Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector has reportedly experienced a notable surge, with cloud computing emerging as a dominant theme.
Despite persistent inflation, high interest rates, regulatory scrutiny, and geopolitical tensions, businesses continue to prioritize cloud investments for scalability, agility, and operational efficiency, according to a new report by GlobalData.
The research revealed that cloud-related deals reached USD 61 billion in 2024, reflecting a 221% growth from the previous year. This makes cloud the second-largest theme among the top 100 deals. The total global TMT M&A deal value rose by 27% to USD 514 billion in 2024, compared to USD 403 billion in 2023. Deal volume also saw an uptick, increasing by 14% to 512 transactions.
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M&A Activity in APAC
Blackstone's acquisition of AirTrunk for USD 16 billion was the largest cloud deal of the year, also marking the biggest deal in the APAC region (excluding China).
Beyond cloud computing, application software dominated M&A activity in TMT, contributing USD 253 billion across 230 deals. Other active sectors included telecom services, IT services, music, film and TV, and gaming.
While M&A activity in the TMT sector saw robust growth in 2024, experts caution that dealmaking in 2025 may face headwinds due to economic uncertainties. However, with potential easing of inflation and lower interest rates, a gradual recovery in M&A activity could be on the horizon.
Major cloud players like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Oracle are expected to continue acquiring AI-native cloud firms, cybersecurity providers, and data analytics companies to strengthen their cloud ecosystems.
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