●哪些芯片公司透過(guò)并購(gòu)(M&A)策略來(lái)取得軟件IP？
●芯片公司喜歡收購(gòu)哪一類型的公司？
●收購(gòu)一家公司能取得多大的價(jià)值？
●預(yù)期未來(lái)可能被看好的收購(gòu)目標(biāo)？
芯片制造商經(jīng)常由于各種原因收購(gòu)軟件公司。一般來(lái)說(shuō)，主要是由于這些軟件公司提供了一種軟件開(kāi)發(fā)工具、中介韌體，或者是能與特定處理器的軟件開(kāi)發(fā)工具套件搭售的媒體編譯碼器。透過(guò)收購(gòu)，有時(shí)還能使一家發(fā)展緩慢的半導(dǎo)體公司迅速取得一項(xiàng)技術(shù)，加入新市場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。大型且獲利豐厚的軟件公司還經(jīng)常因?yàn)樨?cái)務(wù)的目的而被 鎖定成為收購(gòu)目標(biāo)，特別是確定一經(jīng)收購(gòu)就能迅速獲利的軟件公司。
被收購(gòu)的公司有時(shí)能夠深入地整合于買方公司的產(chǎn)品線。例如，Maxim Integrated Products公司在2010年收購(gòu)Trinity Convergence，以及德州儀器公司(TI)在1999年買下Telogy Networks的例子。大規(guī)模的收購(gòu)行動(dòng)可能更具有策略意義，賣方可能會(huì)讓收購(gòu)來(lái)的公司以一個(gè)獨(dú)立的營(yíng)運(yùn)部門持續(xù)運(yùn)作。最有明的例子就是英特爾公司 (Intel Corp.)在2010年以80億美元收購(gòu)McAfee公司，以及2010以9億美元收購(gòu)Wind River公司；Cavium Networks以5,400萬(wàn)美元收購(gòu)MontaVista公司。此外，軟件公司被收購(gòu)的的原因大多也由于具有技術(shù)專利組合。如英特爾公司在今年以 1.2億美元收購(gòu)RealNetworks，取得其專利組合與編譯碼器技術(shù)。
接下來(lái)，我們透過(guò)四個(gè)與并購(gòu)有關(guān)的問(wèn)題，更深入地剖析這些收購(gòu)活動(dòng)及其意義：
一、哪些芯片廠商喜歡收購(gòu)軟件公司？
很明顯地，許多芯片公司都很貪得無(wú)厭。例如，過(guò)去五年來(lái)，英特爾已經(jīng)收購(gòu)了48家公司，博通公司(Broadcom)收購(gòu)了16家公司。根據(jù)Capital IQ的統(tǒng)計(jì)，在過(guò)去兩年來(lái)，已有38家軟件公司被并購(gòu)。其中，最積極收購(gòu)軟件公司的芯片公司就是英特爾、ARM、Imagination Technologies以及AuthenTec；英特爾在過(guò)去兩年來(lái)共進(jìn)行了8次收購(gòu)交易，AuthenTec 則有兩項(xiàng)交易。
二、收購(gòu)一家公司能取得什幺價(jià)值？
除去一些外在因素后，我們觀察過(guò)去兩年來(lái)的所有收購(gòu)交易后整理出以下一些指針：
·平均交易規(guī)模：4,900萬(wàn)美元
·平均企業(yè)價(jià)值/收益加乘：5.2倍
·平均企業(yè)價(jià)值/EBITDA加乘：20倍
雖然每一家公司的實(shí)際價(jià)值可能有所不同，但這些平均指針也為我們提供了一些有用的參考資料。
三、哪些熱門技術(shù)容易被收購(gòu)？
過(guò)去兩年來(lái)，我們看到在用戶接口(UI)與多媒體技術(shù)方面的收購(gòu)交易數(shù)量明顯增加，接著是安全性。顯然，目前的兩項(xiàng)重要趨勢(shì)就是吸引人的用戶接口以及多媒體──這正是足以帶動(dòng)各種消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)品銷售所需必備 的關(guān)鍵，而安全性則在行動(dòng)連接領(lǐng)域中也變得越來(lái)越受重視。UI與多媒體領(lǐng)域的收購(gòu)范圍包括從3D繪圖與行動(dòng)用戶接口到視頻、VoIP與影像處理套件等；而 有關(guān)安全軟件方面的收購(gòu)交易則包括英特爾以80億美元收購(gòu)企業(yè)軟件廠商McAfee，以及一些像PeerSec Networks等較小規(guī)模的收購(gòu)交易。
四、預(yù)期未來(lái)可能出現(xiàn)的收購(gòu)交易？
我的工作職責(zé)有一部分就是密切關(guān)注芯片公司高層主管在考慮收購(gòu)時(shí)所感興趣的趨勢(shì)。我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們一般都關(guān)注于幾個(gè)共同的議題。芯片公司積極尋找的通常是一款可擴(kuò)展的軟件解決方案，這使其能夠很容易地整合于公司的現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)品線，并有助于利用更廣泛的銷售團(tuán)隊(duì)。安全性的議題也越來(lái)越重要，特別是在移動(dòng)電子產(chǎn)品方面。
此外，由于用戶要求更具圖形化的美感與直觀體驗(yàn)，“iPhone效應(yīng)”將會(huì)持續(xù)影響電子產(chǎn)業(yè)。同時(shí)，這一趨勢(shì)還將針對(duì)手機(jī)、STB、汽車以及其它各種消費(fèi)電子設(shè)備，帶來(lái)更多采用UI架構(gòu)、3D成像與視頻最佳化的要求。
以下我們整理出在過(guò)去兩年來(lái)一些具有代表性的收購(gòu)交易及相關(guān)技術(shù)領(lǐng)域。
Source：McLean Group
Why Chipmakers Are Buying Software Firms
Brent Lorenz, VP, McLean Group
The owners of embedded software companies have long considered an acquisition by a semiconductor partner a logical exit strategy. We took a look at semiconductor acquisitions over the past two years with the aim of better understanding the dynamics of the market, and we came up with four critical questions:
· Which chip companies are using M&A to acquire software IP?
· What kinds of companies have they acquired?
· What kinds of valuations are being paid?
· What kinds of acquisitions do we expect to see in the future?
Chipmakers have routinely bought software firms for a variety of reasons. Frequently, the target offers a software development tool, middleware, or media codec that can be bundled with a particular processor's software development kit. Acquisitions also enable a slower-moving semiconductor company to compete in a new market quickly by obtaining technology. Large and highly profitable software companies are also frequently targeted for financial purposes, especially if a purchase would be accretive to earnings.
