The 10 Biggest Tech M&A Deals Of 2022 (So Far)

Let’s Make A Deal

The economic uncertainty of 2022 doesn’t appear to have slowed merger and acquisition activity within the IT industry. Through the first eight months of the year IT vendors, solution providers and private equity firms have continued to negotiate acquisition and merger deals with price tags in the hundreds of millions, billions, and even tens of billions of dollars.

Acquisition activity may have even ticked up in the first half of 2022 with the stock markets’ overall decline and plunging stock prices—and reduced company valuations—generating some bargains.

Blockbuster acquisitions have the potential to remake segments of the IT industry. The combination of two or more companies can create a newly dominant powerhouse in, say, semiconductors, IT management tools for MSPs, or products for hybrid work situations.

Acquiring companies can gain an infusion of technology that creates a competitive edge or provides an entry into a new vertical market. An acquisition can also give an IT vendor additional manufacturing capacity or help a solution provider establish a foothold in new geographies.

Even mergers and acquisitions that don’t happen can be big news in the IT industry. Cisco Systems, for example, reportedly made a $20 billion bid in early 2022 to buy machine data platform provider Splunk. One of this year’s biggest news stories in the semiconductor industry was Nvidia’s decision to drop its $40 billion deal to acquire Arm in the face of regulatory opposition.

Here’s a look at the IT industry’s biggest acquisition, merger and spinoff deals in 2022 (so far). Some deals were announced last year (or, in one case, even earlier) and completed this year. Others have been announced but are still working their way through regulatory and/or shareholder approvals before they can be wrapped up—some possibly not until 2023.

While dollar value is a factor in this ranking, some mergers and acquisitions have a greater impact on the IT industry in general, and the channel in particular, and that figures into the list.