Acquisition specialist BVA Associates Ltd has released its half-yearly survey on UK-based mergers and acquisitions in the computer services, hardware and telecommunications industries: in the first half of this year, acquisitions outnumbered floatations by almost 20:1 reflecting a lack of confidence in computer-related companies on the stock market according to BVA director Keith Harpham; communications companies jockeying for position raised the value of telecommunications-based acquisitions to 36.6% from 4.3%; falling margins forced acquisitions of hardware companies down to 22.2% from 62.8%; the largest acquisition in any UK information technology sector was Cox Cable Systems Inc buying cable company Southwestern Bell/SBIH Ltd.
