Recently, I took a look at 20 NYC Startup Acquisitions in 2016. In following through with the theme of acquisitions, today I examine some historical data surrounding acquisitions of New York-based startups from our friends at Crunchbase. As I have mentioned earlier in a previously published piece highlighting NYC venture firm exit rates, liquidity tends to be of paramount importance for both entrepreneurs and investors to make money. Corporations have been active investors in startups recently as excess cash looms on the balance sheet but at what rate are these corporates actually acquiring startups, presenting a path to liquidity.
The following data looks at the 5 most active acquirers of NYC-based startups historically. For the each acquirer included is the number of acquisitions, the target company, the transaction amount when available, and date of transaction. The first acquisition recorded in this set is from 1964! As both entrepreneurs and investors, it’s important to know the companies acquiring startups in your market and in your space. It’s also important to note that this data is set is not exhaustive and that not all acquisition transactions are reported. The report also undoubtedly includes acquihires – so not all acquisitions should be construed to indicate “success”.
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Zynga 5 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Astro Ape | 8/16/11 | |
| Area/Code | 1/23/11 | |
| OMGPOP | 3/21/12 | $210,000,000 |
| Rising Tide Games | 9/14/15 | |
| PuzzleSocial | 7/1/16 |
Tripadvisor 5 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Astro Ape | 8/16/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Area/Code | 1/23/11 | Not Disclosed |
| OMGPOP | 3/21/12 | $210,000,000 |
| Rising Tide Games | 9/14/15 | Not Disclosed |
| PuzzleSocial | 7/1/16 | Not Disclosed |
Nielsen 5 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Astro Ape | 8/16/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Area/Code | 1/23/11 | Not Disclosed |
| OMGPOP | 3/21/12 | $210,000,000 |
| Rising Tide Games | 9/14/15 | Not Disclosed |
| PuzzleSocial | 7/1/16 | Not Disclosed |
Microsoft 5 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Astro Ape | 8/16/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Area/Code | 1/23/11 | Not Disclosed |
| OMGPOP | 3/21/12 | $210,000,000 |
| Rising Tide Games | 9/14/15 | Not Disclosed |
| PuzzleSocial | 7/1/16 | Not Disclosed |
Mediabistro 5 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| BrandsOfTheWorld | 4/29/09 | Not Disclosed |
| SocialTimes | 12/10/09 | Not Disclosed |
| TVSpy.com | 11/17/10 | Not Disclosed |
| Twittercism | 2/23/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Inside Network | 5/11/11 | $14,000,000 |
Groupon 6 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Breadcrumb | 5/29/12 | Not Disclosed |
| Hyperpublic | 2/17/12 | Not Disclosed |
| Savored | 9/24/12 | Not Disclosed |
| SideTour | 9/18/13 | Not Disclosed |
| Ditto | 4/17/12 | Not Disclosed |
| ideeli | 1/13/14 | $43,000,000 |
Adobe Systems 6 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Fotolia | 12/11/14 | $800,000,000 |
| Behance | 12/20/12 | $150,000,000 |
| Aviary | 9/22/14 | Not Disclosed |
| Demdex | 1/18/11 | $109,000,000 |
| Thumb Labs | 5/22/13 | Not Disclosed |
| Antepo | 12/13/06 | Not Disclosed |
Twitter 7 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| TapCommerce | 6/30/14 | $100,000,000 |
| Niche | 2/11/15 | $50,000,000 |
| Julpan | 9/21/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Vine | 10/9/12 | $30,000,000 |
| Trendrr | 8/28/13 | Not Disclosed |
| Mitro | 7/31/14 | Not Disclosed |
| MADBITS | 7/29/14 | Not Disclosed |
Google 8 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| TxVia | 4/2/12 | Not Disclosed |
| Admeld | 6/1/11 | $400,000,000 |
| DoubleClick | 3/11/08 | $3,100,000,000 |
| Zagat | 10/26/11 | $151,000,000 |
| RightsFlow | 12/9/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Divide | 5/20/14 | $120,000,000 |
| Oyster | 9/21/15 | $30,000,000 |
| Softcard | 3/4/15 | Not Disclosed |
Yahoo! 9 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Right Media | 4/29/07 | $850,000,000 |
| interclick | 11/1/11 | $270,000,000 |
| Tumblr | 5/20/13 | $1,100,000,000 |
| RayV | 7/11/14 | Not Disclosed |
| Stamped | 10/25/12 | Not Disclosed |
| MileWise | 5/9/13 | Not Disclosed |
| Qwiki | 7/2/13 | $50,000,000 |
| Wander | 2/11/14 | Not Disclosed |
| FareChase | 8/6/04 | Not Disclosed |
IBM 9 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Xtify Inc. | 10/3/13 | Not Disclosed |
| Bluewolf | 3/30/16 | $200,000,000 |
| Science Research Associates | 1/1/64 | Not Disclosed |
| Diligent | 4/22/08 | Not Disclosed |
| Lotus Development Corporation | 7/6/95 | $3,500,000,000 |
| Isogon Corporation | 7/27/05 | Not Disclosed |
| Worklight | 1/31/12 | $70,000,000 |
| Cognea | 5/20/14 | Not Disclosed |
| Tivoli Systems | 2/1/96 | $743,000,000 |
AOL 17 acquisitions
| Acquired Company Name | Announced On Date | Price |
| Time Warner | 1/19/00 | $162,000,000,000 |
| Pictela, now ONE by AOL: Creative | 12/16/10 | $20,000,000 |
| Advertising.com | 6/24/04 | $435,000,000 |
| Tacoda | 7/24/07 | $275,000,000 |
| Quigo | 11/7/07 | $340,000,000 |
| ADTECH | 5/16/07 | Not Disclosed |
| Surphace | 4/1/08 | $25,000,000 |
| Relegence | 11/6/06 | Not Disclosed |
| Patch | 6/11/09 | $7,000,000 |
| 5min Media | 9/28/10 | $65,000,000 |
| The Huffington Post | 2/7/11 | $315,000,000 |
| Outside.in | 3/4/11 | Not Disclosed |
| Adap.tv | 8/7/13 | $405,000,000 |
| velos | 6/8/15 | Not Disclosed |
| Kanvas Labs | 8/31/15 | Not Disclosed |
| When | 4/6/99 | Not Disclosed |
| Nito Inc. | 4/1/16 | Not Disclosed |