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What are the largest acquisitions of US-based private companies over the past five years? Which companies purchased them?
Charter Communications Inc, Actavis, Reynolds American Inc, AT & T, Microsoft Corporations, Facebook and Koch Industries are some firms that have acquired large private companies in the United States. I have presented a list of 12 major acquisitions within the scope of a single request in the attached spreadsheet.
METHODOLOGY
Fortune, ITWorld, Techcrunch and Investorplace provided information about some large acquisition deals. Focus was solely on private company acquisitions in the U.S. Below is a brief summary of my findings.
MICROSOFT ACQUISITION OF LINKEDIN
In one of the largest tech deals for 2016, Microsoft Corporation acquired LinkedIn for the sum of $26.2 billion. According to report, the deal is the largest single transaction by Microsoft and also the 6th biggest acquisition on record.
WALMART ACQUISITION OF JET.COM
In 2016, Walmart acquired the New Jersey start-up company, Jet.com for a transaction deal worth $3.3 billion. The deal was considered as the biggest U.S. e-commerce acquisition according to the report.
In a bid to compete with Amazon, Walmart acquired additional five companies in 2017 totaling $260 million.
AT & T ACQUISITION OF DIRECT TV
In 2015, Direct TV was acquired by AT & T in a transaction deal worth $49 billion. According to report, the merger made AT & T become the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S.
FACEBOOK ACQUISITION OF WHATSAPP
Facebook acquired Whatsapp Inc in 2014 for a sum of $19 billion. The acquired Mountain View California based company would continue operating independently but as a private subsidiary of Facebook. According to a report by Investorsplace, the deal was the "largest-ever purchase of a venture capital-backed firm".
UNILEVER ACQUISITION OF DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB
Unilever acquired Dollar Shave Club in 2016 in a deal worth $1 billion. The acquired Santa Monica - California based company which has raised over $160 million in venture capital funding prior to its purchase would continue to run independently according to report.
REYNOLDS AMERICAN ACQUISITION OF LORILLARD
Reynolds American acquired Lorillard for the sum of $27.4 billion in 2015. The acquired tobacco company would become a privately owned subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc.
CISCO ACQUISITION OF APPDYNAMICS
Cisco Systems acquired AppDynamics, a privately held company, based in San Francisco, California for a transaction deal worth $3.7 billion in 2017. AppDynamics is a cloud-based application service provider and would operate as a "new software business unit in Cisco's IoT and Applications business".
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS ACQUISITION OF TIME WARNER CABLE
Charter communications acquired Time Warner Cable Inc for the sum of $56.7 billion in 2016. The acquisition would make Charter communications as the second-largest U.S. broadband service provider.
KOCH INDUSTRIES ACQUISITION OF GUARDIAN INDUSTRIES CORP
In 2016, Koch Industries, through its wholly owned subsidiary, KGIC Merger Corporation, acquired Guardian Industries in "an all-cash transaction" deal. According to report, Koch Industries operate in diverse industries including energy, chemicals, refining, glass, agriculture and technology. The company ranks number 2 in America's largest private companies while the acquired company Guardian Industries ranks number 65 in America's largest private companies according to Forbes.
CONCLUSION
I have included in the attached spreadsheet a list of some of the largest acquisitions of US-based private companies. I have provided the purchasing company, acquiring company, sector, deal amount, year of acquisition and sources.