About Us
MergerNetwork is the oldest online marketplace for buyers and sellers of businesses. It went online in May 1995 under the name M&A Marketplace. View Fact Sheet.
MergerNetwork is owned and operated by Brauns Online Media (formerly Marketplace Technologies), a privately owned company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Brauns Online Media also operates DealStream, an online market for buyers and sellers of commercial real estate.
A History Of Innovation
Brauns Online Media has a long history of technical innovation:
- May 1995 - Brauns Online Media launches MergerNetwork, the first online database of businesses for sale.
- August 1997 - MergerNetwork introduces the first automated search agents for businesses for sale.
- October 2003 - MergerNetwork introduces personalized recommendations for buyers and sellers of businesses.
- August 2006 - MergerNetwork introduces market indexes for over 350 market segments in the business for sale market.
- October 2006 - MergerNetwork launches MatchListing™, a new recommendations system that uses member ratings.
- December 2006 - Brauns Online Media launches DealStream, the first online matching service for buyers and sellers of commercial real estate.
About Our Founder
Brauns Online Media was founded in 1995 by Robert Brauns. Brauns pioneered the use of personal computers in investment banking in the early 80's. As an associate at Lazard Freres, he persuaded the firm to buy an Apple II and wrote the firm's first valuation model in Visicalc.
He left Lazard in 1984 to found Experra Corporation, the first distributor of financial databases formatted for personal computers. At Experra, he conceived of and designed Extract Plus, the first software for importing data into spreadsheets from external databases. Brauns received a patent for Extract Plus in 1995.
Brauns decided to create MergerNetwork the day after he logged onto the Internet for the first time. He taught himself HTML and built the first MergerNetwork web site in just three weeks. Today, more businesses are sold through the Internet than by any other method.
Brauns continues to look for new ways to apply computer technology. He reads widely and had the idea for the new MatchListing™ system after reading the Wisdom Of Crowds by James Surowiecki.
Brauns is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. He is married and lives in Cambridge, MA.
How To Reach Us
Our offices are located at 93 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. Our phone number is +1-617-497-5100
