The Turkish information technology sector is set to attract new investments, particularly from angel investors and innovative web-based companies founded by private capital funds, a report by Ernst & Young has said.

The IT sector was the second busiest sector after energy in terms of mergers and acquisitions last year. In 2013, the volume of these transactions will rise even more as new investors choose to buy stakes from former investments, according to M_fik Cantekinler, the institutional financing department chief of Ernst & Young.

The rising trend of third-party sector investments in IT companies to boost efficiency is expected to continue, Cantekinler said. The auditing company expects medium and large sized merger and acquisition operations to surge in the world as well, especially in cloud computing, payment systems and mobile application fields.

The most investment attracting field was cloud computing in 2012, and its role in the sector will continue to be significant, Cantekinler said.

Ernst & Young expects mergers and acquisitions to mainly take place in online shopping websites in Turkey, while computer equipment and IT consultancy will be other areas in which company transactions will be centered. Data technologies will also become important, as well as e-commerce. Along with these changes, individual investors in the sector are expected to move forward and become more institutionalized.

Source: bne