping up 86 companies in the fourth quarter. That’s a 49 percent increase over the same quarter a year ago.
Also during the quarter, three initial public offerings were made and raised $220 million.
Venture-backed companies generated $17.1 billion in liquidity in 2009, 34 percent less than the previous year. Forty-four percent of the year’s total liquidity was generated in the fourth quarter.
The quarter “has set the stage for an active year” for mergers and acquisitions in 2010, VentureSource said.
For the first time since 2000, the median price paid for venture-backed firms was more than $100 million.
