Spotting Stocks BEFORE They’re Acquired

If you treat “run-up + volume + calls” as a buy signal, you’re basically signing up to chase the same footprints everyone else is chasing. And when the footprint is real, it’s often because someone knew more than you. When it’s not real, it can unwind violently because the only thing holding the move up was the belief that “something is coming.”

So how do you actually use this research in a way that’s useful?

You use it as a filter for curiosity, not as a trigger for action.

In other words, these patterns don’t tell you “buy.” They tell you, “pay attention, and ask better questions.”

Start with the obvious: what would make this company acquirable in the first place?

Acquisitions aren’t magic. They’re usually rational.

A buyer typically wants one (or more) of these:
A product that’s cheaper to buy than to build
A distribution channel they can plug into
A customer base they can cross-sell into
A strategic capability (data, IP, talent)
A cost structure they can improve
A consolidation move to gain scale
A defensive move to prevent someone else from buying it

That means the best “acquisition screen” isn’t only price and volume. It’s fundamentals, positioning, and incentives.

Here’s the practical framework I use to study targets after seeing these signals.

First, confirm the move is actually abnormal.

Is the stock outperforming its peers and sector materially over a short window without a clear catalyst?

Is volume elevated relative to its own history (not just elevated versus yesterday)?

Is options activity truly unusual, or is the stock simply volatile with an active options market already?

A lot of “unusual” activity is normal for meme-ish names, biotech names near data readouts, small caps with thin floats, or anything sitting on the edge of a technical breakout. You need a baseline before you decide something is “strange.”

Second, look for a plausible buyer universe.

If you can’t name 3–10 potential acquirers in 2 minutes, you probably don’t have an acquisition setup. You have a chart setup.

Who would buy this and why?
Competitors?
A platform company moving down-market or up-market?
A private equity roll-up?
A big company “buying growth” in a segment they’re late to?

If there’s no obvious strategic fit, it’s harder for a real deal to exist. Not impossible. Just less probable.

Third, assess “integration ease.”

Most acquisitions fail at integration, so buyers prefer targets that are simple to digest.

Look for:
A clean product line (not five unrelated products)
A clear ICP and repeatable sales motion
Sticky customers and low churn
Contracted revenue, or at least high gross retention
Clean cap table and no weird governance surprises
Limited regulatory landmines
A team that can be retained without blowing up costs

The more “messy” a company is, the more the buyer needs conviction or desperation. Those deals happen, but they’re rarer.

Fourth, ask: why would it be for sale now?

Acquisitions often happen when:
Growth is slowing and the company needs a parent
The company is too small to win the next stage alone
The market is down and valuations are attractive
A strategic buyer has a window (budget, leadership mandate, competitive threat)
A founder wants liquidity
A sector is consolidating rapidly

If you can’t articulate why “now” makes sense, you’re missing the timing puzzle.

Fifth, separate “deal behavior” from “market behavior.”

Here’s where a lot of people get tricked.

A stock can display every pre-announcement pattern you described and still not get acquired.

Why?
Because the market loves narratives. “This is a takeout candidate” is a narrative. It’s one of the oldest narratives in the book.

And narratives can create self-fulfilling runs for a while, especially in small/mid caps where incremental demand moves the price more than it should.

When that happens, the stock becomes priced as if a deal is likely. Now the risk flips. You’re no longer betting on upside. You’re betting on whether the deal actually arrives before sentiment dies.

Sixth, build your “study set” the right way.

You already have a great start with the last five years of acquired tickers. Now turn that list into a real dataset.

For each acquired company, capture:
Market cap at announcement
Premium (%) over last close, and over 30-day VWAP if you can
The 30 trading days before announcement: price change, max drawdown, volume multiple, and volatility
Options: call volume multiple, implied vol change, skew changes (if available)
Industry and buyer type (strategic vs PE)
Deal type (cash, stock, mixed)
Whether there were rumors or press leaks beforehand
Whether the company was already publicly “in play” (activist involvement, strategic review, etc.)

Then compare it to a control group.
Pick a set of similar companies that were not acquired and measure the same metrics over random 30-day windows.

