UK technology companies were involved in a third of all
technology mergers and acquisitionsin 2008,
according to a report byPricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC).
The value of mergers and acquisitions involving UK companies as
buyers or sellers increased by 10% from 2007 to €17.7bn
(£16bn).
A
Chartered Management Institute (CMI) survey revealed that a
third of UK businesses in the IT sector are considering merging
with competitors to help them ride out the economic storm.
The technology sector is better prepared to deal with the credit
crunch because of the harsh lessons learned from the dot.com burst,
said Andy Morgan, technology sector leader at PwC.
"Increasingly flexible business models have enabled technology
businesses to move more swiftly in response to changing markets
across the globe," he said.
The growing number of cross-border acquisitions of UK companies
is expected to continue in 2009, driven by the relative weakness of
the pound against other major currencies, PwC said.