Drake Star

🌟 What’s Next for IPOs and Exits 🌟 Drake Star’s CEO, Gregory Bedrosian, recently joined Grit Capital Partners’ exclusive annual PrivTech gathering in New York City where CEOs, founders, and senior leaders from venture capital, private equity, and investment banking convened to discuss key trends shaping private markets and the outlook for 2025. During the panel discussion, "The State of the Late Stage," Greg and other industry experts explored several pivotal themes, including: 🔹 Tech M&A on the Rise: Economic, regulatory, and market trends point to increased activity and a gradual reopening of the IPO pipeline. 🔹 The "Barbell Effect": High-growth, profitable tech companies (meeting the "Rule of 40") are commanding stronger valuations and driving more robust transaction processes. 🔹 Private Equity's Resurgence: Private equity buyers and PE-backed platform companies are poised to become a major force in Tech M&A in the coming year. A big thank you to Paul Palmieri, Managing Partner at Grit Capital Partners, and our industry peers for sparking such lively and thought-provoking discussions. Here’s to an exciting close to 2024 and hopefully a huge 2025 for the tech investment and M&A landscape! #InvestmentBanking #Tech #MergersAndAcquisitions #PrivateEquity

📣 We’re excited to have Sam Levy, Partner at Drake Star, present at The IT Nation Grow conference December 11 & 12 at ConnectWise’s Tampa, Florida Headquarters! Sam will participate in a series of panel discussions to share insights with the #MSP community on transaction preparation, deal process, value optimization and much more. Looking forward to seeing you there! #MergersAndAcquisitions

GamesMarkt breaks down the Drake Star Q3 Global Gaming Report and gets insights from Michael Metzger on the continued surge in gaming M&A activity, the market outlook, the funding environment, and other key questions. Highlights include: 🔵 Gaming M&A activity rose for the 4th consecutive quarter, with a 70% increase in the number of deals vs. Q3 last year 🔵 PE firms acting as major consolidators and growing confidence among acquirers 🔵 Market outlook including an expectation of continued increase in M&A activity driven by falling interest rates and a broader recovery in the public gaming market Michael notes in the article: "The rise in M&A activity indicates growing confidence among acquirers. During tough times, large public companies tend to focus inward and pay less attention to inorganic growth. This year, the two largest deals involved acquisitions by private equity firms at attractive valuations, showcasing their confidence and positive outlook for the gaming sector in the medium term.” 👇 Read the full article at the link below. #Gaming #Investment #MergersAndAcquisitions #MarketInsights #GamingIndustry 

📣 #MSP M&A activity remains strong in Q3 2024; 2x more deals than Q3 2023 driven by IT outsourcing and rapid deployment of new technology Download Drake Star’s latest MSP Market Report to see the continued strong M&A and private placement activity driven by IT services outsourcing, operating cost efficiencies, and the rapid deployment of new technology. The report provides a deep dive into M&A activity for Q3, key industry trends, expected market growth, the most active strategic buyers and private equity investments in the space. Some of our key takeaways include: 🔵 The global managed service market is expected to reach $552 billion by 2032, with IT complexity, cost efficiency, and cybersecurity challenges driving robust demand. 🔵 Q3 2024 saw 77 transactions, more than 2x the number of deals in Q3 2023. 🔵 Strategic buyers remain a driving force with 6 of the top 10 players investing in at least three MSPs. Download the full report PDF to access all of the data and insights here: https://lnkd.in/dqaCWpk4 Drake Star MSP team: Ralf Philipp Hofmann, Christophe Morvan, Sam Levy, Gaby Silvestris #ManagedServiceProvider #ITServices #DigitalServices #MergersAndAcquisitions 

🗞️📣 Digital Services M&A sees uptick Irien Joseph picked up Drake Star’s most recent Digital Services Industry update for PE Hub, covering some of the report’s key findings, including: ▶️ Rising deal activity in Digital Services M&A in Q3 2024, with over 350 deals totaling more than $7.7 Billion in disclosed deal value ▶️ Expected continued M&A consolidation, with private equity firms holding ample dry powder and driving investments though bolt-on deals ▶️ In Q4, dealmakers will have to navigate changing market dynamics and political conditions ▶️ H2 2024 began with consistent deal momentum in the sector, driven by factors such as increased stability in interest rates and pent-up market demand for dealmaking ▶️ AI has created new opportunities in the sector, with enterprises relying on service providers to leverage AI capabilities and strengthen their tech stacks For more information and insights from our report, head over to our website or PE Hub. Both links are in the comments. 

