Deal Tracker: OneStream's $6.4B go-private deal leads IT M&A in January

The value of M&A transactions among North American IT companies in January totaled $11.91 billion across 195 deals, a slight increase year over year, thanks to a pair of billion-dollar deals during the month.

By comparison, the sector tallied 192 deals worth $11.84 billion in January 2025. However, January's total M&A deal value declined significantly from December 2025, when 142 deals totaling $42.49 billion were announced. The transaction value that month was driven by several billion-dollar deals, including three of the top 10 largest M&A in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

– Read about how new AI coding tools prompted the sell-off in software stocks in the year through Feb. 6. – Read about the $10 billion-plus deal announcements so far in 2026. – Use S&P Capital IQ Pro's Transactions Statistics page to run a custom screen of M&A by industry or geography.

An investor group led by HgCapital LLP struck a deal to acquire financial software company OneStream Inc. for $6.46 billion, marking the largest transaction of the new year. General Atlantic Service Co. LP and Tidemark Capital Inc. are also part of the investor group.

Under the terms of the deal, Hg will become the majority voting shareholder, while General Atlantic and Tidemark will join as significant minority investors.

OneStream shareholders will receive $24.00 per share in cash. An entity controlled by Hg will acquire all outstanding shares, including those owned by investment funds managed by KKR & Co. Inc., which took OneStream public in 2024. Hg will invest in OneStream from its Hg Saturn 1 fund.

The transaction has been approved by OneStream's board and is likely to close in the first half of 2026. KKR, as the majority holder of OneStream's voting power, approved the transaction. Upon completion of the deal, OneStream will become a privately held company.

OneStream CEO Tom Shea and the current leadership team will remain in their roles, with the company's headquarters in Birmingham, Michigan.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as financial adviser to OneStream, while Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is advising Hg.

IonQ Inc.'s pending acquisition of SkyWater Technology Inc., a pure-play semiconductor maker, was the second-largest deal of the month.

Under the terms of the cash-and-stock deal, SkyWater shareholders will receive $15.00 in cash and $20.00 in shares of IonQ common stock, subject to a collar, for each SkyWater share. The transaction has a gross value of about $1.97 billion.

The boards' of both companies approved the deal, which is expected to be completed in the second or third quarter.

After the deal closes, SkyWater shareholders will own 4.4% to 6.7% of the combined entity under the collar. SkyWater will also retain its name and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, led by current CEO Thomas Sonderman.

IonQ tapped Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and BofA Securities Inc. as financial advisers on the deal, while Goldman Sachs is providing financial advice to SkyWater.

Another notable M&A in January was CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.'s proposed acquisition of identity security firm SGNL.AI Inc. from a group of shareholders in a transaction valued at about $740.0 million.

The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of CrowdStrike's fiscal year 2027.

Two other deals announced in January crossed $500.0 million. These were: D-Wave Quantum Inc.'s acquisition of Quantum Circuits Inc. for $550.0 million and Marvell Technology Inc.'s pending acquisition of Xconn Technologies Holdings Inc. for $549.6 million. The Marvell-Xconn transaction is expected to close in early 2026.

None of the IT M&A deals in January made it to the list of the top 10 deals ranked by gross transaction value in the past 13 months.

The planned $40.00 billion sale of data center operator Aligned Data Centers LLC to an investor group is the IT sector's biggest M&A transaction over the past 13 months.

The transaction, announced in October 2025, is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Alphabet Inc.-owned Google LLC's pending acquisition of Wiz Inc., announced in March 2025, is the second-largest. The companies expect to close the transaction later in the year, after which Wiz will be integrated into the Google Cloud segment.