<ul><li>Its shares were down by 1.5% on Thursday.</li><li>In a regulatory filing, <keyword id="80004" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Info-Edge">Info Edge</keyword> shared that Naukri’s business was growing at a steady 13% until the lockdown happened. But ever since then, things have gone downhill. </li><li><keyword id="1336736" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="99acres">99acres</keyword> saw a year-on-year decline in collection of ₹18 Cr in Q4FY20 and ₹9 crore in April. The lockdown created a shortfall of ₹25-30 crore said the company. </li></ul>Info Edge’s stocks took a hit after the company revealed how the coronavirus pandemic has hit its subsidiaries – <keyword id="218117" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Naukri-com">Naukri.com</keyword>, 99acres. Its shares were down by 1.5% and were trading at ₹2,532 on Thursday. <div type="image" title="info edge shares." msid="76195610" hostid="261"></div> With the coronavirus pandemic tightening pockets across industries, there’s a looming jobs crisis where thousands of people have already been laid off and millions of jobs continue to be at risk. With this Naukri.com, which is one of India’s top jobs listings portal, has seen a blow to its business. In a regulatory filing, Info Edge shared that Naukri’s business was growing at a steady 13% until the lockdown happened. But ever since then, things have gone downhill. Naukri’s India business saw a year-on-year decline of collection by ₹14 crore in the fourth quarter of FY20 and it worsened in April with a decline of ₹26 crore as compared to the same month the previous year. “For Q4’20, pre-covid19 the growth was 13%, the lockdown slowed down the growth to zero, leading to a shortfall of collection of ₹40-44 crore (had the business grown at pre-covid growth rate),” said the company’s filing. But Info Edge’s hit didn’t just come from its jobs section but also the real estate platform – 99acres. The real estate portal saw a year-on-year decline of collection by ₹18 Cr in Q4FY20 and ₹9 crore in April. The lockdown created a shortfall of ₹25-30 crore said the company. While Naukri.com has always been the blockbuster property for Info Edge, the company had also been betting on real estate growth. “Most of the properties listed today are residential real estate. Today, we don’t do too much of rental, we don’t do anything in commercial – but these are very large opportunities. Inside the categories we are in, the opportunities are huge. Real estate is 10% of the GDP of any country, that’s how big real estate is,” Info Edge CEO Hitesh Oberoi had told Business Insider in February. Info Edge’s revenue stood at ₹320.5 crore for Q3FY20, up by 14% from the same quarter in the previous year. However, its matrimony listings portal Jeevan Sathi’s collections saw marginal growth – by ₹4 crore in Q4FY20 and ₹1 crore in April. Revenue from its education business Shiksha.com grew slightly to ₹13.2 crore in the fourth quarter, up from ₹12.8 crore in the same quarter the previous year. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-swiggy-dunzo-can-start-testing-drone-deliveries-as-india-starts-doling-out-permits/articleshow/76188887.cms">Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo can start testing drone deliveries as India starts doling out permits</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zoomcar-ceo-says-people-wont-book-uber-or-ola-and-wont-buy-cars-soon/articleshow/76188254.cms">Zoomcar CEO is betting on people not taking Uber and Ola⁠— and not buying cars in a hurry</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/tiger-global-now-has-to-pay-tax-on-profit-from-sale-of-flipkart-stake-to-walmart-in-2018/articleshow/76170662.cms">Tiger Global now has to pay tax on profit from sale of Flipkart stake to Walmart in 2018</a>

Info Edge share price falls after company reveals dismal performance of Naukri.com and 99acres due to Covid19

<ul><li>DGCA has given approval to <keyword id="830092" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zomato">Zomato</keyword>, <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword>, <keyword id="3275685" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="dunzo">Dunzo</keyword>, Asteria Aerospace, Spicejet and others to begin testing beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones for deliveries. </li><li>The DGCA has begun sending out permission letters to these firms and also providing them with specific airspace in which they can run these tests. </li><li>Zomato had first announced a successful test delivery using drones in India in June 2019.