China's PE/VC investment in TMT kept strong pace in second half of 2017

China's private equity and venture capital investment in telecommunications, media and technology continued strongly overall in the second half of 2017, a PwC report released today said.

From June to December, 2,528 PE/VC investment deals amounting to US$33.96 billion were sealed, the report said. Although the number of deals fell 3 percent and the value shed 12 percent from the first six months, the report said the second half notched the second-best half-year performance since 2015.

There were 57 large-size deals of over US$100 million each in the second half of last year, the report said.

Among them, China Unicom raised nearly US$5.89 billion in the fourth quarter, making it the largest single deal by value since 2015.

"The total investments in TMT accounted for more than 50 percent of all investments over the period, further consolidating the pivotal position of TMT. The trend was helped by the expansion and growth of unicorn enterprises sealing high value deals," said Jianbin Gao, TMT Leader of PwC China. "Overall, more large-sized deals were made particularly in Internet services and Internet finance sectors."

Investment in Internet and mobile Internet still led by both deal number and value among the four main sub sectors of TMT in the second half of 2017, with 33 deals valued at over US$100 million each. 

The technology sector followed with 17 deals valued at over US$100 million each, as capital favored artificial intelligence and corporate services companies. Investment in the telecommunications sector rose significantly thanks to a huge single deal, while that in entertainment and media cooled, according to the report.

The top five regions favored by investors in the TMT industry in the second half of 2017 were Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Zhejiang and Guangdong (excluding Shenzhen), according to the report.