Of the 45,416 transactions announced last year, 6,657, or 15 percent, were acquisitions of technology companies, more than any other sector, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters on Thursday. That was in line with the proportion of technology deals in 2015. Still, many of tech’s big traditional buyers were quiet last year. Four of the five largest tech companies by market capitalization did not announce any giant deals in 2016. Among the major deals that were signed were Qualcomm’s $39 billion purchase of NXP Semiconductors, Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn for $26 billion and Oracle’s $9.3 billion deal with NetSuite. IBM, Google and Facebook made a few small acquisitions, but nothing material.

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/business/dealbook/mergers.html