That comparison is everything.

Because without a control group, your brain will cherry-pick “wow look at that run-up” examples and miss the thousands of times the same pattern happened and led to nothing.

Finally, the ethical and practical reality check.

If these signals are sometimes tied to leaks or insider behavior, the goal as an outside investor isn’t to “compete with that.” You can’t. You don’t have the information, and you don’t want to be part of anything that looks like you’re leaning on non-public info.

The legitimate use here is pattern recognition and probability work.

You’re trying to build a disciplined process for:
Spotting unusual activity
Assessing whether the business is plausibly acquirable
Understanding whether the market is pricing in a deal
Avoiding the trap of confusing “interesting” with “actionable”

If I had to condense the whole research piece into one clean takeaway, it’s this:

Pre-announcement signals are real, and they’re common. But they are not an edge by themselves. They are an invitation to do deeper fundamental work and to think in probabilities, not predictions.

And the best way to get better at this is exactly what you’re already doing: build the list, study the tape, measure the patterns, and keep a running notebook of what “real” looks like versus what “noise” looks like.

Because after you review enough of these, you’ll start to notice something that changes your entire mindset.

The most valuable skill isn’t spotting the run-up.

It’s knowing when the run-up is already the entire trade.

Pre-Announcement Price Run-Ups

One well-documented pattern is a “run-up” in the target company’s stock price in the days and weeks prior to an acquisition announcement. Research consistently finds that takeover targets’ share prices often increase substantially before the news becomes public (How Social Connections and Information Leaks Affect the Stock Prices of Takeover Targets | CLS Blue Sky Blog). In fact, roughly one-third of a target’s total deal-related price gain tends to occur before the official announcement ( What Causes the Target Stock Price Run-Up Prior to M&A Announcements? | Journal of Accounting and Finance ). These pre-announcement gains can start appearing about a month in advance – one classic study found no abnormal price movement until ~25 trading days before the announcement, after which the target’s stock began climbing noticeably ([PDF] Gradual Incorporation of Information into Stock Prices – MIT Economics). Such early price strength is unusual in the absence of news, and it frequently draws attention because it suggests that some investors may be trading on anticipation or leaked information.

Surges in Trading Volume

Alongside price run-ups, trading volume in the target’s stock often spikes in the period leading up to a merger or buyout. Many companies set to be acquired show abnormally high volume in the days/weeks beforehand as informed or speculative buyers snap up shares. Academic analysis of U.S. takeovers found that nearly 1 in 5 deals (≈19%) exhibit statistically significant abnormal stock volume in the month before the announcement (). The most dramatic volume surges typically occur in the final days prior to the news (). For example, H.J. Heinz Co.’s stock traded at double its average daily volume on the day before its 2013 buyout was announced (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina). Observers noted an uptick in large block trades of Heinz shares in the last trading sessions before the announcement (e.g. multiple 10,000+ share blocks appeared just days prior) (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina). This kind of unusually heavy accumulation of shares – especially without any clear external catalyst – is a classic warning sign that the market suspects an acquisition is imminent.

Unusual Options Activity and Other Signals

In addition to the stock itself, derivatives markets (especially stock options) often flash early signals of an upcoming takeover. Researchers have documented pervasive spikes in call option buying, jumps in implied volatility, and widening option bid-ask spreads for target companies shortly before M&A announcements (Informed Options Trading prior to M&A Announcements: Insider Trading? | Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance). Notably, out-of-the-money call options – essentially leveraged bets that the stock will rise sharply – see the most pronounced activity. About 25% of all takeovers show unusually high call option volume in the month before the deal, concentrated in short-dated OTM calls (). These patterns suggest some traders are positioning for a big upside move, consistent with private knowledge of an upcoming bid. Statistically, the magnitude of option volume seen in many pre-M&A cases is extremely rare by chance – one study notes the probability of observing such “strongly unusual” option volume on any random day is on the order of only a few in a trillion (Informed Options Trading prior to M&A Announcements: Insider Trading? | Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance). In short, the options market often amplifies the signals of insider optimism: surging call volumes and volatility on a target’s options are key red flags that something major (like a buyout) may be in the offing.

