THERE PROBABLY HAS never been a better time than 2021 to sell or recapitalize an industrial technology company, yet this window of opportunity is rapidly closing. Four factors are driving this trend. 1. An immense amount of capital in the market that needs to be put to use: Because the mergers-and-acquisitions market slowed considerably during the pandemic, private equity groups are sitting on a mountain of cash they need to deploy. Strategic buyers - that is, competing or complementary businesses - are also well-capitalized and are looking for wellpositioned tech companies to fill in gaps in their portfolios. As a result, there is a lot more money than there are deals to invest it in, so business valuations are at record levels, especially for strong industrial technology companies in areas such as automation, sensors and instrumentation, advanced analytics and middleware-software that connects devices and sensors in the manufacturing process.
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