Report: IT & Business Services
Current Trends and Figures

M&A activity in the IT Services sector has remained at record-high levels this past year, with transaction volumes stabilising to 611 deals in 2H2022 – well above pre-pandemic levels.

For many enterprises, inflation, delivery uncertainty, and geopolitical risk have accelerated the transition from IT ownership to IT service sourcing, meaning more spending on managed services and cloud than on on-premise capabilities. In addition, the IT skills shortage has compelled CIOs to focus on competitive salaries for employee acquisition and retention. On the one hand, this has galvanised an increase in software and services costs and spending. On the other, it is making organic growth increasingly difficult for providers of IT services.

Globally, there are over 1,700 professional services and system integrators that have made at least one acquisition and over 300 that have made two or more purchases since mid-2020. Some of the most prolific buyers include Capgemini, Cognizant, Deloitte, and IBM, with Accenture continuing to head the list of Top Buyers having completed over 72 acquisitions in the last 30 months.