Insider Trading vs. Market Anticipation

These pre-merger price and volume anomalies raise the critical question: are they driven by illegal insider trading, or just savvy speculation and rumor? In some cases, market chatter or industry news can lead investors to correctly anticipate a takeover (for example, if a company is known to be “in play,” traders may pile in on takeover rumors). However, academic evidence indicates that much of the unusual pre-announcement trading is hard to explain by benign factors. One extensive study of options trading found that over half of the detected abnormal activity prior to M&A could not be accounted for by public information, market rumors, standard insider transactions, or normal deal anticipation (). Similarly, another analysis noted that pre-deal run-ups were larger when there was less media attention and oversight on insider trading, consistent with leaks occurring when perpetrators felt they could fly under the radar ( What Causes the Target Stock Price Run-Up Prior to M&A Announcements? | Journal of Accounting and Finance ). In fact, the patterns observed (heavy early buying of the target, especially via options) line up closely with known cases of insider trading. Researchers have concluded that many pre-announcement surges likely reflect traders using confidential knowledge that a merger is coming, rather than just coincidence ( What Causes the Target Stock Price Run-Up Prior to M&A Announcements? | Journal of Accounting and Finance ). Notably, those with inside information often concentrate their trades shortly before the announcement to maximize profit and reduce exposure – studies show most “informed” trading happens within about 5–10 days of the announcement date (). Of course, not every pre-merger stock jump is nefarious – some can result from speculation or legitimate information leaks (e.g. a news article hinting at a deal). But when price and volume movements far exceed normal levels without any official news, regulators and researchers view it as a strong indication of possible insider activity rather than mere market anticipation.

Regulatory Oversight and Case Studies

Because of the frequency of these patterns, regulators closely monitor trading activity around M&A events. In the U.S., the SEC’s Market Surveillance unit uses real-time data analytics to flag unusual price or volume movements in the days leading up to major announcements. Suspicious trading spikes often trigger investigations to determine if insider trading occurred. Historical cases underscore how common – and profitable – trading on inside M&A information can be, and how regulators respond:

Heinz (2013): Just before Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital announced their $28 billion takeover of H.J. Heinz, Heinz’s stock saw highly unusual activity. On Feb 13, 2013 (the day before the news), volume spiked to roughly twice the monthly average and numerous large block trades went through (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina) (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina). The very next day, the stock jumped 20% on the public announcement. Sensing something amiss, the SEC filed an emergency complaint within 24 hours to freeze the accounts of certain traders who had amassed call options just before the deal (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina). Those traders’ positions – a $90,000 bet on Heinz calls – became worth $1.8 million overnight, a windfall that clearly caught regulators’ attention (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina). This swift action was aimed at cracking down on what appeared to be insider trading profits.
Reebok (2005): Prior to the announcement that Reebok would be acquired by Adidas (revealed August 3, 2005), an unusual surge in Reebok call option purchases had quietly taken place. When the deal went public – sending Reebok’s stock up about 30% in a day – it came to light that the SEC’s surveillance staff had detected the odd call option volume in the days leading up to the news (Statement at SEC v. Anticevic Press Conference (Mark K. Schonfeld); April 11, 2006). Within 48 hours of the announcement, an SEC investigation traced the trades to a ring of individuals spanning the U.S. and Europe, including a retired seamstress in Croatia whose account improbably made over $2 million on Reebok options in the span of two days (Statement at SEC v. Anticevic Press Conference (Mark K. Schonfeld); April 11, 2006) (Statement at SEC v. Anticevic Press Conference (Mark K. Schonfeld); April 11, 2006). The SEC promptly froze assets and filed charges, uncovering one of the most notorious insider-trading schemes of that era.
Activision Blizzard (2022): In the week before Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard was announced, a trio of well-connected investors made an extraordinarily timed bet. Media mogul Barry Diller, his stepson Alexander von Furstenberg, and David Geffen purchased a large block of Activision call options just days before the merger news broke. Once the deal was announced, their options position stood to gain roughly $60 million in unrealized profit (U.S. probes options trade gained on Microsoft-Activision deal – WSJ | Reuters). The trade was so fortuitous that U.S. authorities took notice: the Justice Department opened an insider trading investigation, and the SEC launched a parallel civil probe into whether those bets were made with non-public knowledge of the deal (U.S. probes options trade gained on Microsoft-Activision deal – WSJ | Reuters) (U.S. probes options trade gained on Microsoft-Activision deal – WSJ | Reuters). (All three men denied having any insider information, and the SEC ultimately closed the inquiry without charges.) The episode illustrates how regulators remain on high alert for well-timed, large trades by individuals closely tied to industry insiders.

