Technology acquisitions in the second quarter of 2006 have hit an all-time high, according to Regent Associates.

The market watcher’s latest European Technology Acquisition Review reported that 846 deals were completed between April and June 2006, which beat the previous high of 828 transactions in Q4 2005. Regent Associates said that the value of deals completed topped $220bn in the six months, which is more than double the amount in the first half of 2005.

Peter Rowell, executive chairman of Regent Associates, said: “The dynamics in the industry are conducive to consolidation, convergence and aggressive financial restructuring.

“These factors, coupled with the huge amount of cash reserves available, suggest that this acquisition phenomenon will continue.”

This month, the security industry alone experienced three significant acquisitions: EMC bought RSA Security (CRN, 3 July); Secure Computing snapped up CipherTrust; and SurfControl acquired BlackSpider.

Richard Btesh, director of corporate finance at VAR Chess, which itself has made 12 acquisitions in the past two years, said: “There is M&A [merger and acquisition] activity happening at the higher and lower ends of the scale, and it is going to continue for another three to four years at least.”

 sara_yirrell@vnu.co.uk