</li></ul>The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has just given the official nod to delivery companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo to begin testing beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones for deliveries. "We have been working on powering delivery via drones for some time now and welcome this move from DGCA to test our systems. We are excited to build the future of aerial food delivery in India," said a Zomato Spokesperson. According to <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/hyperlocal-start-ups-can-test-drone-delivery-after-dgca-permission-11591202819808.html">reports</a>, officials have confirmed that a total of 13 companies have been given the approval which also includes Spicejet and Asteria Aerospace, which is backed by Reliance. “It's an experimental project, essentially a regulatory sandbox where DGCA wants companies to test flying drones outside of visual line of sight and determine what are the requirements for safe operation when the regulation actually comes. It's not like we can start full fledged operations,” Neel Mehta, cofounder of Asteria Aerospace told Business Insider. The DGCA has begun sending out permission letters to these firms and also providing them with specific airspace in which they can run these tests. “We received our approval on May 21. The plan is for two months we will be carrying out these experiments in an approved airspace of 20 kilometres, which is isolated from aircraft and urban population or any other risks. We will be using it for long distance aerial surveys of pipelines, railways and roadways,” said Mehta. The approvals come at a time when “drone delivery” has been the talk of the town during the coronavirus pandemic, as it will mean truly contactless delivery. Globally too drone deliveries have taken off. US-based unicorn food delivery startup <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lianeyvkoff/2020/05/13/for-postmates-robot-fleet-supervisors-the-hardest-part-about-working-from-home-is-slow-internet/#899250676e63">Postmates </a>had also begun testing robot deliveries. In India, in June 2019, Zomato had first announced a successful test delivery using drones in India. In the run, the drone covered a distance of 5 kilometres in about 10 minutes, with a peak speed of 80 kmph, carrying a load of 5 kgs. Zomato had also acquired TechEagle innovation, a drone startup in December 2018, leading to their experiments with drones. In 2016, the government announced a new draft policy, under which it proposed to set up a dedicated drone corridor, create drone ports and allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing the remotely piloted aircraft in the country. This policy also hinted at making room for aerial delivery of goods in India. In May 2019, the DGCA had asked interested organizations to submit Expression of Interest (EOI) for experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations (BVLOS) of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)/Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Zomato had then said that it is forming a consortium as per DGCA’s guidelines to carry out experimental BVLOS operations. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zoomcar-ceo-says-people-wont-book-uber-or-ola-and-wont-buy-cars-soon/articleshow/76188254.cms">Zoomcar CEO is betting on people not taking Uber and Ola⁠— and not buying cars in a hurry</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/tiger-global-now-has-to-pay-tax-on-profit-from-sale-of-flipkart-stake-to-walmart-in-2018/articleshow/76170662.cms">Tiger Global now has to pay tax on profit from sale of Flipkart stake to Walmart in 2018</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/china-responds-to-prime-minister-narendra-modi-and-us-president-donald-trump-conversation/articleshow/76188158.cms">China responds to Modi-Trump conversation — ‘there is no need for any third party to intervene’</a>

Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo can start testing drone deliveries as India starts doling out permits

<ul><li><keyword id="381854" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indiamart">IndiaMART</keyword> has posted a moderate performance for the second quarter of the current financial year.</li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, <keyword id="127964" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dinesh-Agarwal">Dinesh Agarwal</keyword>, CEO, IndiaMART said that the COVID impact hasn’t completely worn off and also spoke about <keyword id="10142986" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="JD-Mart">JD Mart</keyword>'s launch.</li><li>Agarwal said that one of the biggest differences has been that the lockdown has resulted in a 30-40% growth in their buyer side traction. </li></ul>Indian Business-to-Business e-commerce platform IndiaMART has clocked in moderate performance for the second quarter of the current financial year. Its revenue from operations rose 4% at ₹163 crore, while its consolidated EBIT stood at ₹77 crore, up 147% on a year-on-year basis. Its net profit shows an eight-fold surge, but IndiaMART CEO Dinesh Agarwal attributed that as a one-time jump due to a tax readjustment last year. On a quarterly basis, its profit fell by 6%, resulting in a marginal dip in its share price on Tuesday. However, IndiaMART’s share price has more than doubled during the quarter. <div type="image" title="Indiamart shareprice" msid="79150444" hostid="261"></div> Competition is rising for the country’s oldest e-commerce platform IndiaMART, with <keyword id="6436290" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="just-dial">Just Dial</keyword> launching its B2B e-commerce platform, and the push from Amazon and Flipkart in the B2B space. Competition from JD Mart Justdial – the 24-year old local discovery platform –- is set to launch its own B2B (business to business) marketplace called JD Mart. This will be in direct competition to IndiaMart, which has had an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/justdial-jd-mart-challenges-indiamart-oldest-ecommerce-after-24-years/articleshow/78781834.cms">unchallenged run for 24 years.