
About 460 companies were bought for $46.4 billion last year, down 13% from 2010, but the deals were valued 30% higher, compared with the $35.6 billion spent in 2010, according to a Dow Jones VentureSource report.
The median price vaulted 77% to $71 million in 2011. Funding rounds were down 12%, to an average of $17 million raised before exit, reflecting lower start-up costs.
"Acquisitions of companies liquidating their assets were halved in 2011 and companies are benefiting from lower start-up costs by taking capital farther toward a larger acquisition," noted Jessica Canning, global research director for VentureSource, in prepared remarks.
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Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) $800 million purchase of Ardian and Shire’s (NSDQ:SHPGY) $750 million acquisition of Advanced BioHealing made the list of the year’s biggest deals, according to VentureSource.
As for initial public offerings, the median amount raised rose 17% to $85 million last year and the median time it took to reach an IPO fell to 6.5 years from 8.1 years. There was 1 more IPO in 2011 than in 2010, but the total amount investors pumped into the 45 newly public companies reached $5.4 billion – a 63% increase over 2010. That’s largely due to a pair of blockbuster IPOs by Groupon (NSDQ:GRPN) and Zynga (NSDQ:ZNGA), which together pulled in $1.7 billion.
Covidien closes Barrx buyout
Covidien (NYSE:COV) closed its $325 million acquisition of Barrx Medical, which makes minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation systems that target precancerous tissue in the esophagus. Read more
Henry Schein (NSDQ:HSIC) acquired all of Oak Hill Capital Partners’ remaining stake in Butler Schein Animal Health for $155 million in cash, giving it a 71.5% share in Butler. Read more
A trio of HIT firms – Mediware Information Systems (NSDQ:MEDW), Cumberland Consulting Group and TriZetto – inked buyout deals, according to HISTalk.com. Read more
Aetna (NYSE:AET) acquired Healthagen, the maker of mobile app iTriage, which provides information about medical issues and finds nearby health care providers. Read more
QuadraMed Corp. closed a definitive agreement with NCR Corp. (NYSE:NCR) to acquire NCR healthcare solutions. Read more