PE Hub covers the surge in #Gaming M&A and highlights from the Drake Star Q3 Global Gaming report including: 🔵 $2.5 billion in deal value & over $1 billion in private financings 🔵 +70% growth in the number of M&A deals in Q3 2024 vs. Q3 2023 🔵 EQT Group’s $2.7 billion take-private of Keywords Studios 🔵 #Blockchain gaming accounting for ~32% of all investments 🔵 M&A activity expected to continue to strengthen on falling interest rates and a gradual recovery in the public gaming market 👇🏻 Read the full article via the link in the comments.

📣 Our latest Global #HRTech Report is out and activity in the sector was strong in 2024 to date with Billions of dollars invested across over 800+ transactions. AI adoption is rising fast and is one of several key trends driving growth. Report highlights include: ▶️ 800+ HR Tech transactions and $7.2 Billion invested equity (disclosed values) in 2024 YTD. ▶️ 40 M&A transactions in Q3 2024 in the sector, 37% of which happened in Europe. 179 private placements in the same period with 26% European share. ▶️ #AI to support #HR-related activities is quickly gaining momentum. 25% of companies have already implemented AI to support HR-related activities; 75% of companies have not yet done so which indicates huge potential for providers in this field. ▶️ Top AI use cases include recruiting, interviewing, handling administrative and recruitment-based tasks, personalized training and development programs, and performance management. ▶️ The top 5 PE-backed consolidators were VISMA, access, IRIS, UKG and radancy. ▶️ The top 5 public consolidators were dayforce, workday, ADP, Paycor and paylocity. Reach out to our HR Tech experts, Ralf Philipp Hofmann, Jim Holzer, Christophe Morvan, Gaby Silvestris, Pablo I. Lundershausen and Christopher von Eickstedt if you have questions or want to discuss opportunities for your company. Follow the link in the comments to download the full report. #TalentManagement #MergersAndAcquisitions #InvestmentBanking

VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi covers the latest Drake Star Global Gaming report, the 4th straight quarter of positive M&A momentum, the continued recovery of publicly traded Gaming companies, and the initial public offering (IPO) of Tencent-backed Shift Up which surged almost 50% on its trading debut. Michael Metzger, Managing Partner at Drake Star shared his views on the current state of the market: “We are thrilled to announce that M&A activities have continued to gain momentum for the fourth consecutive quarter. It’s also encouraging to see a rebound in the valuations of the top 30 listed gaming companies. This ongoing recovery in valuations is likely to further stimulate M&A activity in the future.” Read the article for M&A activity and key statics,  performance of the Drake Star Global Gaming Index, and a prediction that M&A activity will continue to strengthen for the balance of 2024 and into 2025. #Gaming #MixedReality #MergersAndAcquisitions

Digital Services Industry Q3’24: Record Private Equity “Dry Powder” and AI wave fuels opportunities — 350+ M&A deals totaling over $7.7 Billion Our global Digital Services team, led by Ralf Philipp Hofmann, Christophe Morvan, Gaby Silvestris and Sam Levy, analyzed the sector for the 13th edition of our quarterly Digital Services Industry Update. It provides insights on important news and events, M&A activity, and insights into the present and future trends impacting major areas of investment within the industry.   H2 2024 started off strong, with consistent deal momentum in Digital Services underpinned by increased certainty around interest rates, a record amount of Private Equity dry powder and the market’s pent-up demand for deal making. The generative AI wave has opened opportunities for the sector, as enterprises turn to service providers to help harness the power of AI and seek to enhance their tech stacks via inorganic growth. Overall Digital Services M&A activity in Q3 increased, totaling 350+ & $7.7bn+ disclosed M&A deals, with consistent fundraising transactions at 470+ & $7.1bn+ disclosed fundraises, including key deals our Drake Star team advised on: ▶️ Cherry Bekaert, a portfolio company of Parthenon Capital, acquired Kerr Consulting for an undisclosed amount and ▶️ Maxburg Capital invested an undisclosed amount in slashwhy Despite dealmakers having to adapt to dynamic market and political conditions in Q4 2024, our experts expect further M&A consolidation and Private Equity’s continuous investment in bolt-on acquisitions and its abundance of dry powder to drive more investments in the space. Download the report below for more detailed insights, including selected highlight M&A deals from the quarter and the past twelve months, fundraisings and our Digital Services Index which shows an excellent performance against a stagnant NASDAQ. For more insights and head over to our website to download the full report: https://lnkd.in/dYmJHMny #DigitalServices #MergersAndAcquisitions #InvestmentBanking

SportsPro’s Joshua Sim covers the latest Drake Star Global Sports Tech Report, the tripling in value of #SportsTech M&A deals in 1st half 2024 vs. 2nd half 2023, and the over $34 Billion in deal value over the period. Read the article for key deals & stats, the most active Sports Tech market segments, and an outlook of what’s ahead. #InvestmentBanking #MergersAndAcquisitions