Digitalisation, decarbonisation drive M&A deals in APAC

Technology, and media and telecom (TMT) was the busiest sector in the Asia Pacific region by volume with 622 deals.

Businesses’ pursuit of digital transformation has been driving deal making activity in Asia Pacific and several experts predict it will continue to do so for the remainder of 2023. First-quarter activity showed that the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sector contributed two of the largest deals in the region and was the busiest sector in terms of deal volume, with 622 transactions.

 

“Tech acquisitions have been a consistent force driving mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Last year, we saw a lot of deals revolving around artificial intelligence and the future of work,” Sapana Maheria, director for Thematic Research at GlobalData Plc, told Singapore Business Review.

“Automation and cybersecurity were very strong themes in the last few years. Cloud is also a very strong theme,” Maheria added.

These days, generative AI applications such as ChatGPT are making waves in the market. “I think innovation and tech are the two things that are going to be very strong drivers for M&As in 2023. What we expect is that as cost-cutting is going to be one of the main focus areas for businesses, we will see a lot of focus on automation, with innovations, (and) more collaborative tools really picking up, hence, driving the M&A deal trends as well,” she said.