Why Acquisitions Outnumber IPOs in Tech

Tech acquisitions occur far more frequently than IPOs due to the larger pool of potential buyers who can acquire companies at various stages and for different strategic reasons. While there were approximately 50 tech IPOs in 2014 compared to over 1,000 acquisitions, the comparison is complicated by the difference in deal sizes—there were more billion-dollar-plus IPOs than similar acquisitions in 2014.