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If there’s a textbook example of a nation that punches well beyond its weight on the international stage, that nation is Luxembourg. Tucked discreetly between Belgium, Germany and France, its well known for its diminutive dimensions: you can drive the whole length of the country in around an hour and a half, and its population is less than a fourteenth the size of London’s. Yet Luxembourg’s size is inversely proportional to its wealth and influence. According to the latest country rankings by the IMF , Luxembourg has the largest GDP per capita at purchasing power parity. It’s one of the nerve

To say AI in the UK is going great guns would be an understatement. The country is home to twice as many companies providing AI products and services than any other country in Europe. And with a domestic AI market that’s tipped to grow to over $1 trillion by 2035, the UK is currently the third-biggest player in this sector, behind China and the United States. A confluence of factors has pushed Britain to the vanguard of this industrial revolution. High among them is the fact that the infrastructure for innovation was put into place well before the phrase “generative AI” was on everybody’s lips.

Back in October last year, we reported that the IT & Business Services sector had just enjoyed bumper M&A activity, with more deals reported in 1H2023 than in any six-month period on record. Now, the release of our most recent IT & Business Services M&A report has confirmed that the sector has remained on bullish form since that data was compiled, with 2H2023 seeing the third-highest deal volume on record. As Hampleton Partners MD Konstantin Kastius comments in the report, the high numbers “underscore continuing demand for enterprise services and solutions that are increasingly vital for remaining

Digital Commerce is one of Hampleton Partners’ specialisms , and our latest M&A report into this space has revealed some interesting data points. The first and most obvious takeaway is that overall transaction numbers remain markedly lower than the protracted surge we saw over the pandemic period, when the societal impact of lockdowns drove unprecedented demand for online retailers and related software solutions vendors. But the report also highlights signs of a ripening market environment, with the cracking open of the IPO window and an appetite among investors and strategic buyers to stake

A couple of years ago, Gartner forecasted a growth in global business spending on workplace IT infrastructure and software, with the research firm describing the industry as “recession-proof” . An analyst noted “the shift from buying technology to building, composing and assembling technology to meet specific business drivers”, describing this shift as “foundational to the growth of cloud over on-premises” spending. This was echoed by Forrester Research, which noted that despite soaring inflation and other headwinds, “growth in Enterprise Software spending is expected to plow on”, to the

The latest Enterprise Software M&A report from Hampleton Partners, the international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm for software and technology companies, reveals that, despite a slowdown in the second half of the year, there were 1,881 deals involving companies in the sector in 2023, making it the second-most active year on record. The report also reveals that strategic buyers are continuing to account for a higher proportion of deals in the sector, with the share of private equity acquirers having dipped since the pandemic. However, private equity acquirers are paying significantly higher

There’s no denying that the autonomous driving industry has hit more than a few speed bumps of late. Earlier this year, the sector witnessed one of the most high-profile failures we can ever remember seeing in tech: the abrupt shutdown of Project Titan, Apple’s long-gestating, much-whispered-about self-driving car project. Back in 2015, Apple COO Jeff Williams set tongues wagging when he described the car as the “ultimate mobile device”. Yet, despite tantalising rumours of high-level meetings with legacy OEMs, thousands of Apple staff being brought onto the programme, and at least 450,000 miles

The latest Digital Commerce M&A report from Hampleton Partners, the international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm for software and technology companies, reveals the sector experienced a decline in deal numbers throughout 2023, with 1,063 transactions in 2H2023 compared to the 1,220 recorded in the first half of the year. Relative valuation multiples also showed a downward trajectory. However, M&A volumes have continued to track higher than in the years preceding the pandemic, and there has been increased deal activity in 1Q2024.

The latest IT & Business Services M&A report from Hampleton Partners, the international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm for software and technology companies, reveals that 761 deals were made within the sector in 2H2023. While falling short of the record-breaking high of 834 attained in the first half of 2023, this is the third-biggest deal volume yet seen in the sector, continuing the trend of transaction numbers within IT & Business Services being markedly higher than in the years prior to the pandemic.

The latest global Autotech & Mobility M&A report from Hampleton Partners, the international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm for software and technology companies, reveals that 63 deals were recorded in the sector during the second half of 2023. While this is a dip compared to the previous six-month period, which saw the second-highest number of Autotech & Mobility transactions on record, it is significantly higher than what was seen in the doldrums of 2H2022, and reflects widespread sentiment among sector experts that the recent loss of EV sales momentum may only represent a temporary