The first month of 2013 featured some eye-catching deals, as stock market valuations boomed during the month, even as wider dealflow failed to stand out.SurveyMonkey, a US-based provider of online questionnaires, sealed the largest deal of the month, with early investors selling $444m at a valuation of $1.35bn to a consortium including search engine provider Google.
In addition it was reported that social messaging service Twitter was brokering a deal with mutual fund manager BlackRock to buy up to $80m of
shares from its employees at a $9bn valuation. And Nest Labs, a US-based maker of thermostats, raised $80m from a consortium led by Google Ventures at an $800m valuation, according to news provider GigaOm.
The start of the year also saw an ambitious $24.4bn take-private attempt by Michael Dell, private equity firm Silver Lake and technology company Microsoft of USbased computer maker Dell, in the largest attempted private equity buyout of a company globally since the financial crisis began. The accepted bid was announced as we went to press, opening a fresh chapter for one of the biggest new entrants in corporate venturing – Dell Corporate
Ventures was founded in December 2011.
Last month there were 68 investments worth $1.2bn, compared with 97 investments worth $1.9bn in January last year and 61 worth $996m in December.
The full statistics and tables can be read on page 41 of our February magazine and the deal tables can be seen here.