Market Digest

The aggregate value of all disclosed value deals grew 58% year-on-year (YOY) to US$36.4b, according to Ernst & Young’s Global technology M&A update: January – March 2013. Deal volume fell 12% YOY and 5% compared with the previous quarter to 661 deals. Aggregate disclosed value would have fallen by 48% if not for a single announced technology transaction valued at US$24.4b (Silver Lake Partners and Dell Inc. as announced on Feb. 5, 2013).

However, even the large deal values reflected the profound challenges of transforming a strong, well-established company to align with the five disruptive innovation “megatrends” – smart mobility, cloud computing, social networking, big data analytics and accelerated adaptation. The report found that these megatrends influenced the microcosm of global technology M&A’s in Q113, as companies competed for market share and key technologies.

Corporate and private equity (PE) volume declined 12% and 13% YOY, respectively. However, PE volume increased 31% compared with the previous quarter to 46 deals, while corporate declined for the second consecutive quarter, by 7% to 615 deals.

Joe Steger, Ernst & Young’s Global Technology Industry, Transaction Advisory Services Leader, says:

“Macroeconomic pressures continued to hold down global technology M&A activity in Q113. We see gradual improvement in macroeconomic uncertainty and a near-term narrowing of valuation gaps as positive signs. However, there is still a lack of confidence around doing large deals in the current economic conditions.” Read the rest of this entry »

Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal car insurance company, will soon offer a new feature in the Esurance mobile app that could help customers settle claims quickly and conveniently.

This feature can eliminate the need for an in-person visit from an Esurance claims appraiser, and could get the policyholders’ cars back on the road quicker after a fender bender. By streamlining the claims process, this time-saving app helps busy, on-the-go Esurance customers return to their daily lives.

Here’s how the process might work:

• Once a policyholder has filed a claim, they can use their smartphone to photograph the vehicle damage and the car’s VIN, and then submit the information through the Esurance mobile app;
• The information goes straight to the Esurance claims team, which reviews the photos and the facts of the incident and determines the available options for the customer;
• Next, an Esurance claims appraiser can contact the customer to discuss the repairs;
• Finally, to cover the damage, the customer could then choose to have funds wired directly to their bank account, receive a check in the mail, or, if necessary, send in additional photos to finish the process. Read the rest of this entry »

The numerous means of payment and structures in the payment market make monetary transactions in Europe a highly complex business. The “Europe Payment Report” published by EHI and Deutsche Card Services therefore takes a look at payment transactions in Europe. It highlights the influencing factors, national peculiarities and trends, and identifies not just the differences but also the similarities in the way we pay from country to country. The aim is to create the basis for a Europe-wide card acceptance strategy for retailers and service providers – for the purposes of e-commerce especially.

Developing a Europe-wide strategy involves a multitude of variables. That is why the report outlines the stakeholders, the structures, the general background situation, and respective means of payment on the European market and presents the peculiarities of the selected countries in detailed profiles.

The report includes:

• Key figures on the European market and online use (e.g. the rate of use of Internet banking, online consumption, online turnover in the industry) Read the rest of this entry »

Russia has plenty of natural resources to offer to the global market, but recently the country started promoting its new and exciting product – consumers. With population topping 140 million people, Russia has always been an attractive market, subject to the poor economic climate and other barriers. In 2012 and 2013, however, Russian government formed ‘special economic zones’ – business and industrial hubs aimed at creating ‘entry points’ for global companies that incorporate production capacity, abundant natural resources, labor pool, infrastructure, tax incentives, and access to the consumer market.

The Titanium Valley, one of the ‘special economic zones’ is located in the Urals, Russia’s industrial and mining heartland. The region is home to the world’s largest titanium production facilities; titanium is an essential material widely used in aircraft manufacturing and other industries. The special economic zone, by attracting major Russian and Western aerospace corporations, is creating a unique industrial hub similar to Seattle. Major aerospace companies, like Boeing, VSMPO-AVISMA, and other companies became the residents of the Titanium Valley.

In a roundtable hosted by the economic zone’s management in Hannover during the 2013 Hannover Messe, Titanium Valley’s CEO Artemiy Kyzlasov said that the hub is becoming an entry point into Russia for multinational corporations: “It has tax breaks and customs relief, optimization of logistics and excellent skilled labor potential. We are not only interested in investment in the region, but rather in a system for integrating international manufacturing in the region’s infrastructure, with every new special economic zone resident creating benefits for the other residents, developing and enhancing the production chain. Both the regional and federal governments support this. You could say that we are building an aviation and manufacturing Hollywood here, where all the industry players – directors, actors, models, screenwriters – are concentrated in one area, educating one another.”

Titanium Valley

http://titanium-valley.com