Britain may be entering another next stage of political and economic instability but it appears any confusion until now has not dampened enthusiasm for technology deals.
Figures from business and finance consultancy giant Ernst & Young say the UK saw the number of technology business mergers and acquisitions double in the first three months of 2010 compared the same period in 2009.
The report says 32 deals in the tech sector were completed this year in the UK, positioning the country as the most fertile for M&A in Europe.
The figures come against a backdrop of political upheaval in the UK following this week's general election - which saw no overall party gaining a majority of the votes cast - and a growing crisis across Europe over national debt levels.
The appetite for deals appears to be gaining ground worldwide, but the size of those agreements on the whole are smaller.
Indeed, despite the higher number of deals globally the overall value of the deals has dropped massively year-on-year - M&A deals fell to $12.1 billion in the first quarter of 2010, a drop of 66% from $35.4 billion.
The global top ten acquisition table is as follows:
- US
- UK
- China
- Canada
- France
- Japan
- Germany
- Taiwan
- Netherlands
- Others - Bahrain, France, Japan, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, UAE all had one deal.
Neil Hutt M&A technology partner at E&Y, Neil Hutt, says:
"The UK continues to be a hotbed of technology innovation. With innovation driving so much recent M&A activity, it is hardly surprising to see that we are currently leading the way in terms volume of technology acquisition deals."
The biggest deals in Q1 2010 included the $1.3 billion acquisition of Numonyx by Micron Technology, Intersil's deal for Techwell ($401 million) and the acquisition by Apple of Quattro Wireless ($275 million).