CIOInsider India Magazine

Although buyers should always resist the urge to engage in empire-building, larger companies typically have benefits that smaller companies do not. The economies of scope that are brought about by mergers and acquisitions are often not achievable through organic growth. Increased market share is one of the more prevalent reasons for M&A. The top 10 mergers and acquisitions in 2023 are shown below.

Acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a producer of rocket engines and propulsion systems for spacecraft, ballistic missiles, and military tactical weapons, was acquired by L3Harris, a multinational defense and aerospace company. This transaction combines two significant elements of connected, but distinct, industries horizontally as opposed to vertically. This transaction is anticipated to result in operational cost savings totaling around $50 million. The recent acquisition of Viasat's tactical data links business by L3 Harris is another indication of the company's growth and of the route they intend to go. The FTC and the DoD are still examining this agreement, though.

Acquisition of Toshiba Corporation
A conglomerate made up of Japan Industrial Partners, Suzuki Motor Corp., and ROHM Co. has been in contact with banks and other lenders regarding the purchase of Toshiba Corporation. Toshiba Corporation, which provides a wide range of services, including nuclear power, defense technology, and microchip manufacture, has recently had financial difficulties. Japanese Industrial Partners would profit since it would be in direct rivalry with other Japanese corporations; Toshiba would benefit by maintaining the business and the resources it offers. With a mix of bank loans and shares, Japan Industrial Partners and co. intend to buy and rebuild Toshiba.

Broadcom's Acquisition of VMware
Broadcom purchased VMware, a pioneer in corporate software specializing in multi-cloud services for apps and virtualization technology. Broadcom is a global technology company known for creating, developing, and supplying semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. As part of this cash and equity deal, Broadcom also took on $8 billion of VMware's net debt. In early 2023, when the transaction is finalized, Broadcom will change its name to VMware and begin operating under that name. VMware will then include Broadcom's infrastructure and security software solutions as part of an expanded VMware offering. Offering a wider range of essential infrastructure solutions will improve value by fostering innovation and addressing challenging technology challenges. Customers will have more options and freedom when creating, running, managing, connecting, and protecting apps.

Acquisition of Era Software
Era Software, a pioneer in observability and log management, was bought by ServiceNow, a firm that specializes in digital workflow. Era Software will contribute value by assisting with the delivery of customers' unified observability solutions, which will enable customers to gain valuable business-wide insights from a single solution. In essence, the acquisition of Era Software will benefit clients by enhancing the functionality of tools created on the platform. Era's capabilities will be combined with Lightstep's, which ServiceNow bought in May 2021 and which serves as the foundation of its primary observability platform. Era is one of several recent acquisitions that contribute to ServiceNow's pursuit of a vision of unified telemetry that encompasses logs, metrics, and traces.

Oracle's Acquisition of Cerner
Oracle has a deal of $95 per share in cash to acquire Cerner Group, a manufacturer of medical software valued at $28.3 billion. Oracle will profit from this acquisition since including a healthcare component boosts Oracle's earnings significantly. The largest and fastest-growing vertical market in the world is healthcare, according to Oracle's CEO. By making hands-free voice technology the main interface to Cerner's clinical systems, Oracle will strive to change the user interface for those systems. Shares of Oracle have climbed by 20 percent since the acquisition's conclusion.

Acquisition of Nutrabolt
Leading beverage manufacturer Keurig recently purchased Nutrabolt, a rapidly expanding health and wellness firm that makes the C4 Energy, C4 Pre-Workout, and Xtend brands. By acquiring C4 Energy and entering into this sales and distribution agreement, Keurig will sell and distribute C4 Energy in the majority of its company-owned direct store distribution regions, expanding the brand's retail availability and consumer awareness while also boosting Keurig's financial results. Although Nutrabolt will continue to distribute C4 Energy directly to specialty, health club, and fitness channels, this won't be a full purchase. Keurig will get exposure to the energy drink sector, while Nutrabolt will receive access to a strategic investor with the sales and distribution capabilities to further drive growth, adding value to both businesses.

RegScale's Acquisition of GovReady
GovReady, a platform for compliance-as-code, was purchased by RegScale, a maker of governance, risk, and compliance software. In order to dynamically manage the security control state and move compliance left to produce audit-ready documentation on demand in a real-time Governance, Risk, and Compliance platform, RegScale uses an API-centric software platform that integrates with existing security and compliance platforms. GovReady offers web-based self-service compliance experiences that map system elements, organizational processes, and security controls to self-service cyber assessments for quicker, more agile compliance. The NIST Open Security Controls Assessment Language (OSCAL), which is used to define control catalogs and system security plans in machine-readable format, was adopted by the two businesses. This acquisition strengthens RegScale's resolve to transform compliance from a one-off event into a continuous, almost real-time experience.

Johnson & Johnson Acquires Abiomed Inc.
The industry pioneer in heart, lung, and kidney support technology, Abiomed, was purchased by Johnson & Johnson, the largest healthcare firm in the world. Abiomed's trading price at the time of the deal announcement was $320 per share, which represented a 50 percent discount on this share purchase. Abiomed will operate independently under J&J's MedTech division and profit from the market that J&J has to offer, as well as its financial standing. Through this agreement, Johnson & Johnson will be able to expand its cardiovascular business and concentrate on finding treatments for heart failure and recovery.

Conglomerate Japan Industrial Partners, Suzuki Motor Corp., and ROHM Co. have been negotiating with banks and other financial institutions about buying Toshiba Corporation. A business with a broad range of products, including nuclear energy, defense technologies, and microchip production, Toshiba has recently had financial difficulties.

Thoma Bravo's Acquisition of Coupa Software
Coupa Software, a market leader in business spend management, was bought by Thoma Bravo, a renowned software investment group, in an all-cash deal for $81 per share, or 77 percent more than the current price. The acquisition will help Coupa Software, a market-leading platform in their sector, by modernizing the CFO office digitally.

Amgen's Acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics
Amgen is a biopharmaceutical business dedicated to discovering, developing, and producing pharmaceutical goods. Horizon Therapeutics specializes in finding cures for uncommon autoimmune diseases, including thyroid eye disease, gout, and various inflammatory conditions. Tepazza, a medication for treating eye bulging and double vision, is its most popular drug. At a 48 percent premium to Horizon Therapeutics' stock prices, Amgen paid $116.50 per share to purchase the company.