Report: VC-backed liquidity drops to $8.2B in Q1, lowest since 2005 - Baltimore Business Journal:

vanbeekdulejos1771.blogspot.com
billion, the lowest quarterly total sincd the fourth quarterof 2005, according to the a reporrt Wednesday by . The largest deal of the firsrt quarter wasRound Rock, Texas-based Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DELL) $1.4 billion acquisition of Nashua, N.H.-based data-storage company Inc. The secondf largest deal of the first quartef wasSanta Clara, Calif.-based Inc.'s (NASDAQ:JAVA) $1 billion purchase of open-source database company Inc. of Cupertino, The report shows that the first quarter saw just80 M&wA transactions completed, accounting for roughly $7.8 billionh in liquidity, a far cry from the $10.2 billion generated via 105 M&As in the firsf three months of 2007. Only six U.S.
venture-backee companies went public in thefirsty quarter, raising just $392 million -- a 67 percengt decline from the $1.2 billion raised via 13 IPOs in the firsrt quarter last year. Information technology companies accounted for the bulk of the capitall raisedvia M&A, with 59 transactionsw generating more than $6.1 billion in a 5 percent dip for the segment from the $6.4 billion raisef in 79 M&A transactions during the first quartef of 2007. By sector, software companies accounted for the bulk of IT deal flow with29 M&A transactions completed, garnering nearly $2.3 billion.
The report said 14 venture-backer health care companies completed M&As in the firsf quarter and raisedover $1.1 a nearly 42 percent drop-ofcf from the $1.9 billion raised in three fewee M&As for the segment during the first three months of 2007. The median amounf of venture capital raised priorto M&As rose to $24.88 million and the median number of years between initiall equity funding and liquidity now stands at a record sevej years.
Four of the six venture-backed IPOs in the first quarterd were for health care which raised adisappointing $164 milliom collectively, according to the The median amount raised at IPO in the first quarter of 2008 was $53 down 34 percent from the $80 million median in the firsf quarter last year. The median amount of ventures capital raised prior to IPO actually tickede down slightlyto $56 million while the medianm time to IPO stretched to nearly 8.
3