Corporate venturing investments slowed in March by number and value as exits were boosted by three initial
public offerings (IPOs).
The slowdown in deal activity came as nerves appeared to creep back into wider market trading, as eurozone country Cyprus negotiated a bailout that involved haircuts for bank depositors. The jitters came
even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to set record highs, suggesting many in the wider
market were betting the resurfacing eurozone difficulties would be consequential.
During the month, Global Corporate Venturing tracked 62 investments worth $833.4m, compared with 80 investments worth $1.8bn in February and 75 investments worth $1.7bn in March last year.
There were six exits and three IPOs during March worth $898.4m, compared with seven exits and IPO in February
worth $364m and 75 exits worth $1.7bn in March last year.
The largest exit was the $380m sale of Tensilica, backed by corporates including Japan technology companies Fujitsu and NTT. Corporate-backed IPOs involved Marin Software, Silver Spring Networks and Enanta Pharmaceuticals.
The largest investment of the month was the $150m raised by Australia-listed regenerative medicine company,
Mesoblast, from unnamed “existing strategic investors”.
The second-largest deal was the $60m D round raised by PTC Therapeutics, from a consortium including healthcare companies Celgene and Novo.
The third-largest deal was South Africa-based media group Naspers’ $50m investment in Russia-based operator of online classified advertising Avito, as part of the group being merged with Slando and Naspers-owned OLX,
valuing the combined company at $570m.
The most active sector was consumer, with 17 investments, followed by health with 15, and services with 12.
Just 10 information technology deals meant that sector was less active than usual.
A rounds were the most common type of deal, at 15 (24%), followed by B rounds with 14 (21%), and stake purchases with 12 (19%). As there were also six seed rounds, more than half the activity involved early-stage, suggesting either an increased risk appetite or an unwillingness to deploy large sums.
The US took more than two-thirds of activity, with 42 deals. The second most active region was the UK with 10
deals (10%). Russia had three, while Germany and Switzerland had two each.