Research: TMT M&A deal value down 31%
April 26, 2023
The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal value in the global Tech, Media, and Telecom (TMT) sector totalled $754 billion (€686bn) in 2022, down 31 per cent from 2021, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. The number of M&A deals in the sector also dropped sharply by 39 per cent in 2022 as climbing inflation raised concerns over economic slowdown, reveals.
GlobalData’s latest report, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in Tech, Media, and Telecom (TMT) 2022 Themes, notes that a total of 612 M&A deals with a transaction value greater than or equal to $50 million were announced in the global TMT sector in 2022.
“For M&A activity in TMT over the past five years, deal activity peaked in Q3 2021 with 283 deals, marking the highest quarterly deal count,” advises Priya Toppo, Thematic Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData. “While the highest quarterly deal value was recorded in Q4 2020 with deals worth $331 billion.”
The US accounted for 69 per cent of total TMT deal value in 2022 and saw $510 billion worth of M&A deals. Europe ranked second, with a total of 163 M&A deals worth $136 billion. APAC (excluding China) saw 94 deals with a total value of $46 billion, while China recorded 47 deals worth a total of $17 billion.
The two biggest deals in the US were Broadcom’s acquisition of all the outstanding shares of VMware for $69 billion and the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft for $69 billion. Europe witnessed several consolidation deals in the telecom sector, the biggest one being Orange Espana’s merger with MásMóvil for $19 billion.
“In 2022, the software and services sector generated a deal value of $431 billion, or 58 per cent of the overall deal value; and a deal volume of 292, or 48 per cent of total deal volume,” notes Toppo. “The hardware sector recorded the second-highest deal value, registering 138 M&A deals worth $134 billion. The Internet and media sector recorded the third-highest deal value, with 136 M&A deals worth $127 billion. Telecom services generated 7 per cent of the total 2022 deal value with just 46 deals worth a total of $54 billion.”