TMT deals drop to three-year low

Private equity and venture capital investment in the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) industry in China sank to a three-year low in the first half, according to a report released on Friday by PwC.

There were 1,649 PE/VC deals in the TMT industry in the first half of 2019, down 12 percent from the second half of 2018. The 878 deals that disclosed financial terms collected a total value of US$14.89 billion, the lowest total in three years.

PwC China TMT Leader and Central China Private Equity Group Leader Gao Jianbin said: "The lack of large-scale and high-quality deals at the supply end was the main factor leading to the decline in investment value."

"In the short term, we expect the investment number in the TMT industry will continue to grow, and further drive the increase of investment value, thanks to the implementation of preferential tax policies for venture capital investments and tax reductions for micro- and small-sized businesses," he added.

The Internet and mobile Internet industries remained the hottest sub-category in terms of investment value in the first half of 2019, with 651 deals generating a total of US$7.737 billion.

Though investments in the Internet and mobile Internet industries have declined overall, online education and network services still performed well. The online education industry saw three deals valued over US$100 million, while total investment value jumped 2.4 times from a year ago.