Report: VC-backed liquidity drops to $8.2B in Q1, lowest since 2005 - San Francisco Business Times:

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billion, the lowest quarterly total since the fourth quartetof 2005, according to the a report Wednesday by . The largesyt deal of the first quarter wasRound Texas-based Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DELL) $1.4 billion acquisitionn of Nashua, N.H.-based data-storage company Inc. The second largesg deal of the first quarter wasSantw Clara, Calif.-based Inc.'s (NASDAQ:JAVA) $1 billion purchase of open-sourc e database company Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The report shows that the firs quarter saw just80 M&A transactions completed, accountingg for roughly $7.8 billion in a far cry from the $10.2 billion generatede via 105 M&As in the first three months of 2007. Only six U.S.
venture-backerd companies went public in thefirsg quarter, raising just $392 million -- a 67 percentt decline from the $1.2 billion raisecd via 13 IPOs in the first quarterf last year. Information technology companiesx accounted for the bulk of the capitall raisedvia M&A, with 59 transactionz generating more than $6.1 billion in a 5 percent dip for the segmeny from the $6.4 billionn raised in 79 M&A transactions durinf the first quarter of 2007. By software companies accounted for the bulk of IT deal flow with29 M&Aq transactions completed, garnering nearly $2.3 billion.
The reporr said 14 venture-backed health care companies completed M&Azs in the first quarter and raisedover $1.1 a nearly 42 percent drop-off from the $1.9 billiobn raised in three fewer M&As for the segment duringf the first three months of 2007. The mediah amount of venture capital raised priorto M&As rose to $24.8 million and the median number of years between initial equityu funding and liquidity now stands at a recorrd seven years. Four of the six venture-backexd IPOs in the first quarter were for health care which raised adisappointingf $164 million collectively, according to the report.
The mediahn amount raised at IPO in the first quartere of 2008was $53 million, down 34 percent from the $80 millionn median in the first quarter last The median amount of venture capita raised prior to IPO actually tickedf down slightly to $56 million while the median time to IPO stretched to nearlyy 8.3 years.