Overall private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) investment continued to rise in the first half of 2016, a report released by PwC showed on Wednesday.
According to the report, total PE/VC investment in telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) companies remained positive, accounting for 55 percent of overall industry investment by value and 39 percent by volume over the period.
In the first half of 2016, there were 1,351 PE/VC deals garnering a total value of $33.99 billion in the TMT industry. The second quarter proved particularly notable, with value hitting a record high of $20.05 billion, derived from 634 TMT deals, a decline from the 717 TMT deals in the first quarter.
The TMT industry saw a total of 45 deals with a single deal value more than $100 million during the first half of the year. The highest single deal value in the first quarter was $3.3 billion, while the second quarter included two deals with values of $4.5 billion, marking the highest single-deal value on record.
The large deals contributed to an 800 percent increase in the average deal value in the TMT industry in the first half, elevating from more than $4 million to $36 million.
With regard to activity by TMT sector, the Internet was again positioned front and center, generating deal value in excess $20 billion. There were 32 investments with a single-deal value over $100 million, including five deals that had a single deal value exceeding $1 billion.
The technology sector and the telecommunications and mobile sector also had deals with a single value over $1 billion.
Core investment sectors in the TMT industry were all closely linked to smart modern lifestyles, such as in Internet finance, e-commerce and mobile services. This trend indicates the investor attraction to fresh new companies that add innovation and entrepreneurship in fields that are changing people's lifestyles and living environments, Sunny Dong, PwC China assurance partner, said in the note sent to the Global Times.
