Datacenter TechnologyH1 2019 update
1Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Where does it end?
▪ Public cloud revenue is forecast to reach $331bn in
2022 from $214bn in 2019 at a 16% CAGR
▪ Revenue and application development of the major
cloud players continues to grow at a prolific rate
▪ The future will tell whether continuing trends in
hybrid cloud, edge computing and bold moves by
major competitors will slow the advance
Digital transformation 2.0
▪ Digital transformation is now moving beyond cloud
native applications and into mission critical
workloads
▪ To date only 20% of enterprise workloads have
moved to the cloud(1). The remaining 80% represents
the battlefront for cloud service providers over the
coming years
▪ Bold moves - IBM’s $34bn acquisition of Red Hat is a
clear statement of intent from IBM as it makes a
major bid to be the number one for hybrid cloud in
the enterprise
Market trends from an M&A perspective
Datacenter Technology – Market Insight
Acquired by
Global Semiconductor
Company
Acquired by
Philip MillerVice President+44 7903 170 [email protected]
-- The Public Cloud
Mission critical
The Edge is here
Compute has moved to the Edge
▪ The demand for edge compute is emerging
▪ 5G technology and IoT devices are forming a new
datacentre structure and driving a decentralized
compute model
▪ Data gathered at the Edge of networks is now
processed there to minimise latency and maximise
processing speed
More performance
▪ The proliferation of data is driving emerging trends
across datacenter technology, such as SmartNICs
and smart storage
▪ Video, gaming, ML and AI are driving change in
existing datacenter technology. These advancements
require acceleration in both hardware and software –
leading to a buoyant M&A and investment market
for technologies in these areas
▪ Intel’s acquisition of Barefoot Networks, Xilinx’s
acquisition of Solarflare and a global semiconductor
player’s acquisition of Argon Design are evidence of
the demand for acceleration in the datacenter
Datacenter acceleration1 2
3 4
Acquired by Acquired by
Phil runs Acuity’s datacenter
technology practice and in
recent months has been
involved in transactions
including a global
semiconductor company’s
acquisition of Argon Design.
Phil has an extensive
background in the sector
having worked at Europe’s
leading cloud computing
provider, Interoute, which sold
to GTT Communications for
£2.3bn in 2018
Current mandate:
Current mandate:
Leading software defined datacenter
provider
In process
Datacentersemiconductor IP
provider
In process
(1) IBM’s 2018 Chairman’s letter
2Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
M&A activity
▪ There was just under $6.6bn of
disclosed M&A deal value across 38
transactions in H1 2019 compared
to around $93bn across 86
transactions in full year 2018. The
longer term trend shows a year with
mega deals following a year with
fewer transactions of such scale
▪ Hardware deals are driving M&A in
H1 2019; the standout being
NVIDIA’s intent to acquire Mellanox
for $6.9bn (due to close at the end
of 2019)
▪ In general, it has been a quieter
period for infrastructure and
software defined datacenter players
in 2019 following recent
consolidation
Funding activity
▪ Just under $1.2bn of funding
investment in H1 2019 across 49
rounds compared to $3.7bn in all of
2018 across 124 rounds
▪ Funding activity has been steadily
moving towards larger and later
stage fundraises, especially in China
▪ Underlying data shows that
hardware technology is driving
fundraising in H1 2019 with over
£660m raised, focussed on scale-
out block storage, low latency
storage solutions and software
defined storage solutions
▪ The USA and the UK remain the
centre of gravity for investment
▪ Software defined datacenter players
have raised £378m over 16 rounds
in H1 2019
Funding and M&A activity since 2014
Datacenter Technology
Datacenter fundraising activity: 2014-H1 2019
Source: Tracxn, CapitalIQ, Acuity Intelligence
Datacenter M&A activity: 2014-H1 2019
Deal valu
e (
$b
n)
Source: Tracxn, CapitalIQ, Acuity Intelligence
Deal v
olu
me
Deal v
olu
me
Deal valu
e (
$b
n)
93
187
KEY: Mega deals
$22bn CA
$34bn Red Hat
-
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
Early Stage Mid Stage Late Stage Number of Deals
-
20
40
60
80
100
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1Integrated circuits Infrastructure
Software defined datacentre Hardware defined datacenters