</a> But Agarwal isn’t worried about competition from JD Mart, at least not right away. “There are various kinds of B2B businesses and there are players like Amazon, Walmart. Let us see what JD Mart comes up with,” he said. Agarwal said that you can build a feature, but the kind of data, insights and algorithms IndiaMART has put together over the years can’t be launched overnight. “It will be a 3-5 year journey and at the end of it the buyers and sellers will see who offers a better value proposition to them. For any new player to do sales is one thing, but getting the product right is a long term plan. We didn’t build IndiaMART over a couple of quarters. Just Dial is a great company and I’m sure they will find something new, some day,” said Agarwal. Still dealing with the COVID impact During an interview with Business Insider, IndiaMART CEO Dinesh Agarwal explained the two main changes that the company dealt with during the second quarter. “There has been a definite shift in online adoption and the second, the kind of fear everyone had in mind initially has gone away. So, the overall economy has started to move on from June,” he said. Agarwal added that the COVID impact hasn’t completely worn off as 20% industries listed on IndiaMART continue to struggle while 30-49% of them are doing better than pre-COVID time too. <div type="image" title="IndiaMart revenue" msid="79150466" hostid="261"></div> One of the biggest differences has been that the lockdown has resulted in a 30-40% growth in their buyer side traction. “The number of buyers have gone up and their repeat rates have also gone up. Our number of buyers has gone up 30-40% from last year and the repeat rate from those buyers has gone up from 55% to 60%, which has further strengthened our network effect,” he said. <div type="image" title="Indiamart chart." msid="79150475" hostid="261"></div> With the economy opening up, offline retail once again poses competition to IndiaMART. Agarwal agrees but adds that the adoption of online seen in April, May and June is higher than ever before, and the impact continued even in the second quarter. “Even if 5% of people go back to offline, the new normal of the internet has happened and it’s not going to vanish,” he said. However, IndiaMART’s seller subscribers are yet to reach its pre-COVID levels and Agarwal believes it will take four-five months for them to completely get back to normal. Betting on tech and AI Agarwal understands that most of his buyers come from smaller cities for whom ‘search’ and using correct English might not be the first option. And that’s why IndiaMART continues to invest in voice search, AI/ML and language options for sellers and buyers. “For example, even if you write 300 different spellings of jewellery on IndiaMART, you will still get the right result,” he said. And that’s why the company doesn’t shy away from tech investments. Of IndiaMART’s total expenses, 20% of it goes into investing in products and technology. And out of the 4500 employees, 20% of them are in product and technology. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/justdial-jd-mart-challenges-indiamart-oldest-ecommerce-after-24-years/articleshow/78781834.cms">India’s oldest e-commerce platform is bracing for its first direct challenge in 24 years as Justdial ups its game</a>

INTERVIEW: IndiaMart founder Dinesh Agarwal responds to the incoming challenge from JD Mart

<ul><li>The latest <keyword id="722308" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Investment-Report">World Investment Report</keyword> showed India dropping a spot to 10th, in the list of top FDI receiving countries.</li><li>India’s witnessed 6% growth in FDI, to reach $42 billion in 2018.</li><li>Global FDI inflows slipped by 13%, from $1.5 trillion to $1.3 trillion, South Asia witnessed 3.5% increase in FDI inflows.</li><li>China, which retained the number two position, received the highest foreign inflows among the developing countries at an all time high of $139 billion, a growth of 4%. </li></ul>Despite a 6% surge in its <keyword id="44749" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Foreign-Direct-Investment">Foreign Direct Investment</keyword> (FDI) inflow in 2018, India slipped a spot in the list of countries receiving highest FDI, to 10th. The latest <a href="https://unctad.org/en/pages/DIAE/World%20Investment%20Report/WIR-Series.aspx">World Investment report</a> of the United Nations Conference on Trade &amp; Investment (<a href="https://unctad.org/en/Pages/Home.aspx">UNCTAD</a>), an organization that aims at maximizing trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries. The increase in FDI inflows is being attributed to manufacturing, communication and financial services sectors, which were the top three FDI recipients in India. Growth in cross-border mergers