Despite economic downturn, IT firms still in demand Information technology (IT) companies have been doing well in the economic downturn, and continue to be sought after by investors.   MAF-IMAA, a Swiss research group, believes that many IT firms’ Merger and Acquisition deals (M&A) will be made in 2014, while the most-wanted businesses are  in e-commerce, internet services, online payments and mobility. Vietnamese IT firms have been eyed by many investors, especially from Japan, Russia and Singapore. They buy shares from existing shareholders or buy the entire businesses. The moves show that foreign investors want to start doing business in the Vietnamese market as quickly as they can. A branding expert agreed that 2014 will witness a lot of M&A deals. “The value of the deals may not be big, but will be enough for domestic firms to mobilize capital and improve their corporate skills,” he said. The CEO of AVM Vietnam, Dang Xuan Minh, believes that  Vietnam has become very attractive to foreign investors, with big technology giants like Intel, Google, eBay and Hon Hai interested in the country’s IT market. He also said that Vietnamese IT firms had been included in the investment portfolios of nearly all foreign investment funds in Vietnam. A representative of IDG Venture said the Vietnamese IT market was scorching-hot and that venture funds like IDG Venture are aggressively looking to invest in internet service startups. The Japanese CyberAgent Ventures Vietnam has announced it will pour money into another four companies in Vietnam in 2014 after it agreed to pump capital into DKT earlier this year to develop the e-commerce solution Bizweb.vn. Domestic groups are also showing interest. FPT, the Vietnamese largest IT group, has said it was considering buying some IT firms, including foreign ones. The MAF research team quoted Bui Quang Ngoc, CEO of FPT, as saying that FPT would budget $50 million for the acquisition of IT firms this year. The same source said FPT was eyeing IT firms that provide services that have yet to be offered. Ngoc of FPT said though the failure probability rate in M&A was relatively high, FPT still hoped it could make one to three successful deals this year. An analyst said that investors had been encouraged by a government decision released earlier this year on the establishment of a national committee on IT application. The committee is in charge of suggesting reasonable policies to help develop the IT industry and utilize IT at state agencies, key fields and the society. Investors can see great opportunities from the government’s strong determination to develop IT. DNSG