Number of deals
$23bn Alcatel
$38bn Broadcom
$76bn EMC
3Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
CEO and strategic insight on the market
Datacenter Technology
The acquisition will unite NVIDIA’s strength in accelerated computing with Mellanox’s
expertise in high-performance interconnect technology to address the datacenter
market, better serve our customers, and accelerate innovation
- Company statement regarding Mellanox Acquisition by NVIDIA
In the wake of this digital transformation wave, a clear architecture of choice has emerged for
our customers. That architecture is global, highly distributed, hybrid and multicloud
- Charles J. Meyers, CEO Equinix – 2018 Shareholder Letter
We see the Edge as the next frontier, so it is our top strategic priority. The Edge is the world
outside the datacenter. It’s where experiences happen—in stores, in schools, in hotels—
anywhere technology gets put into action. We believe the enterprise of the future will be edge-
centric, cloud-enabled and data-driven
- Patricia F. Russo, HPE’s Chair of the Board – 2019 Proxy Statement
Solarflare has been a pioneer in key areas such as high-speed Ethernet, application
acceleration, and NVMe-over-fabrics, which are the critical components needed to build the
next generation of SmartNICs for cloud and enterprise technologies
- Salil Raje, EVP Data Center Group, Xilinx – Press release on Xilinx’s acquisition of Solarflare
The public cloud players are building the new Mainframe, i.e., gigantic data centers with
large capex investments and multi-year refresh cycles. Data sovereignty (“Laws of the
Land”) and data gravity (“Laws of Physics”) will force clouds to be smaller and dispersed
- Dheeraj Pandey CEO & Chairman of Nutanix – 2018 Annual Report
A new paradigm is emerging—the digital services economy—in which technology becomes the
primary means of meeting the needs of consumers, businesses, and public service organizations.
In this new model, IT evolves from supporting the business to being the business by delivering
everything as a service via the cloud. Powering this new digital services economy is the data
center…
- Commentary from Intel’s New Center of Possibility report
4Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Sector overview and selected industry participants
Datacenter Technology – Market map
Infrastructure
Software Defined Datacenter - enabling cloud services
IaaS and Datacenters
Infrastructure - datacenter services
Hardware - providers in the datacenter
Integrated Circuits – semiconductor and IP in the datacenter
5Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
M&A since 2014
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
Tra
nsa
ctio
n v
alu
e (
$b
n)
To
tal ra
ised
($m
)
Dealvolu
me
M&A and funding insight
Software Defined Datacenter
▪ Hybrid cloud solutions and the next chapter of
digital transformation are driving investment in
the delivery and management of cloud services
as workloads move beyond simple customer
facing systems to mission critical data
▪ Notwithstanding this, H1 2019 has been a quieter
period in aggregate deal values at $355m across
11 deals compared to $10bn across 34 deals in
2018 (normalised for Red Hat and CA Inc). Just
under $400m has been raised in H1 2019
compared to $1.4bn in 2018
▪ Familiar names have been active in H1 2019 with
VMware completing two acquisitions – one being
Swedish based AVI Networks which enables load
balancing across any infrastructure and device,
and the other being BitNami cloud application
management business
▪ We expect deal volumes to return across this
sub-sector in H2 2019 and 2020 as the delivery of
cloud based services and digital transformation
2.0 remain a strategic priority
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
-
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
Early stage Mid stage
Late stage Number of deals
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Investment by: Investment by:
Investment by: Investment by:
M&A:
Fundraising*:
KEY: Mega deals
Deal v
olu
me
66
*Lead investor
$22bn CA
$34bn Red Hat
M&A market trends and key H1 2019 deals
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
M&A activity Number of deals
Fundraising since 2014
6Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
Tra
nsa
ctio
n v
alu
e (
$b
n)
To
tal ra
ised
($m
)
Deal v
olu
me
M&A and funding insight
Infrastructure