and acquisitions -- from $23 billion in 2017 to $33 billion in 2018 -- was primarily due to retail trade, which includes e-commerce, and telecommunication, said the report. The $16 billion<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/walmart-acquires-flipkart-for-16-bn-worlds-largest-ecommerce-deal/articleshow/64095145.cms"> acquisition </a>of Flipkart by Walmart, and telecommunication deals worth $2 billion involving Vodafone and American Tower, were among the major deals this year. The report also highlighted the changes to India’s FDI policy, which it termed as “restrictive.” In February 2019, India introduced changes to its e-commerce sector where it banned foreign companies to sell their own products in e-commerce marketplace companies like Amazon. Global FDI slowdown Global FDI flows fell by 13% in 2018 from $1.5 billion in 2017 to $1.3 billion in 2018, which is the third consecutive annual decline, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report. The contraction was largely precipitated by United States multinational enterprises (MNEs) repatriating earnings from abroad, making use of tax reforms introduced by the country in 2017, designed for that purpose. Developed countries were the worst hit by the earnings repatriation, where flows fell by a quarter to $557 billion-levels last seen in 2004. South Asia surges ahead As global FDI inflows slump down, South Asia witnessed a <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/fdi-flows-to-india-grew-6-in-2018-to-42-bn-un-report/articleshow/69761999.cms?utm_source=ETTopNews&amp;utm_medium=HP&amp;utm_campaign=TN&amp;utm_content=23">growth</a> of 3.5% to $54 billion in FDI inflows. "All subregions in developing Asia are expected to receive higher inflows. Prospects are underpinned by a doubling in value of announced greenfield projects in the region, suggesting continued growth potential for FDI," it said while sounding a note of caution on global uncertainties. It said uncertainties stemming from global trade tensions could weigh on the mood in the region.

India has slipped to the 10th spot in attracting foreign direct investment

Toons tell the top stories of 2019 ⁠— with a dash of sarcasm

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Reuters/Toby MelvilleA man photographs a gladioli display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London, Britain.</div></div></div>Here is what you need to know. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-bank-deregulation-crapo-bill-house-vote-details-2018-5">Congress quietly passed the largest rollback of Wall Street regulations since the financial crisis</a>. The bill will lift regulations on community and regional banks, while preserving many rules established under the post-financial crisis Dodd-Frank Act.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tax-cuts-midterm-elections-2018-5">Trump says he will propose new tax cuts before November</a>. The announcement will come ahead of the midterm elections, as Republicans look to retain their control of Congress, Reuters says. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/memorial-day-weekend-and-holiday-trading-strategy-morgan-stanley-2018-5">Morgan Stanley unveils a detailed strategy that has worked perfectly for 3 decades for trading one of the world's largest markets around US holidays</a>. The bank studied futures around every US holiday the bond market is closed and compiled the best long and short strategies that have worked every year since 1987.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-sell-its-21-stake-in-flipkart-to-walmart-2018-5?r=UK&amp;IR=T">SoftBank has agreed to sell its entire stake in Flipkart to Walmart</a>. SoftBank, the Japan-based telecom and internet giant, has agreed to sell its 21% stake in Flipkart, according to The Economic Times.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barclays-standard-chartered-merger-2018-5">Barclays has reportedly "kicked around" the idea of merging with Standard Chartered</a>. Barclays has considered the possibility of merging with Standard Chartered Bank, according to a report in the Financial Times.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-reports-tesla-model-3-braking-test-fix-elon-musk-2018-5?r=UK&amp;IR=T">Tesla's Model 3 could get a second chance with Consumer Reports after dismal braking results</a>. Consumer Reports says it will re-test the Tesla Model 3's braking distance if Tesla is able to fix the problem via a software update, after the publication achieved poor results from a test car.<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/moviepass-owner-hmny-stock-price-continues-to-slump-2018-5-1025094068">The owner of MoviePass hits a new low</a>. Shares of Helios &amp; Matheson, the technology company which bought MoviePass last year, plunged 11% to a new low of $0.50 Tuesday morning.<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/indices">Stock markets around the world are lower</a>. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-1.82%) led the losses in Asia and Germany's DAX (-1.61%) trails in Europe. The S&amp;P 500 is set to open down 0.58% near 2,709.