Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the global technology sector amounted to USD 56.4 billion in the July-September quarter of 2011, an increase of 22 per cent vis-a-vis the year-ago period, according to a report by Ernst & Young.
"In the face of market volatility and macroeconomic uncertainties that are dampening other industries, the mega trends driving global technology M&A so far have continued to push deal values higher," said Joe Steger, Global Technology Transaction Advisory Services Leader at Ernst & Young.
"The increase in values is primarily due to the period of hyper-innovation that technology companies are experiencing," he said.
He further said that technology companies have been delivering rapid waves of innovation around smart mobility, cloud computing, business intelligence/analytics,
social networking, information security and other new technologies.
"The aggregate value of global technology M&A increased 8 per cent sequentially and 22 per cent year-on-year to USD 56.4 billion in the third quarter of 2011," the report stated.
It noted that big-ticket deals dominated in the quarter under review, with the top 11 deals worth a cumulative USD 40.1 billion, or 71 per cent of the total value.
The average value per deal also climbed 14 per cent vis-a-vis the preceding quarter and 26 per cent year-on-year to USD 221 million.
Deals involving smart mobility and business analytics were the highlights of the third quarter of the 2011 calender year, with two deals valued over USD 10 billion each.