Despite a downward trend in investment across the board, the information technology (ICT) sector has seen a rebound in the second quarter of 2013. Private investment firms invested 12,500$ million in 65 deals in the second quarter, which is at a similar level to the last two years.
The ICT sector remains untouched by the general downturn
According to information provided by Pitchbook, in recent years the sector has maintained its interest from an investment point of view. Although invested capital remains below peak levels, 2012 saw the highest post-crisis level with 312 transactions and 2013 seems to maintain this trend.
"Valuations have been high in recent years, which is keeping many investors out. Despite this, many investors are finding ways to do expansion capital operations by taking minority stakes and smaller contributions," says Diego Gutiérrez, corporate finance expert at ABRA INVEST.
Despite high valuations, company sales are stagnating
Investors are not putting their portfolios up for sale despite the good returns they are receiving. There have been only 22 sales during the first half of the year, which is less than half of the same period in 2012.
"We see two possible reasons for this small number of exits. At the end of 2012 there was a lot of selling and this may have delayed the next cycle. Another reason is that investors have expectations of a substantial improvement in fundamentals in a short period of time and therefore expect a better valuation," analyses Diego Gutierrrez.
Saas and Healthcare most relevant sectors
Investors are focusing on companies that can deliver improvements in cash-flow generation and lower overhead costs, particularly with "software as a service" (Saas). This trend looks set to continue in the coming months for both business-to-business (B2B) and consumer (B2C) services.
Another segment that is gaining attraction is the health ICT segment, driven by the upcoming passage of the Affordable Care Act, which will lead to an improvement in the quality of health care. transparency of costsin data analysis and infrastructure.
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