Deal v
olu
me
▪ Infrastructure M&A has been marked by significant
consolidation in 2016 and 2017 with major deals
from Equinix and Digital Realty
▪ Edge is the new frontier and in a post consolidated
market we note smaller acquisitions and deal sizes
▪ Vantage’s acquisition of 4degrees and aptium’s
acquisition of digitalcolony demonstrate this trend
that while the deal numbers remain fairly constant,
deal size and global M&A has cooled
▪ We look forward to seeing how emerging trends
in digital transformation and technology play out
in this sector to see how this impacts the location,
size and technology of datacenter infrastructure
providers and investments
M&A:
Fundraising*:
*Lead investor
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
-
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
M&A activity Number of deals
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Investment by: Investment by:
Investment by: Investment by:
& others
& others
& others
M&A market trends and key H1 2019 deals
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
-
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
Early Stage Mid Stage
Late Stage Number of deals
M&A since 2014 Fundraising since 2014
7Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
M&A since 214
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
Tra
nsa
ctio
n v
alu
e (
$b
n)
To
tal ra
ised
($m
)
Deal v
olu
me
M&A and funding insight
Hardware
Deal V
olu
me
▪ Historically hardware in the datacentre has been
dominated by a handful of familiar names
▪ Datacenter workloads no longer fit on one server
but extend across many. And it is this established
development which is driving advancements in
intelligent networking systems and hyper converged
infrastructure players like Barefoot Networks and
Nutanix
▪ H1 2019 saw aggregate deal value of $4bn across 5
deals (excluding the Mellanox sale to Nvidia at
$6.9bn) compared to $6bn and 8 deals in 2018
▪ Fundraising has seen a marked growth curve from
2014 to 2018 as investment increases fuelled by the
demand for more efficient and better performing
hardware to match application development
▪ Focus has historically been on software to
orchestrate workloads but acquisitions by Intel of
Barefoot Networks and Aerohive Networks by
Extreme Networks demonstrate growing interest in
datacenter hardware
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
-
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
Early stage Mid stage
Late stage Number of deals
120
M&A:
Fundraising*:
*Lead investor
$23bn Alcatel-Lucent
$76bn DELL EMC
$7bn Mellanox
KEY: Mega deals
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
-
5
10
15
20
25
30
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
M&A activity Number of deals
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Investment by: Investment by:
Investment by: Investment by:
Not dosclosed
& others
M&A market trends and key H1 2019 deals
M&A since 2014 Fundraising since 2014
8Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
Tra
nsa
ctio
n v
alu
e (
$b
n)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
-
5
10
15
20
25
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
M&A activity Number of deals
To
tal ra
ised
($m
) Deal v
olu
me
M&A and funding insight
Integrated Circuits
Deal v
olu
me
▪ Performance in the datacenter has been fuelled
and defined by Moore’s Law. The dawn of AI and
accelerated computing across GPUs, FPGAs, ASSPs
and ASICs has led a new phase of investment
▪ H1 2019 saw aggregate deal value of $1.4bn
across 8 deals, proceeded an even busier year in
2018 of $19bn deal value and 11 deals
▪ Acquisitions by Xilinx of Solarflare and Avera Semi
by Marvell all continue the theme of acceleration
in the datacenter through ASIC and FPGA
technology
▪ We believe that the datacenter is a new battle
ground for IC developers and designers with large
investments being made by the major players. We
see this trend continuing for years to come
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
-
50
100
150
200
250
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
Early stage Mid stage
Late stage Number of deals
42
M&A:
Fundraising*:
*Lead investor
$38bn Broadcom
KEY: Mega deals
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Acquired by: Acquired by:
Investment by: Investment by:
Investment by: Investment by:
& others& others
Global Semiconductor
Company
