We have long advised our clients to make identifying potential acquirers a part of their business planning process and to communicate their ideas to potential investors as exit opportunities.
In that vein, a recent analysis and communications tool from LUMA Partners, strategic advisors to media/technology companies, caught our eye.
The company has previous published LUMAscapes that map 1,500-plus companies across subsectors of the digital industry: search, display, video, mobile, social, commerce and gaming.
LUMA has also published Digital Capital LUMAscape, which shows about 350 financial firms that actively invest in digital startups.
Their newest map is the Strategic Buyer LUMAscape, with the largest relevant buyers of digital startups. It used to be that Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL ran the show, but as the LUMAscape shows, there are more than 150 diverse strategic buyers of digital startups.
From Amazon.com to Wal-Mart, these companies have collectively invested billions of dollars in thousands of deals over the last five years.
The LUMA infographic has potential acquirers arranged by type (media, marketing, technology, and commerce/network); propensity to pursue further digital acquisitions; capability to make big acquisitions, and defensive or offensive motivation.
While it’s important to consider likely acquirers and their motivations, it’s impossible to predict with any certainty so don’t get hung up on it too early. Building an attractive, high growth company makes it relatively self-selecting.
