global lender barclays PLC and Citigroup Inc. has created new senior roles, while regional and boutique players are working to capture the growth of activity in mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings.
“Every single investment bank wants to hire technology, media and telecom bankers,” said Anand Menon, managing director of head-hunting firm Executive Principals in India. “TMT is one animal that produces many babies. We need new age bankers who think like entrepreneurs to cover them at the same pace as these startups. ”
Technology-focused investment bankers in Asia focused first on larger and more developed markets such as Japan and South Korea, and more recently on China. With the coronavirus pandemic boosting e-commerce and remote working, financiers are jockeying to work with startups as they open up markets with a combined population of nearly 2 billion.
Bloomberg News reports that in Southeast Asia, Citigroup has taken on a new managing director role to oversee TMT. BDA Partners Inc., BNP Paribas SA, and Malayan banking Bhd. They are among other banks that have recently or are doing sector hires in the sector, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified while discussing internal matters.
Barclays India Investment Bank head Pramod Kumar said the firm is strengthening its team in Mumbai by adding a senior posting. According to a person familiar with the matter, JPMorgan Chase & Company is hiring a TMT banker at the executive director level.
Representatives for BNP Paribas and JP Morgan declined to comment. A representative of BDA Partners said the firm is active in India and Southeast Asia technology investment banking and will continue to work in space. Rajeev Vijendran, regional head of investment banking at Maybank Kim Eng Group in Singapore, said the bank is constantly exploring new areas to scale up business, including TMT.
Ashish Kehair, chief executive officer of India’s Edelweiss Wealth Management, said its investment banking arm is hiring three to five bankers with technology expertise. “Digital and technology now have a force multiplier effect,” he said.
Bankers will have their hands full. Technology, telecommunications and media deals announced in South and Southeast Asia totaled a record $93 billion this year, nearly double from the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The integration of regional leaders is already taking place. Ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek in May agreed to partner with e-commerce pioneer PT Tokopedia to create the largest internet company in Indonesia. The next stop is capital markets, where the combined firm is looking to raise up to $2 billion from listings domestically and in the US at a valuation of about $30 billion, Bloomberg News reported in July.
Tech startups in Southeast Asia and India are maturing in terms of scale and size, with many becoming unicorns and some set to go public through direct listings or mergers with blank-check firms, Asia East Japan Jwalant Nanavati, head of TMT for Nomura Holdings Inc. In April, the Japanese bank appointed an executive director in Singapore focusing on TMT, Bloomberg News reported.
“The pandemic provided strong winds in terms of consumers’ rapid adoption of online business models,” said Jeff Acton, a Tokyo-based partner at boutique investment bank BDA Partners. “Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem is relatively small, but many first-generation tech companies saw a sudden surge in demand.”
Consumer-oriented firms have led the first wave of listings. Indonesian online marketplace PT Bukalpak.com raised $1.5 billion in August, while food ordering platform Zomato Ltd raised $1.3 billion from its Indian IPO.
James Perry, Managing Director and Co-Head of Asia Pacific Technology Investment Banking at Citigroup, said, “The consumer internet market in these regions is reaching critical mass and showing very strong growth, which supercharged leading companies across the region. Is.” . “Disruptions are still a major theme and investors are willing to invest in these opportunities.”
Bankers said other countries in the region have benefited from China’s massive crackdown on its tech giants, as potential acquirers such as special purpose acquisition companies have recently abandoned their startups.
Maybank’s Vijendran said investors are waiting for more clarity on regulatory issues in China. “China’s action has focused the attention of global players and US SPACs on ASEAN startups,” he said.
“Given the high risk profile caused by recent developments, we expect investors to allocate an increasing proportion to Southeast Asia,” BDA’s Acton said. Connecting China will still remain an important destination for the capital.
Although Asia’s largest economy has seen some disarray this year due to Beijing’s policy actions, Citigroup’s Perry said deal activity is set to return over time as the market continues to create new “exciting” companies. Is.
Kumar of Barclays said, “The uptick in valuations at Digitech is going on across all companies. “This is a secular trend driven by the convergence of technology and traditional sectors, and it is bound to continue.”