Ann Arbor startups are promising acquisition targets

Ann Arbor’s growing high-tech ecosystem is attracting outside firms to set up new offices or even grow their Ann Arbor acquisitions. Now if we could only convince them to move their headquarters here.Excerpt:Ann Arbor’s hottest homegrown startup companies are fast becoming a way for the region to attract major global corporations and other rapidly growing firms to set up shop here.Several local startups were sold over the last 2 years to corporations based outside of Michigan. But Ann Arbor economic development officials say they are encouraged the newcomers have maintained the local operations of the companies they targeted.It’s a sign that Ann Arbor’s talent base in sectors such as medical devices and information technology is too valuable for these corporations to simply abandon.The latest encouraging sign came Aug. 9, when Plano, Texas-based Tektronix Communications, a subsidiary of $12.2 billion Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR), said it had reached a deal to buy University of Michigan network security spinoff Arbor Networks.”These companies come in and acquire our startups – assuming they continue to grow here, which it seems like they are – it’s a really good thing for our region and our state,” said Ken Nisbet, executive director of U-M’s Technology Transfer Office.Read the rest of the story here.