IT sector records USD 11.5 billion deal value

New Delhi: Led by e-commerce PE investments, the technology sector in India recorded the highest deal value of USD 11.5 billion from around 400 deals in 2014, says a  report.  According to a Grant Thornton-IVCA report, the high deal value in this segment this year was largely driven by big  ticket e-commerce PE investments along with large cross-border  acquisitions by leading IT majors. 

The trend has continued into this year as well with large  IT and BPO players looking at cross border acquisitions to  consolidate service offerings and expand geographic coverage.  "India, from being merely a technology adapter or  importer, is now becoming a creator for technology enabled  disruptive solutions," Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Harish  HV said.  Going forward, the outlook for corporate India's deal  making spree looks bullish amid a stabilising capital market,  stable government and hopes of new reforms. 

Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association  (IVCA) President Arvind Mathur said: "VC/PE is swiftly  becoming the avenue of choice for dynamic companies seeking finance to fund their growth plans."  Harish said: "The presence of a complete life cycle of investors from angel, to seed to VC to PE to Public has no  doubt contributed to this trend and we can safely say that the  ecosystem for a start-up is in place and that combined with  entrepreneurship has resulted in an explosive growth of  start-ups and deal activity." 

Over the last two years, e-commerce or technology enabled  companies have shown significant growth in both volume and  value of deals.  E-commerce accounted for 30 per cent of the total value  of deals in technology sector in 2012, which augmented to 75 per cent in 2014, the report added.