After the tech wreck

Abstract

M&A deals are still getting done after last year's meltdown, but they are typically smaller and more profit-focused. One indicator of the industry's decline is the value of deals included on Electronic Business magazine's annual list of the Top 50 Electronic Mergers and Acquisitions. The year's list totaled just under $86 billion worth of deals, a 70% decline from the previous year. The good news is that most executives and investment bankers expect high-tech M&A activity to rebound during the coming year as the industry starts to recover from last year's brutal market downturn and has more time to digest the huge volume of extravagantly priced deals made during 1999 and 2000.