Despite such high-profile enforcement actions, it’s worth noting that only a fraction of suspicious trading actually results in regulatory charges. One comprehensive study found the SEC pursued insider-trading cases in only about 8% of M&A deals where unusual pre-announcement trading activity was detected (). In other words, many instances of anomalous trading before acquisitions go officially unsanctioned, either because they are hard to prove or slip under the radar. Nonetheless, the patterns of what happens in the market are consistent enough that they serve as reliable indicators of potential deal activity – so much so that regulators and savvy investors alike watch for these signals.

Key Indicators of a Potential Upcoming Acquisition

In summary, researchers and market observers have identified several common warning signs in trading patterns that often precede an acquisition announcement:

Sharp Stock Price Appreciation: A significant upward drift in the target company’s share price in the days or weeks before any public announcement (far outpacing the market or sector) can signal that investors with knowledge or hunches are bidding up the stock (How Social Connections and Information Leaks Affect the Stock Prices of Takeover Targets | CLS Blue Sky Blog). This “run-up” frequently represents a substantial portion of the eventual takeover premium ( What Causes the Target Stock Price Run-Up Prior to M&A Announcements? | Journal of Accounting and Finance ).
Unusual Trading Volume Spikes: Volume surging well above normal levels – especially sudden spikes without news – is a red flag. For instance, trading activity doubling or tripling the average daily volume (as seen in cases like Heinz) suggests accumulation by those “in the know.” Such volume spikes often cluster in the last few trading days pre-announcement (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina).
Heavy Call Option Buying: Spikes in bullish options activity (particularly call options with strike prices above the current stock price) are a telltale indicator. An outsized jump in call option volume and open interest, accompanied by rising implied volatility, indicates some traders are aggressively positioning for a near-term stock price jump (Informed Options Trading prior to M&A Announcements: Insider Trading? | Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance). This is frequently observed ahead of M&A news and is often an even stronger anomaly than stock trading itself (since options provide higher leverage and attract informed traders) ().
Large Block Trades or Stake Building: The appearance of unusually large trades (blocks of shares) or rapid accumulation of a company’s stock by certain investors can precede an acquisition. Such activity might be an acquirer (or arbitrageurs) quietly building a toehold position, or insiders using others to purchase shares. A flurry of block trades in the absence of public catalysts is often viewed as suspicious pre-merger accumulation (Trading Before Heinz Buyout Triggers SEC Investigation in North Carolina).
Sector-wide Movements and Rumors: Sometimes the price moves extend to industry peers or rivals. If a company is rumored to be in play, its stock – and even competitors’ stocks – may all rise on speculation. While rumors by themselves are public, a notable pattern is when stocks move before any rumor reaches the news (suggesting the “whisper network” of insiders has been active). Informed traders might also buy shares of rival firms to profit from expected sympathy gains once a merger is announced (a strategy supported by research on options of industry rivals) ().

Each of these indicators on its own can occur for innocent reasons, but when multiple such signals appear in tandem, and in close proximity to an eventual M&A announcement, it strongly points to market anticipation or insider knowledge. Investors and regulators have learned to keep a keen eye on these patterns. In practice, an unexplained surge in volume and price, coupled with heavy call-option betting, is often the clearest harbinger of an upcoming acquisition – effectively tipping off those watching that “something is up” even before any official word hits the tape. (Informed Options Trading prior to M&A Announcements: Insider Trading? | Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance)

Now some stocks that have been acquired the last 5 years or so:

2020 Acquired Companies (NYSE/NASDAQ)

Public companies on the NYSE or NASDAQ that were acquired in 2020 include (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia) (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia):

Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) – acquired by Natura & Co. in January 2020.
AK Steel Holding (NYSE: AKS) – acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs in March 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) – acquired by AbbVie in May 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
AMAG Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMAG) – acquired by Covis Pharma in November 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Anixter International (NYSE: AXE) – acquired by WESCO International in June 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Care.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRCM) – acquired by IAC/InterActiveCorp in February 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) – acquired by Infineon Technologies in April 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) – assets acquired by Dairy Farmers of America in 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Delphi Technologies (NYSE: DLPH) – acquired by BorgWarner in October 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Dunkin’ Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) – taken private by Inspire Brands in December 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ: ETFC) – acquired by Morgan Stanley in October 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Eros International plc (NYSE: EROS) – merged into ErosSTX Global in 2020 (Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
GAIN Capital Holdings (NYSE: GCAP) – acquired by INTL FCStone (StoneX Group) in July 2020.
GNC Holdings (NYSE: GNC) – acquired out of bankruptcy by Harbin Pharmaceutical in October 2020.
The Habit Restaurants (NASDAQ: HABT) – acquired by Yum! Brands (KFC/Taco Bell parent) in March 2020.
IberiaBank Corporation (NASDAQ: IBKC) – merged with First Horizon in July 2020.
Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU) – acquired by Gilead Sciences in October 2020.
Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) – acquired by Franklin Templeton in July 2020.
Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LPT) – acquired by Prologis in February 2020.
Livongo Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVGO) – merged with Teladoc Health in October 2020.
Mellanox Technologies (NASDAQ: MLNX) – acquired by NVIDIA in April 2020.
Mobile Mini, Inc. (NASDAQ: MINI) – merged with WillScot in July 2020.
Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL) – merged with Pfizer’s Upjohn to form Viatris in November 2020 (Mylan – Wikipedia) (Mylan – Wikipedia).
Noble Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBL) – acquired by Chevron in October 2020.
OMNOVA Solutions (NYSE: OMN) – acquired by Synthomer plc in April 2020.
OnDeck Capital (NYSE: ONDK) – acquired by Enova International in October 2020.
Pattern Energy Group (NASDAQ: PEGI) – taken private by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2020.
Portola Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PTLA) – acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals in July 2020.
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) – merged with United Technologies to form Raytheon Technologies (RTX) in April 2020.
Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) – merged into T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020 (T‑Mobile Completes Merger with Sprint to Create the New T‑Mobile).
TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) – acquired by Charles Schwab in October 2020.
The Stars Group (NASDAQ: TSG) – merged with Flutter Entertainment in May 2020.
Wright Medical Group N.V. (NASDAQ: WMGI) – acquired by Stryker Corporation in November 2020.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) – merged with Eldorado Resorts (renamed Caesars Entertainment) in July 2020.

2021 Acquired Companies (NYSE/NASDAQ)

Major publicly traded companies acquired in 2021 include (Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia) (After $27.7 bln deal, Salesforce aims to connect companies via Slack):

