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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2006--Technology acquirers (including telecommunications and Internet-sector companies) spent nearly a quarter-trillion dollars on acquisitions in the first half of 2006, setting what is a four-year spending high. These findings were reported by The 451 Group, an independent technology industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. While the period was marked by a surge in large telecommunications transactions, it also saw a steep drop-off in enterprise IT spending as major acquirers such as Oracle shunned big-ticket acquisitions in favor of a flurry of smaller transactions. The 451 Group based these findings on data from the 451 M&A KnowledgeBase, a transactions database service that tracks acquisitions for more than 300 sectors in the IT telecommunications and Internet industries (with data current though June 28, 2006).

HIGHLIGHTS OF FIRST-HALF 2006 M&A ACTIVITY

-- Both total spending and number of transactions for the six-month period set highs not seen since The 451 Group began tracking technology-related M&A in 2002.

-- The telecommunications sector accounted for 75% of the spending in the first half as equipment providers joined the consolidation trend initiated in previous years by the large carriers they serve.

-- After spending $52bn in a two-year frenzy of consolidation, the top 10 enterprise IT acquirers turned to smaller 'tuck in' deals, spending the smallest amount of acquisition currency since the second half of 2003, while announcing a record high number of deals.

-- Emerging technologies continue to drive a number of deals. The rapidly evolving software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector saw its first significant transactions.

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