Dashboard: Venture-backed M&A bounces back in April

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Fundraising (-87.2%)

Venture fundraising fell an astounding 87.2 percent month-over-month as firms in the U.S. struggled to raise about $795 million in April, compared $6.2 billion in March when firms closed large funds. Among the U.S.-based venture firms to hold a close on their funds in April was RRE Ventures, which closed its sixth fund with $280 million in commitments.

Deals (19%)

The value of venture-backed deals with disclosed financial terms increased 19 percent over the month of April to $5.23 billion from the $4.4 billion recorded in March. Venture firms invested in 353 deals during the month and the average equity per deal in April was $14.82 million. The largest venture deal to be completed in April was the $247.5 million investment in LYFT Inc by Mayfield Fund, Alibaba Capital Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, The Founders Fund, Third Point Management and Coature Management.

M&A (126%)

The total rank value, including net debt, of the 28 venture-backed M&A deals completed in April totaled $1.68 billion. The latest M&A figure represents a 126 percent jump in the value of venture M&A deals from March, when only $740 million in deal value was completed. A total of 12 transactions disclosed their financial terms in April, the largest being the acquisition of iPierian Inc by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co for $725 million in a cash only transaction. Similarly, Palo Alto Networks Inc paid about $200 million for their purchase of Cyvera Ltd.

IPOs (-38%)

Venture-backed IPO activity declined 38 percent in April with 11 companies making their public debut and raising $950 million in proceeds. In comparison, 18 VC-backed companies raised almost $2.4 billion in March. April VC-backed IPO activity was led by the food delivery website GrubHub, which raised more than $84 million in funding from Amicus Capital, Benchmark Capital Management, DAG Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spectrum Equity, Warburg Pincus and others.

Compiled by Larry Oberfeld, based on Thomson Reuters data and original research.

Data is continuously updated and is therefore subject to change. Date based on U.S. venture firms.

Photo illustrations by Janet Yuen.