Increased investment in technology has offered answers to many of the challenges brought by the pandemic. Dealmakers have been highly active this year, and this survey of 300 corporate and private equity executives shows they plan to continue investing in technologies that will transform industries through digitalization and the effective harnessing of data.
Key findings from the report include:
- 78% and 57% of respondents, respectively, expect aggregate tech M&A deal volumes and average values to increase between May 2021 and May 2022.
- Cloud technology is cited as the first-choice subsector by 19% of respondents for the best near-term opportunities for dealmaking. By comparison, artificial intelligence/machine learning attracts only 3% of first-choice votes.
- The key driver of respondents’ tech M&A strategy between May 2021 and May 2022 will be scaling up to increase competitiveness, with 22% identifying this as the most important factor for their organization.
- 25% of respondents believe the greatest challenge facing tech M&A between May 2021 and May 2022 will be a stricter regulatory and foreign direct investment environment, while 19% cite the damaging effects of tech protectionism.