VietNamNet Bridge – Information technology (IT) specialists said that mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity will be more active this year as venture funds and enterprises are seeking investment opportunities in the sector.

The sector will see bustling M&A deals this year, especially in e-commerce, Internet service, e-payment and mobile transactions, Chu Tien Dung, chairman of the HCMC Computer Association, was quoted as saying by The Saigon Times Daily.

Investors will pay attention to products and services related to e-commerce such as e-payment, inventory management solutions, online forwarding and delivery, and Internet services related to training, healthcare and finance and real estate.

Investors from Japan, Russia and Singapore have plans to invest in the local IT market. They will purchase shares, invest in or acquire an entire company not only to make gains but also to set up a starting point in the new market quickly, Dung said.

M&A deals will not be huge in values but they will mean so much for local enterprises to seek capital and experience from investors to develop the market and management capability, Dung added.

Speaking at a recent seminar for new business start-ups, Do Quoc Hiep, Vice President of IDG Ventures Vietnam, said that the local IT market has heated up. Venture funds are seeking opportunities to invest in new Internet service projects.

IDG Ventures has poured capital into around 40 technology firms in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam, a venture fund from Japan, has started 2014 with its first deal, cooperating with DKT Technology Joint Stock Company to develop the e-commerce solution Bizweb.vn. The fund will invest in four other firms in the country within this year.

Domestic IT firms such as the FPT Group have also expressed interest in acquiring some IT enterprises, especially foreign companies.

Bui Quang Ngoc, FPT Group General Director, said that the group will set aside 50 million USD for acquiring technology enterprises this year.

FPT will conduct M&A deals with partners that can bring new technologies, services or markets to the enterprise. FPT targets companies with around 50 staff or more.

“I hope that FPT will have from one to three successful M&A deals this year,” Ngoc said.

Source: Vietnam Plus