M&A market trends and key H1 2019 deals
M&A since 2014 Fundraising since 2014
9Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Implied multiples activity
• XXX
Share price activity
• XX
Share price and EV/EBITDA valuation
Valuation
Source: CapitalIQ
Source: CapitalIQ
EV/EBITDA multiples: 2014-
2019
▪ Datacenter technology trading
multiples remain robust with clear
differentiation in EV/EBITDA
multiples between the subsector
groups
▪ Infrastructure and software defined
datacenter companies
demonstrated a higher degree of
volatility in their trading multiples
compared to integrated circuits and
hardware defined datacenter
companies
▪ Software defined datacenter
companies have moved towards
higher trading multiples since the
start of 2019
Share price movement: 2014-
2019
▪ Across the subsectors in H1 2019
market and macro economic
(politial uncertainty) impacts have
effected share price volatility
▪ Broadly, there has been a period of
share price decline, followed by
market consolidation and then a
period of share price growth
▪ The period of share price decline
correlates to the global sell-off of
equities in 2015-2016 (The Great
Fall of China) which was followed by
a sustained period of market
growth
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Jan-2014 Jan-2015 Jan-2016 Jan-2017 Jan-2018 Jan-2019
Integrated circuits Infrastructure
Software defined datacentre Hardware
EV
/EB
ITD
A m
ult
iple
Sh
are
pri
ce in
dex
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Jan-2014 Jan-2015 Jan-2016 Jan-2017 Jan-2018 Jan-2019
Integrated circuits Infrastructure
Software defined datacentre Hardware
10Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Most active acquirors in datacenter technology 2014-2019
Datacenter Technology – Top 20
Acquiror Hardware Integrated Circuits Infrastructure Software Total
Cisco 1 3 0 17 21
Intel 2 10 1 0 13
HPE 2 1 2 7 12
Vmware 0 0 0 11 11
Keppel 0 0 10 0 10
Equinix 0 0 10 0 10
Alphabet 0 0 5 3 8
IBM 0 0 2 6 8
Juniper Networks 1 1 1 3 6
Microsoft 0 0 1 5 6
Nutanix 0 0 0 6 6
Digital Realty Trust 0 0 6 0 6
Interxion 0 0 5 0 5
Citrix 0 0 0 5 5
Claranet Group 0 0 5 0 5
CyrusOne 0 0 5 0 5
HP 1 0 1 3 5
NTT 0 0 4 0 4
Iomart 0 0 4 0 4
Broadcom 1 2 0 1 4
Total 8 17 61 67 153
Top 20 acquirors by category Acquisition focus area for top 20
Nu
mb
er
of
deals
Nu
mb
er
of
deals
0
5
10
15
20
25
Cis
co
Inte
l
HP
E
Vm
ware
Kep
pel
Eq
uin
ix
Alp
hab
et
IBM
Jun
iper
Mic
roso
ft
Nu
tan
ix
Dig
ital R
ealt
y
Inte
rxio
n
Cit
rix
Cla
ran
et
Cyru
sOn
e
HP
NTT
Iom
art
Bro
ad
com
Integrated circuit Infrastructure
Software defined datacentre Hardware
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 H1
Integrated circuit Infrastructure
Software defined datacentre Hardware
11Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Key transactions in H1 2019
Datacenter Technology – Deal Data (1/5)
Date
Deal Target Target
country
Target Description Subsector Acquirer /
Investor
Acquirer
country /
funding
round
Deal size
($m)
Jun
e 2
019
M&AAerohive
NetworksUSA
A multinational computer networking
equipment providerHardware
Extreme
NetworksUSA
310
Fundraising 3Box USA A provider of decentralized cloud storage HardwareNorthzone &
othersEarly Stage
3
M&A Argon Design UK A technology and product development partner Hardware Broadcom UK Undisclosed
M&A Avi Networks USA Developer of software defined data centers Software VMWare USA335
Fundraising SignalFx USAA cloud application monitoring company to
visualize issues and work at web scaleSoftware
Andreessen
Horowitz &
others
Late Stage75
FundraisingCitycloud
InternationalChina
Provider of cloud computing products such as
IaaS management and PaaSSoftware Cisco & others Mid Stage
43
Fundraising TransIP Group Netherlands
Provides virtual private servers, domain name
registration and web hosting services to
customers and IT professionals
Infrastructure HgCapital LLP Late Stage Undisclosed
M&ABarefoot
NetworksUSA Provider of high-speed programmable switches Hardware Intel USA Undisclosed
Fundraising Yellowbrick Data USAProvider of a data warehouse that is quick to
deploy, easy to expand and simple to manageSoftware
DFJ Growth &
othersMid Stage
81
M&A RISC Networks USA
Provider of SaaS delivered products which
monitor and analyze the health of the IT
platform
Software Flexera USA Undisclosed
Fundraising Txture AustriaProvider of a platform for cloud management
and transformationSoftware Red Stars Early Stage Undisclosed