<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/earnings-calendar#date=05/23/2018&amp;name=&amp;countries=&amp;eventtypes=99&amp;tab=ALL">Earnings reports keep coming</a>. Lowe's, Target, and Tiffany report ahead of the opening bell while L Brands releases its quarterly results after markets close. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/economic-calendar#date=05/23/2018&amp;name=&amp;countries=us&amp;eventtypes=&amp;tab=1,2,3">US economic data flows</a>. Markit manufacturing and services PMIs will both be released at 9:45 .m. ET and new home sales will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes are due out at 2 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 5 basis points at 3.01%. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-meanings-behind-childish-gambino-s-this-is-america-2018-5"> Hidden meanings behind Childish Gambino 's "This Is America" </a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Union Square AdvisorsWayne Kawarabayashi, Partner and Head of M&amp;A, Union Square AdvisorsIn light of the current state of the global economy, capital market conditions and political climate, many are wondering what lies ahead for this year's technology M&amp;A market. In the U.S., we are closely watching the Trump administration as it pursues its agenda to tighten immigration and the U.S. borders, renegotiate trade agreements, replace Obamacare, and enhance defense and infrastructure spending. Against this backdrop, the economy continues to improve and we are entering the eighth year of a bull market. Further, the technology sector is growing, has abundant access to equity and debt capital and remains very active in M&amp;A, as evidenced by strong 2016 M&amp;A volume and several notable transactions thus far in 2017. In short, we are expecting technology M&amp;A to continue to be active for the rest of this year.<h2>Drivers of Technology M&amp;A </h2>We believe there are many positive drivers that will continue to support M&amp;A and investment activity in the technology sector this year. The equity markets continue to trade at record highs following the 2016 U.S. election, boosting investor and corporate confidence. Corporate earnings continue to improve and companies are looking to take advantage of this administration's plans to lower tax rates, effect a tax holiday on foreign cash repatriation, loosen regulations (e.g., HSR, Dodd-Frank) and enhance federal infrastructure spending by $1 trillion. At the same time, inflation seems to be in check and interest rates remain historically low, despite the Federal Reserve's two rate hikes since the election. Companies have large cash war chests for investments both domestically and overseas (the top five technology companies have an estimated $1.7 trillion in cash with $500 billion of it overseas) and there are large pools of capital in private equity, venture capital, pension funds and lending institutions waiting to be deployed as well. <a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ0E65656&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1588&amp;RH=896#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ0E65656&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1588&amp;RH=896&amp;POPUPPN=6&amp;POPUPIID=2C0BF189X2KW">REUTERS/Lucas Jackson</a>Lastly, if companies are reticent to act, hedge fund activists may continue to demand board seats, return of capital and evaluation of strategic alternatives to catalyze M&amp;A activity as they have done successfully over the past few years (e.g., Elliott Management's recent activist campaigns with Cognizant for board seats and with The Advisory Board to consider strategic alternatives). <h2>Technology M&amp;A Off to a Solid Start</h2>Year to date, we've seen solid activity with large technology corporates becoming more active with M&amp;A, even plucking them before they go public, as evidenced by Cisco's $3.7 billion acquisition of AppDynamics. We've also seen several publicly-traded companies agree to sell themselves despite the overall strength in equity markets such as Mobileye's $15.3 billion sale to Intel, CEB's $2.6 billion sale to Gartner, Ixia's $1.6 billion sale to KeySight and Nimble Storage's $1.1 billion sale to HP Enterprise. Some strategics have become even more aggressive including Virtu Financial's $1.3 billion unsolicited offer for rival, KCG Holdings. Lastly, almost every week there appears to be a new company rumored to be for sale. Non-technology companies' pursuit of technology will likely continue as well following last year's activity including Walmart's $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com, General Motor's more than $1 billion acquisition of Cruise Automation, Unilever's $1 billion acquisition of Dollarshave.com and General Electric's $915 million acquisition of ServiceMax. This activity will be driven by the pervasiveness of technology throughout other industry sectors as more physical devices become technology-enabled, more information needs to be collected and analyzed, and more activity shifts to the Internet and cloud.