Sometimes the acquired company is deeply integrated into the buyer's product line. That was the case when Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (Nasdaq: MXIM) acquired Trinity Convergence in 2010 and when Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) bought Telogy Networks back in 1999. Large acquisitions may be more strategic in nature, and the seller may continue to operate as a separate operating division. Notable examples include the 2010 acquisition of McAfee for $8 billion and the 2009 purchase of Wind River for $900 million by Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), as well as the 2009 purchase of MontaVista for $54 million by Cavium Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: CAVM). A software company may also be acquired mostly for its patent portfolio. A good example is Intel's purchase this year of patents and codecs from RealNetworks for $120 million. Here's a deeper dissection of the activities involved.
1. Which chip companies are buying software companies? Clearly, many chip companies are very acquisitive. Over the past five years, for example, Intel has acquired 48 companies, and Broadcom has acquired 16. According to Capital IQ, there have been 38 software acquisitions over the past two years. The most active chip buyers of software companies were Intel (with eight deals) and ARM, Imagination Technologies, and AuthenTec (with two each).
2. What valuations are being paid? After removing some of the outliers, we arrived at a few metrics for deals made over the past two years.
o Average deal size: $49 million
o Average enterprise value/revenue multiple: 5.2 times
o Average enterprise value/EBITDA multiple: 20 times
The valuation of your company may vary substantially from these metrics, but they offer some data points. If you want a more specific idea of what your company may be worth, contact a licensed M&A adviser, such as the McLean Group.
3. What kinds of technologies are being acquired? Over the past two years, we saw a significant number of deals in user interface (UI) and multimedia, followed by security. Clearly, there have been two key trends: Compelling user interfaces and multimedia are needed to drive sales of consumer electronics of all kinds, and security is becoming more and more of a concern in the mobile connected world. UI and multimedia deals ranged from 3D graphics and mobile user interfaces to video, VoIP, and image processing suites. Security software deals included Intel's $8 billion deal for the enterprise security software company McAfee and smaller deals for firms like PeerSec Networks.
4. What do we expect to see in the future? Part of my job is to stay current with the interests of chip company executives as they consider acquisitions. There are a few common themes. Chip companies are looking for scalable software solutions that can be easily integrated into a product line and can leverage the broader sales team. Security is increasingly important, especially for mobile electronics.
Finally, the "iPhone effect" continues to impact electronics as users demand experiences that are graphically pleasing and intuitive. This continues to create demand for UI frameworks, 3D imaging, and video optimization in devices ranging from mobile phones to STB, TV, automotive, and other consumer devices.
The following is a representative sample of the transactions in the last two years.
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