SALT LAKE CITY—May 3, 2019—Utah companies raised 64.2% more in capital transactions in 2018 than the year before despite conducting 31 fewer deals, according to the 24th annual Deal Flow Report, released today by the MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN). The report details Utah’s capital market and the number of IPOs, investments and mergers and acquisitions.

 

Utah companies accounted for more than $14 billion across 483 transactions over 2018, compared with the $9 billion and 514 transactions amassed in 2017. Private funding remained steady, with 245 placements compared to 243 in 2017, with merger numbers shrinking slightly to 224 from 264 last year. Mergers and acquisitions accounted for the greatest portion of the total transaction value, with a total of $10 billion—a significant increase from 2017’s $6.8 billion. Of that total, $6 billion came from Cotiviti’s acquisition by Versecend.

 

The higher transaction value was also helped by two high-profile IPOs from Utah companies: Pluralsight raised approximately $311 million and Domo took in roughly $193 million. In addition, Purple Innovation’s reverse merger reflected overall company valuation at more than $500 million.

 

Notably missing from the list is Qualtrics, which announced its intent to go public last year but was acquired by German software giant SAP for $8 billion days before its IPO. Because that transaction was formally closed in the early days of 2019, it will be included in next year’s book.

 

“We’re seeing more of these very high-dollar, late-stage investments, and this collection of fewer but bigger deals reflects global trends as well as the continued importance investors place on injecting money in more mature companies,” said Katie Chandler, MWCN deal flow chairwoman. “On a global scale, this is turning into a vacuum of sorts in early stage deals, which could cause problems down the road as the small startups of today are having to work harder to find funding than some of their predecessors. In Utah, however, we’ve seen several early stage VC firms that are helping to buck that trend locally.”

 

The technology and software industries continued to dominate the number of deals with nearly four in 10 (38 percent) transactions. Companies in the healthcare industry also showed growth, with 68 deals and 14 percent of all transactions in Utah.

 

The Deal Flow Report is published by MWCN, a nonprofit organization, to further its mission of fostering the dynamic flow of information about capital formation and distribution. The report also serves to educate, recognize and reward successful business performance, as well as highlighting relationships fostered through networking. It does not report on transactions that were either confidential or otherwise not publicly disclosed. The full 2018 MWCN Deal Flow Report can be viewed at: https://www.mwcn.org/deal-flow/

 

About MountainWest Capital Network

MountainWest Capital Network is Utah’s first and largest business networking organization devoted to supporting entrepreneurial success, and dedicated to the flow of financial, entrepreneurial and intellectual capital. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @MWCN and LinkedIn. www.mwcn.org

 

Media Contact

 

Jacob Moon

Method Communications

801-461-9797

jacob@methodcommunications.com

 

Cheri Waldron, MountainWest Capital Network

801-966-1430

cheri@mwcn.org