Fundraising Druva USAProvider of endpoint data management
solutions for the enterprisesHardware
Sequoia
Capital &
others
Late Stage130
May 2
019
Fundraising Folio Photonics USADeveloper of an optical storage with 2TB
capacity at low costHardware
Capital One &
othersEarly Stage
8
M&A Avera USAProvides application-specific integrated circuit
(ASIC) semiconductor solutionsHardware Marvell Bermuda
581
M&A Cray USAProvides computing solutions for advanced
supercomputing applicationsHardware HPE USA
1,300
M&A Cloudability USA
A financial management tool for monitoring
and analyzing every cloud expense across any
organization
Software Apptio USA Undisclosed
Fundraising Excelero USA Provider of scale-out block storage solution Hardware
Mellanox,
Battery
Ventures &
others
Mid Stage Undisclosed
M&A BitNami USAProvides cloud hosting services to deploy and
manage business applicationsSoftware VM Ware USA Undisclosed
Fundraising Total Cloud IndiaProvides a 3D simulation of cloud infrastructure
for cloud managementSoftware
Axilor Ventures
& othersEarly Stage <1
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
12Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Key transactions in H1 2019
Datacenter Technology – Deal Data (2/5)
Date
Deal Target Target
country
Target Description Subsector Acquirer /
Investor
Acquirer
country /
funding
round
Deal size
($m)
May 2
019
Fundraising Weka.IO IsraelDeveloper of a file system for artificial
intelligence and technical compute applicationsHardware
NVIDIA,
Mellanox &
others
Mid Stage32
M&A ParkMyCloud USAA cost saving application that reduces cloud
computing costsSoftware Turbonomic USA Undisclosed
M&A Imanis Data USAProvider of data management software for
petabyte-scale dataSoftware Cohesity USA Undisclosed
M&A Aquantia USA
Manufactures high-speed transceivers for
applications in data centre ethernet
connectivity
Integrated
CircuitsMarvell USA
452
Fundraising InCountry USAOperates data storage facilities for payments,
transactions and health dataInfrastructure
Charles River
Ventures &
others
Early Stage5
FundraisingBluWireless
Technology UK
Develops low cost technology for wireless
communication standardsHardware ARM & others Mid Stage
17
Ap
ril 2019
M&A Icolo Kenya
Designs, builds and operates data centers for
various types of clients such as telecom carriers,
ISPs and enterprise customers
Infrastructure InterXion Netherlands6
Fundraising DivvyCloud USA
Provides on-premise software that enables
single point of contact to simply, optimize and
visualize the cloud
SoftwareRTP Ventures
& othersMid Stage
19
FundraisingNTT Global Data
CentersJapan Developer and operator of data centers Infrastructure
Nippon &
othersEarly Stage Undisclosed
M&A Solarflare UKProvides ethernet products for data center and
enterprise networksHardware Xilinx USA
309
M&A
Equinix AM11
International
Business
Exchange
Netherlands A data storage provider Infrastructure Equinix USA34
M&A Electric Cloud USA A software release automation platform Software Cloudbees USA Undisclosed
M&A
Image
Processing
Techniques
UKDesigns video and vision systems based on
programmable FPGAs and SoCsHardware Intel UK Undisclosed
Fundraising
Ampere
Computing
Holdings
USA Provider of cloud based data center solutions HardwareThe Carlyle
Group & ARM Early Stage Undisclosed
Fundraising PubNub USA
Provides Data Stream Network, a solution that
connects, delivers and controls the data and
logic used to power real time applications
SoftwareScale Venture
& othersLate Stage
23
M&A
Shanghai
Xinsheng
Semiconductor
Technology
ChinaResearches, develops and manufactures
semiconductor wafers
Integrated
Circuits
National
Silicon Industry
Group
China72
Fundraising Tarmin USA Provider of data defined storage solutions Hardware
WISeKey &
Hoxton
Ventures
Early Stage Undisclosed
Fundraising Faction USA
Provider of private, public and hybrid cloud
infrastructure as a service with control and
flexibility
Infrastructure
Dell
Technologies
& others
Mid Stage Undisclosed
Fundraising Nimbix USAProvider of cloud-based high-performance
computing infrastructure and applicationsInfrastructure
Silver Creek
Ventures &
others
Mid Stage4
M&A Compuverde Sweden
Provider of self-contained, hyper converged
storage solution built completely based on
software defined storage principles
Software Pure Storage Sweden Undisclosed
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
13Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Key transactions in H1 2019
Datacenter Technology – Deal Data (3/5)
Date
Deal Target Target
country
Target Description Subsector Acquirer /
Investor
Acquirer
country /
funding
round
Deal size
($m)
May 2
019
Fundraising MemVerge USA
Provider of a hyper-converged infrastructure
solution using proprietary distributed memory
objects and memory-converged infrastructure
systems
Software
Lightspeed
Venture
Partners &
others
Early Stage25
Marc
h 2
019
Fundraising DragonGlass USA
Provider of modular infrastructure including a
data center, a server rack, the DragonDen
Server, shards, power supplies & components
and a software for cryptocurrency mining
Hardware Undisclosed Early Stage1
Fundraising Dathena SingaporeOffers machine learning powered enterprise
data classification solutionHardware
CerraCap
Ventures &
othersEarly Stage Undisclosed
Fundraising LeoNovus USAProvider of data storage and security solution
by leveraging blockchain technologyHardware
Clarus
Securities &
Pinetree
Capital
Late Stage2
Fundraising Portworx USAProvider of a software-defined infrastructure for
containerized applicationsSoftware
Mayfield Fund,
Mubadala &
others
Mid Stage27
M&A Kaiam USAProvides optical communication solutions for
data centers
Integrated
CircuitsBroadex-tech UK
6
Fundraising Aeponyx CanadaDesigns and manufacturs chips for fiber optic
access to the cloud
Integrated
Circuits
Fonds
Innovexport &
others
Early Stage6
Fundraising Igneous Systems USA
Provider of backup and archiving solutions for
all data the and remote management of
secondary storage tier
Hardware
New Enterprise
Associates &
others
Mid Stage26
Fundraising GridScale Germany Provides cloud IaaS solutions SoftwareEndeit Capital
& othersEarly Stage
8
M&A Chromotif USADeveloper of cloud based enterprise
applications and desktop delivery platformsSoftware Nutanix USA Undisclosed
Fundraising Lightbits Labs USADeveloper of an NVMe/TCP based SSD solution
to reduce the tail latencyHardware
Walden, Dell &
othersMid Stage
50
FundraisingQuicko
TechnoSoft Labs India
Develops and provides a Internet based SaaS
solution for customer engagementSoftware
Cisco Systems
& othersMid Stage
13
M&A Nginx Software USA
Develops solutions such as ADC/load
balancing, microservices, security, cloud and
API gateway
Hardware F5 Networks USA670
Fundraising
Nanjing
Yunxinda
Technology
ChinaProvides a data management solution for cloud
and data center infrastructureSoftware
Shenzhen
Dongfang
Fuhai
Investment
Management
Early Stage Undisclosed
M&A Mellanox USA
A provider of end-to-end ethernet and
InfiniBand interconnect solutions and services
for servers, storage and hyper-converged
infrastructure
Hardware Nvidia Israel6,900
Fundraising QNu Labs IndiaDevelops Quantum cyber-security products
using Quantum Key Distribution
Integrated
CircuitsAngel Early Stage <1
FundraisingRockley
PhotonicsUSA Silicon photonics for high speed networks
Integrated
Circuits
Hengtong
GroupMid Stage
30
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
14Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Key transactions in H1 2019
Datacenter Technology – Deal Data (4/5)
Date
Deal Target Target
country
Target Description Subsector Acquirer /
Investor
Acquirer
country /
funding
round
Deal size
($m)
Feb
ruary
2019
M&A
The Flexential
Fort Lauderdale
Data Center
USA A data storage provider Infrastructure
Landmark
Infrastructure
Holding
Company
USA25
FundraisingSource
PhotonicsUSA
Designer, manufacturer and distributer of
optical communication products, including
PON, optical transceivers and other optical
components
Hardware Undisclosed Late Stage100
Fundraising Odaseva FranceProvides a cloud data management platform for
the enterpriseSoftware
Partech,
Salesforce
Ventures &
others
Early Stage12
M&AAptum
TechnologiesCanada Provides managed hosting and cloud services Infrastructure
Digital Colony
ManagementUSA
548
Fundraising Lightmatter USADeveloper of AI based photonic
microprocessors
Integrated
Circuits
Ventures &
others
Early Stage22
FundraisingCambridge
CommunicationUK
Provider of small cell microwave backhaul
systemsHardware
Cambridge
Capital Group,
Imperial
Innovations &
others
Mid Stage10
M&A NetComm Australia
Provides broadband & wireless M2M
equipment to telecom carriers, ISPs, system
integrators and enterprise customers
Hardware Casa Systems Australia115
Fundraising Nasuni USA
