$US15 billion and counting as Internet of Things related acquisitions continue to rise

Mergers and acquisitions related to the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to shatter records.

According to 451 Research, buyers so far this year have spent $US14.8 billion to purchase 39 IoT-related companies, surpassing the $14.3 billion spent for 62 such companies in all of 2014, which itself was a record-breaking year.

Semiconductor-related acquisitions have driven the bulk of spending so far in 2015 with ARM, Intel and NXP each announcing two or more deals largely driven by IoT-related position taking.

The largest deal of the period, NXP’s $11.8 billion acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor, was positioned as a consolidation of leaders that will focus its scale and reach on key IoT growth markets led by connected cars.

Other acquirers announcing acquisitions in 2015 included Amazon, ARM, Brocade, PTC, Silver Spring Networks and British Gas. The IoT M&A data comes from 451 Research’s M&A KnowledgeBase, a database of more than 41,000 technology merger and acquisition transactions across 650 industry segments.

“While the Internet of Things is still in its infancy in terms of industry adoption, the deal-making accelerates unabated, and we see no end in sight,” says Brian Partridge, Vice President of Mobility, 451 Research.

“The IT service and infrastructure leaders of the future will require broad and deep competencies in IoT, and those bets are being made now.

“The 2015 numbers left little time to even question our prediction that market forces would accelerate deal activity beyond 2014.”

Partridge says this year’s increase in spending comes on the heels of spectacular growth last year.

For the full year 2014, IoT M&A spending increased fortyfold from 2013’s levels to $14.3 billion – almost eight times the total spent by acquirers in 2012 and 2013 combined.