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMs3ZUThyhQ">YouTube/Dollar Shave Club</a>According to our compilation of market data, we experienced another strong M&amp;A year in technology, media and telecommunications with $583 billion of M&amp;A volume in 2016, a modest decline (six percent) from 2015's record $621 billion of volume. In addition, we saw more M&amp;A transactions in the sector at $1 billion or above in 2016, although dollar volume was lower (107 deals for a total of $497 billion) versus 2015 (79 deals for a total of $528 billion). While sector M&amp;A volume has been on the upswing over the past two years, we've also seen the level of technology IPO and private placement volumes rapidly decline over the same period (21 technology IPOs in 2016 vs. 34 in 2015, according to our compilation of market data). In part, the increase in M&amp;A has been supported by lower activity in capital raising. <h2>Private Equity </h2>We expect private equity and other investment management organizations to remain active this year. While they will continue to evaluate acquisitions of go-privates and private-to-private transactions, they will also evaluate alternative structures as demonstrated by CPPIB's 48 percent investment in Apax-owned GlobalLogic (valued at $1.5 billion); Apollo and HGM's $2.8 billion merger of SourceHOV, Novitex and Quinpario; and Veritas' $690 million carve-out acquisition of Harris' government IT services business. We also anticipate that private equity will continue to make PIPE investments into public companies such as last year's $500 million investment by Silver Lake in Symantec which helped support Symantec's acquisitions of BlueCoat for $4.7 billion and LifeLock for $2.3 billion. On a related note, private equity firms are increasingly acquiring platforms for the purpose of effecting further consolidation. Therefore, in addition to the aforementioned Silver Lake/Symantec's consolidation of companies, last year, Permira and Hellman &amp; Friedman's Genesys acquired its publicly-traded competitor Interactive Intelligence for $1.4 billion, and this year, Vista acquired DH Corp for $3.6 billion to combine it with its portfolio company, Misys. <h2>Technology IPO Market Ramping Up</h2>AppDynamics, which was swept up by Cisco, was supposed to lead off the technology IPO market in 2017. Instead, messaging app company Snap earned those honors. In early March, Snap raised $3.4 billion, priced above its offering range, and traded up 44 percent on its first day of trading. Several other IPOs followed Snap and performed above their IPO prices including enterprise software developer Mulesoft, data analytics provider Alteryx, security company Okta, and software firm Yext, which ended up 46 percent, 11 percent, 38 percent and 22 percent, respectively, higher on the first day of trading. <a href="http://business.nasdaq.com/discover/market-bell-ceremonies/detail.html#!/!?ceremonyId=7563">NASDAQ</a>While IT services provider, Presidio, priced below its offering range and traded only a modest 1.9 percent above its IPO price on the first day of trading; and Brazilian online retailer, Netshoes, priced at the low end of its range and traded down 11 percent on its first day. Still, others are looking to come to market in the first half of 2017 including Carvana and Cloudera.While the IPO market for technology is beginning to open, it is always difficult to predict how long the window will remain open. We've seen equity market volatility in March despite the launches of these recent IPOs. Dual track processes, whereby a company uses its IPO filing as a marketing opportunity to simultaneously explore a sale, will continue to be an option for IPO candidates as they seek to hedge their bets and try to maximize value in a sale versus going public. In 2016, KKR bought Optiv for $1.9 billion and Symantec bought Blue Coat for $4.7 billion, while in 2017, Cisco bought AppDynamics after all three companies filed to go public. While some private technology companies will be able to access the public equity market, many more private technology companies and their investors will proactively consider alternative monetization options including raising additional capital for growth while valuations still remain relatively attractive as well as seeking exits to strategic and growth-oriented private equity firms. This year, we've seen two large venture-backed companies exit via a sale to strategics including SimpliVity's $650 million sale to HP Enterprise and Veracode's $614 million sale to CA. <h2>Thomson ReutersThe logo of India's largest online marketplace Flipkart is seen on a building in BengaluruCapital Raises and Unicorns</h2>The private capital markets also remain active with sizeable investments. This year, there have been several large private capital raises including Koubei's $1.1 billion raise with Silver Lake, CDH Investments, Yunfeng Capital and Primavera Capital consortium of investors; FlipKart's $1 billion raise with eBay, Microsoft and Tencent; WeWork's $300 million investment from SoftBank; Magento's $250 million investment from Hillhouse Capital; and Tricentis' $165 million investment from Insight Venture Partners.It will be interesting to see what the large private technology unicorns will do in 2017. After enjoying several rounds of large capital raises at high valuations in recent years, these unicorns are now finding it