Now that we’re in the final quarter of 2022, it’s a perfect moment to pause and assess this year’s tech market trends. This has certainly been a dramatic period, with inflationary pressures, hiked interest rates and geopolitical issues all affecting the global M&A market. 

There’s a lot of data to digest, but here at Hampleton we’ve distilled down the essential facts for different tech sectors in our latest batch of market reports. You can download them all here, and here’s a quick taster of some of our latest findings. 

The uptick in demand for electric vehicles represents one of the most significant shifts in consumer habits this century. Indeed, despite worldwide economic pressures and supply chain problems, EV car sales are expected to grow 56% by the end of the year.

Alongside the EV revolution, a new autotech ecosystem has developed, with drivers now able to update their vehicles’ software straight from the cloud (like smartphones), and the likes of Toyota and Volkswagen developing their own in-house operating systems. The robust health of the sector is reflected in the fact that M&A deal volume hit an all-time high in 1H2022. 

The vast majority of transactions have targeted companies that create enterprise applications, such as CRM SaaS platforms, dealership management systems, and automotive PLM software. One of the biggest deals in this subsector was the $65 million acquisition of the Accu-Trade Group, creators of vehicle valuation and appraisal software. Download our report to find out more about this and other deals, and to learn which other autotech subsectors have been attracting interest.

As with autotech, the enterprise software market has managed to withstand the headwinds of 2022. The data speaks for itself, with 1,015 M&A transactions recorded in the first half of the year. That was a marked increase from the already sky-high figures of 2H2021. 

We’ve identified two key factors behind the impressive figures. One is the ever-increasing demand for cloud-based software solutions for businesses. The other is the fact that the subscription-based model of such solutions creates reliable revenue streams, making these platforms attractive bets for investors.

Eight of these deals were closed by Norwegian business software giant Visma, which has now become the top enterprise software acquirer of the past 30 months. Other leading players snapping up tech companies in this sector have been Volaris, Thoma Bravo and Main Capital Partners. Download our newest report for more details on what acquirers like these are looking for in potential M&A targets.

The impact of 2022’s market forces on e-commerce stocks has been discussed at length in the industry press, and there was certainly a marked decline in M&A numbers in Q2 and Q3 of this year. That being said, there have been notable deals within this space, with the likes of Accenture, Salesforce and Spotify making significant digital commerce acquisitions in 2022.

As our report puts it, ‘even in turbulent times, there is always an M&A market’, and it is worth noting that transaction numbers – while lower than what was seen last year – now align with average figures from immediately before the pandemic. For details about key acquisitions within individual digital commerce subsectors, and how things might pan out in 2023, download the report here.

ESG compliance is now a critical consideration for businesses, and not just because of increased regulatory scrutiny and meeting consumer expectations of corporate responsibility. Investors and acquirers are also prioritising the ESG credentials of the companies they take an interest in. 

All of this has led to increased demand for tech firms specialising in ESG reporting solutions. The first half of 2022 saw a whopping 173% increase in deal numbers compared to the equivalent period in 2019. Providers of outsourced ESG services have been in particularly high demand, with more companies acquired in the first half of this year than in 2020 and 2021 put together. Accenture has been one of the more prolific buyers in this subsector, snapping up ESG consultancies like Greenfish and Akzente. 

You can find out which other ESG subsectors have been doing numbers, and learn more about why important reporting has become for investors, by downloading our report.

Fintech has been going great guns this year, with a 46% rise in deal numbers between 1H2021 and 1H2022. Our new market report identifies a number of megatrends within this space, such as the increasing importance of fintech AI, and a surge in the use of open banking services. Consumers are more and more accustomed to giving third parties access to their bank account information, providing huge growth potential for purveyors of open banking apps.

Financial management solutions companies have attracted the lion’s share of M&A activity. That is to say, companies that specialise in revenue management, payroll, invoicing and financial planning software. Deal volume in this subsector experienced a record-breaking surge in 1H2022, with a 44% increase from the year before.

Another fintech subsector that has seen a spike in deals is crypto, and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% to $2.2 billion by 2026. Read our full report for more on the blockchain’s significance in fintech, as well as in-depth analysis of other trends. 

CIOs are continuing to heavily invest in IT services, with worldwide spending in 2022 expected to reach $4.5 trillion. Our new report on the sector notes that IT outsourced services companies have enjoyed particular M&A interest. This is because price increases and delivery uncertainty (in part worsened by geopolitical risks like the Ukraine conflict) have prompted a shift from IT ownership to service sourcing. 

As a consequence, we’ve seen big players purchase providers of such services, often in niche areas, in order to bolster their suite of outsourced offerings for clients. For example, this year saw Accenture expand its capabilities in edge computing by acquiring the silicon design services company XtremeEDA. 

Get the lowdown on some of the other most deal-active subsectors within IT & Business Services, and the reasons behind their popularity, by reading our report now.