Provides storage controller and cloud gateway
solutions for enterprise companies with
distributed offices across the globe
Hardware
Goldman
Sachs, Dell &
others
Late Stage25
Fundraising Peraso CanadaMulti gigabit millimeter wave single chip
transceivers
Integrated
Circuits
Roadmap
CapitalLate Stage
32
M&A Ineda IndiaA manufacturer and distributes semiconductors
and low-power system-on-chip solutionsHardware Intel India Undisclosed
M&AKao Data
CentresUK A data storage provider Infrastructure
Legal &
GeneralUK Undisclosed
Fundraising Turbonomic USAProvides a workload management solution for
cloud and virtualized environmentsSoftware
Bain Capital
Ventures,
General
Atlantic &
others
Late Stage Undisclosed
Fundraising KmeshUSA
India
Provides a software that transforms centralized
data into distributed data, which operates over
multiple clouds
Software
March Capital
Partners & The
Fabric
Early Stage3
M&A Romonet UK
Offers a cloud based big data platform that
collects IT load, financial, power and water
metrics of data centers or cloud computing
centers
Software CBRE UK Undisclosed
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
15Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Key transactions in H1 2019
Datacenter Technology – Deal Data (5/5)
Date
Deal Target Target
country
Target Description Subsector Acquirer /
Investor
Acquirer
country /
funding
round
Deal size
($m)
Jan
uary
2019
M&A Griddable USAProvides a platform for synchronized data
integration for the hybrid cloudSoftware Salesforce USA Undisclosed
M&A DCI Data Centers Australia Data storage provider Infrastructure
Brookfield
Infrastructure
Partners
Canada272
Fundraising Pliops Israel A developer of cloud storage solutions Hardware
Xilinx, Intel
Capital &
others
Mid Stage30
M&A COLO-D CanadaProvides carrier-neutral colocation and business
continuity services Infrastructure Undisclosed Undisclosed
58
Fundraising Panasas USAA provider of hybrid storage for data-intensive
applicationsHardware
The Carlyle
Group, Intel &
others
Late Stage4
Fundraising Invono Sweden
A secure solution for uploading, storing,
categorizing and assigning attributes and
permissions when sharing documents within
and outside organizations
Infrastructure Undisclosed Early Stage1
M&A4Degrés
ColocationCanada
Provides data center solutions such as Tier III
colocation infrastructure and secure e-
commerce payment options
InfrastructureVantage Data
CentersUSA
192
M&A Jaguar Network France
Provides hosting, fiber-optic network
connectivity solutions, corporate telephony and
cloud services to the enterprises
Infrastructure Iliad Group France114
FundraisingIsotropic
SystemsUK
Provider of satellite communication antennas to
telecom, aviation, shipping, defense, railway
and other enterprise sectors
HardwareBoeing &
othersEarly Stage
14
M&A CloudCentral UKA provider of dynamic cloud infrastructure and
platform servicesInfrastructure Vintek Australia Undisclosed
Fundraising Rubrik USAProvides converged data management platform
for enterpriseHardware
Greylock
Partners,
Khosla
Ventures &
others
Late Stage261
M&AIM Flash
TechnologiesUSA A manufacturer of flash memory chips Hardware Micron USA
1,163
M&A
Equinix HH1
International
Business
Exchange
Germany A data storage provider Infrastructure Equinix USA10
Fundraising Enmotus USACache solution provider that enables SSD based
storage to transact optimallyHardware
Tech Coast
Angels,
Exponential VC
& others
Early Stage1
M&A LDeX UKProvider of data centres and low latency
connectivity solutionsInfrastructure Iomart Group UK
14
Source: CapitalIQ, Tracxn, Acuity Intelligence
16Acuity Advisors Datacenter Technology H1 2019
Contact Details
This document has been produced by Acuity Advisors Limited and is furnished to you solely for your information and may not
be reproduced or redistributed, in whole or in part, to any other person.
No representation or warranty (expressed or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy
or completeness of the information contained herein and, accordingly, none of Acuity Advisors Limited‘s officers or employees
accepts any liability whatsoever arising directly or indirectly from the use of this document.
PALO ALTO
530 Lytton Avenue
Palo Alto
California 94301
LONDON
33 Cavendish Square
London, W1G 0PW
United Kingdom
+44 207 123 4889
MUNICH
Viktualienmarkt 8
80331
Munich
Germany
SHANGHAI
Room 576, 5th Floor
3rd Building
No. 171 Meisheng Road
Shanghai
China