"Well here we go again,
You've found yourself a friend that knows you well,
But no matter waht you do,
you always feel as though you tripped and fell" - Raconteurs, Steady As She Goes

My good friends at OEM Capital in Connecticut (a Capital West partner firm) update the number of transactions occuring in US technology (IT and Communications only).  It is a good proxy for M&A activity in general.

You can see that things have obviously slowed in early 2009.  There is a nice pick up in March... the biggest deal being Interwoven's sale to Autonomy for US$781M.  What would be more instructive is the value of transactions, which I know are down.  The number of "undisclosed" terms of deals is proportionately higher than ever... meaning the terms are embarassingly low.  Collectively, valuations are not what they were in 2007 and anyone thining of selling needs to be prepared for that.

But deals are happening.  And as always in technology, these are mostly strategic buyers, not financial.