difficult to continue to justify these higher valuations with each successive capital raise. Investors in private technology companies typically enter at different time periods and at various pre-money valuations, therefore each investor has different expectations for value and time to exit. We are seeing that some companies aren't able to continue to drive higher pre-money valuations with each capital raise, as some of the air has been let out of the unicorn phenomena. As a result, some of these companies are proactively exploring exits to strategics, seeking alternative sources of capital including debt and hybrid securities, and replacing one set of investors for another in secondary buyouts. The large unicorns, including Airbnb, Dropbox, Uber and Pinterest, will continue to watch to see when they might best tap the IPO market. <h2>Headwinds to Watch</h2>While there continues to be positive drivers that support an active M&amp;A year in technology, there are several headwinds to watch. First, as strategics and private equity firms continue to evaluate target companies to buy, there is a growing sentiment amongst these buyers that valuations, propelled by the strength of the equity markets, low cost of debt and an increased buyer universe, are getting expensive. There is also concern amongst the PE players that the high EBITDA multiple that one has to pay today might contract if the bull market subsides over the coming years, thereby lowering the multiple at exit and impacting IRR returns. Further, if tax law is enacted to eliminate tax-deductibility of interest expense, this could also dampen returns, although it would likely be partially offset by a reduction in corporate tax rates and full expensing of capital expenditures. Thomson ReutersNFL: Super Bowl LI Champions-New England Patriots White House VisitSecond, there is the potential that the new administration's "America First" view towards foreign relations could dampen or at the very least increase scrutiny for cross-border M&amp;A activity, especially for U.S. technology assets that are of national importance (e.g., CFIUS review). While we've seen CFIUS and past administrations intervene on a number of Chinese acquisitions of U.S. companies, the recent decision to block Germany's Infineon Technologies acquisition of Wolfspeed begs the question of whether the CFIUS mandate has been broadened to include European allies as well; albeit this is only one example. Further, changes in immigration and international trade policies could also impact the organic growth of U.S.-based technology companies making buyers and targets more susceptible to revenue, earnings and foreign exchange rate volatility, thereby increasing reluctance to make big technology M&amp;A bets.Third, the recent withdrawal of the American Health Care Reform Act of 2017 by the Republicans in Congress has increased market volatility as investors wonder about the Republicans' ability to push through tax reform, infrastructure spending and other economic and market enhancing policies. Lastly, the growing tensions in Syria and North Korea, as well as the outcome of the French elections and Brexit could continue to enhance market volatility and weigh on the minds of investors, tech buyers and sellers.<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>Despite some potential headwinds, we think the market dynamics will support another strong year for technology M&amp;A in 2017. We will continue to see acquisition and investment activity in the following areas: cloud transformation, cybersecurity and network visibility, big data/data analytics, vertical and horizontal as-a-service offerings, converged IT solutions, mobility, advertising technology/marketing technology, e-commerce, mobility solutions, healthcare IT, fintech, Internet of Things, Internet of Humans, machine learning/artificial intelligence/intelligent applications, and augmented/virtual reality. While some technology companies will see exits via IPOs, the vast majority will continue to tap the private placement market and find growth equity and private equity buyers who are flush with cash as well as seek full exits to large and mid-sized strategic buyers. The technology sector remains robust and developments in innovation and the convergence of technology will drive companies to make offensive and defensive moves to stay ahead of the game.Kawarabayashi is head of M&amp;A at Union Square Advisors, is a leading technology-focused investment bank that offers strategic mergers &amp; acquisitions advice and execution as well as agented private capital financing services. Founded in 2007, with offices in San Francisco and New York, Union Square Advisors works with leading public and private technology companies, private equity and venture capital firms across the technology landscape with a primary focus on Software, Software-Enabled Services, IT Infrastructure and Internet/Digital Media. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pepsi-pulled-controversial-ad-kendall-jenner-2017-4">'Clearly we missed the mark': Pepsi just pulled this controversial ad</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

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