Hello reader,
Welcome to the August 2020 issue of The Dealmaker.
Q2 2020 was truly unprecedented for the venture capital (VC) industry as the COVID-19 pandemic shook the entire country; however, the venture industry largely proved resilient. Fundraising remained strong as VC mega-funds ($500 million+) have been especially prolific in 2020 with 24 closed so far, which nearly equals the full-year number for 2019. Deal activity has been mixed with the overall deal count dipping while strength in late-stage financings sustains aggregate capital investment.
Here are some of the most important M&A news we have read this month:
- KKR reports record fundraising amid profitable Q2 – Pitchbook
- Oracle enters race to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations – Reuters
- Teladoc to buy Livongo for $18.5B, highlighting demand for telehealth services – Pitchbook
- US-based Equinix to acquire GPX Global Systems’ India arm – VC Circle
- Amex acquires SoftBank-backed Kabbage after tough 2020 for the SMB lender – Tech Crunch
- Amazon in talks to invest in cloud services company Rackspace – Reuters
- Advent to buy UK parcel delivery group Hermes in €1bn deal – The Financial Times
- The UK’s private equity predicament – Financial Times
