2012 was a record year for buy-outs and mergers - report
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According to a new report from investment bank Digi-Capital, as harvested by GamesIndustry, the games industry saw record consolidation in 2012, with total merger and acquisition spending reaching $4.2 billion. Interestingly, there were 26% fewer deals in 2012 than 2011, but a handful of really big ones sent the tally climbing sky high - think Nexon's 15% purchase of NCsoft for $685 million; and Sony's $380 million Gaikai acquisition. Many of the deals originated in China and Korea. Unfortunately, external investment figures were down - Digi-Capital suggests Zynga's huge IPO and subsequent crash has scared venture capitalists off the games industry.