Acceleron Pharma (NASDAQ: XLRN) – acquired by Merck in November 2021 (Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Aphria Inc. (NASDAQ: APHA) – merged with Tilray in May 2021 (Tilray remained the public company).
Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) – acquired by AstraZeneca in July 2021 (Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
Extended Stay America (NASDAQ: STAY) – taken private by Blackstone/Starwood in June 2021.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU) – merged with PSA Group to form Stellantis in January 2021.
Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE: FIT) – acquired by Google in January 2021 (Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR) – acquired by Teledyne Technologies in May 2021 (Teledyne Technologies – FamousFix.com list).
Grubhub, Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) – acquired by Just Eat Takeaway in June 2021 (Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions – Wikipedia).
GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH) – acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals in May 2021.
Inphi Corporation (NASDAQ: IPHI) – acquired by Marvell Technology in April 2021.
Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) – acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway (through a voting trust) in December 2021.
Maxim Integrated Products (NASDAQ: MXIM) – acquired by Analog Devices in August 2021.
Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) – acquired by IAC’s Dotdash (digital media) in December 2021.
Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) – acquired by Microsoft in March 2022 (announced 2021, closed 2022).
Proofpoint, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) – taken private by Thoma Bravo in August 2021.
QEP Resources (NYSE: QEP) – acquired by Diamondback Energy in March 2021.
Slack Technologies (NYSE: WORK) – acquired by Salesforce on July 21, 2021 (After $27.7 bln deal, Salesforce aims to connect companies via Slack).
Taubman Centers (NYSE: TCO) – retail REIT acquired by Simon Property Group in March 2021.
Boston Private Financial Holdings (NASDAQ: BPFH) – acquired by SVB Financial Group in July 2021.
Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) – taken private by PIMCO in December 2021.
Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) – acquired by Veritas Capital/Evergreen in May 2021.
Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS) – acquired by Paper Excellence (via Karta Halten) in November 2021.
J. Alexander’s Holdings (NYSE: JAX) – acquired by SPB Hospitality in September 2021.
PRA Health Sciences (NASDAQ: PRAH) – acquired by ICON plc in July 2021.
Shaw Communications – (NYSE: SJR) – acquired by Rogers Communications (closed in 2023, approved in 2022). (NYSE-listed via ADR).

2022 Acquired Companies (NYSE/NASDAQ)

Significant NYSE/NASDAQ-listed companies acquired in 2022 include (Musk begins his Twitter ownership with firings, declares the ‘bird is freed’ | Reuters) (Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) to complete acquisition of Zynga (ZNGA) next week | Shacknews):

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) – *[deal announced 2022, *completed October 2023] – acquired by Microsoft (Microsoft closes $69 billion Activision deal after Britain’s nod | Reuters).
Alleghany Corporation (NYSE: Y) – acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in October 2022.
Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE: PLAN) – taken private by Thoma Bravo in June 2022.
Avalara, Inc. (NYSE: AVLR) – taken private by Vista Equity Partners in October 2022.
Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) – acquired by Oracle in June 2022.
Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) – taken private by Vista Equity/ Elliott in September 2022.
Mandiant, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNDT) – acquired by Google in September 2022.
McAfee Corp. (NASDAQ: MCFE) – taken private by an investor group in March 2022.
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) – taken private by a consortium in October 2022.
Ping Identity (NYSE: PING) – taken private by Thoma Bravo in October 2022.
SailPoint Technologies (NYSE: SAIL) – taken private by Thoma Bravo in August 2022.
Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM) – acquired by Cargill/Continental Grain in July 2022.
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) – acquired by Elon Musk in October 2022 (Musk begins his Twitter ownership with firings, declares the ‘bird is freed’ | Reuters).
Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) – taken private by Hellman & Friedman/Permira in November 2022.
Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) – acquired by Take-Two Interactive in May 2022 (Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) to complete acquisition of Zynga (ZNGA) next week | Shacknews) (Zynga shares ceased trading on NASDAQ upon deal close).

2023 Acquired Companies (NYSE/NASDAQ)

Notable companies acquired in 2023 include (Microsoft closes $69 billion Activision deal after Britain’s nod | Reuters):

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) – [completed] acquired by Microsoft on October 13, 2023 (Microsoft closes $69 billion Activision deal after Britain’s nod | Reuters).
Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (NYSE: AJRD) – acquired by L3Harris Technologies in July 2023.
Coupa Software (NASDAQ: COUP) – taken private by Thoma Bravo in February 2023.
Horizon Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: HZNP) – acquired by Amgen in October 2023.
Maxar Technologies (NYSE: MAXR) – taken private by Advent International in May 2023.
Qualtrics International (NASDAQ: XM) – taken private by Silver Lake and CPP Investments in June 2023.
Store Capital (NYSE: STOR) – taken private by GIC and Oak Street in February 2023.
Univar Solutions (NYSE: UNVR) – taken private by Apollo Global Management in August 2023.
VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) – acquired by Broadcom in October 2023.
Weber Inc. (NYSE: WEBR) – taken private by BDT Capital Partners in March 2023.
Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) – acquired by Pan American Silver & Agnico Eagle Mines in March 2023.

Lots to study here!