H1 M&A deals near last year’s total: report

“We still observed a strong growth of private equity and venture capital investments during the first half of the year despite some turbulence in equity and debt markets,” said Du Vinh Tran, Ernst & Young Indochina strategy and transactions leader.

Activities in the technology sector, however, has not been as strong as expected although facing strong interest from investors.

There were only four tech-related deals announced in the first half, compared to seven in the previous cycle, Du said, citing a report by Mergermarket.

The property market, however, has experienced lively M&A activities so far this year, like U.S. investment fund Warburg Pincus pouring $250 million into Novaland, or Singapore-based real estate logistics provider GLP establishing a Vietnam unit with a total investment of $1.1 billion.

Du is concerned that deal activities may slow down a bit in the second half-year as investors become more conservative about several macro trends impacting Vietnam’s economy.

“While the country’s fundamentals are still strong, we are not immune from such negative movements as the downturn in capital flow from developed countries to emerging markets, geopolitical tensions, and high inflation.”

Those trends cast doubt on investor confidence in Vietnam and many other markets, Du added.