To start Tuesday, we see industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) agreeing to acquire Avocent Corp. (NASDAQ:AVCT) for $1.2 billion in cash, enhancing its data center offering. This is in the wake of many announced technology deals as the economy seems more stable.
But what about Internet M&A for the techies?
Collins Stewart plc has come up with a list of the top 10 M&A themes for the Internet, the top likely acquisition candidates or IPO candidates, and also explains why Internet M&A is picking up on the heels of deals, including eBay Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EBAY) sale of 65% of VoiP service Skype, the Mint.com acquisition by Intuit Inc.(NASDAQ:INTU), Facebook Inc. buying FriendFeed Inc. and others.
Some top M&A themes include cloud computing, mobile Internet and eBook readers, while likely targets or IPO candidates include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg, Yelp and eHarmony, among others. See the PDF below for more explanations, including a list of the top 20 Internet companies (with a consumer Internet brand basis) and their matches with the top five Internet companies in terms of Collins Stewart's assessment on logical match.
Not surprisingly, the firm names giants Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) as likely to be the most acquisitive. In late September, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Reuters he expects to buy one small company a month as the economy turns around. - Baz Hiralal
Even in a period when things like toxic credit default swaps and noxious structured investment vehicles dominate the conversation in many parts of the deal community, people are still willing to take the time to recognize skill and achievement in the strategic transactions that help those companies adapt and grow.
To start Tuesday, we see industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) agreeing to 
Adele Gulfo
And the winners are...
