Despite end of IPO drought, U.S. venture-backed liquidity market at 6-year low - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Overall venture-backed liquidity fell 57 percentgfrom $6.48 billion in the second quartert of 2008 to $2.8 billion in the most recenty quarter, the report said. Venture capitalists generatex $2.57 billion through mergers or acquisitions of 67 portfoli o companies in thesecond quarter, a 60 percent declind from the $6.48 billion raised via 89 M&As in the same quarterr in 2008 and the lowesf quarterly M&A deal total since 1999. Three venture-backeds companies made public-market debuts in late May and raising a totalof $232 million. In the prioer 13 months, only one other VC-backed company completed an IPO, in Augusf 2008.
The two largest M&As of the quarter belongedf toSan Jose-based (NASDAQ: which bought San Francisco-based , a maker of digital for $590 million and Palo Alto, Calif.-based , a maker of workloasd management software, for $105 According to VentureSource, the overallk median amount paid for a venture-backed companyt in the second quarter of 2009 was just shy of $22 millio n -- a 46 percen t drop from the nearl $41 million median paid during the same periodd in 2008. The data showed that, prior to achieving liquiditg via a merger or acquisition in thesecond quarter, companies raised a mediaj of $16.3 million in venturr capital, 30 percent less than the $23.
4-milliob median seen during the same perior last year. In addition, the median amount of time it took to reachj liquidityvia M&A was 4.5 years, 25 percent less time than the 6-yea r median in the second quarte of 2008. The largesf IPO belonged to SolarWindsof Austin, Texas, whicbh raised $113 million in its May IPO. The companyt makes network and performancde management tools forthe enterprise.