A Utah business networking organization has released its 19th annual Deal Flow Report, and the news for entrepreneurs in our state is overwhelmingly positive. The report notes 426 transactions last year involving venture capital financing, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions worth more than $12.5 billion.
“And the trend is continuing on an upward slope,” said a bank vice president involved in generating the report.
Singled out for exceptional activity pushing deal flow upward were software companies, a business segment leading the way in Utah now for several years. In fact, according to the report, software companies alone generated 18 percent of last year’s deal flow.
Here’s a look at other industries generating business proposals and pitches:
- Health care: 14 percent
- Services: 12 percent
- Consumer and retail: 8 percent
- Technology: 8 percent
- Financial services: 4 percent
- Leisure: 4 percent
- Biotechnology: 3 percent
- Communications: 3 percent
- Construction and engineering: 3 percent
- Pharmaceuticals: 3 percent
- Chemicals: 3 percent
- Food: 3 percent
- Education: 2 percent
- Others: 5 percent
The news on mergers and acquisitions was a bit mixed, however. While the number of these transactions rose to 173, the size of the deals dropped sharply from $10.1 billion in 2012 to $5.9 billion last year.
Interestingly, 8 out of the top 10 mergers and acquisitions involved firms from out of the state buying a Utah business. Many observers think that shows that outsiders have a high opinion of our present economy as well of forecasts of how we will fare in coming years.
For those interested in Utah entrepreneurship, it’s prudent to first discuss goals, business organization, regulation and more with an experienced business attorney.
Source: UtahBusiness.com, “Report shows 2013 was biggest year for deal flow,” May 12, 2014