Tech industry's biggest M&A deals of 2008

The top 15 mergers and acquisition deals in the network industry for 2008 were worth nearly US$65 billion, and companies involved ran the gamut from those specializing in IT services to network routers to wireless and security. Carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless and CenturyTel were among the biggest spenders. Given the practically nonexistent tech IPO market, buyouts proved to be a popular exit strategy for many this year. 

We've consolidated 60-plus tech M&A deals (and counting) from this year in our ongoing slideshow. Note that in many deals, the vendors don't publicly say how much they're forking over for their prize acquisitions, but here, we'll recap the top 15 based on publicly disclosed transaction values:

1. Verizon Wireless-Alltel: $28.1 billion (includes $22.2 billion in debt)

Apparently tired of being the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, Verizon Wireless is vaulting past AT&T via this buyout of the nation's fifth-largest wireless carrier. After adding Alltel's 13 million customers to its ranks, Verizon will have the most subscribers in the United States, with around 80 million. AT&T, which has mostly held the lead for total wireless subscribers since merging with Cingular in 2004, had an estimated 71 million subscribers at the time the deal was announced in June. As is frequently the case with big carrier deals, the Department of Justice requested that Verizon shed some assets in the name of fair competition. The Federal Trade Commission gave its blessing to the deal in December.

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