Telecoms companies had 91 exits for their portfolio companies last year, with an estimated total value of $50bn.

In the full telecoms report: 5G starts to pull telecoms sector out of investment doldrums (free to read)Web3 is a ‘game changer’ for telecoms says Telefónica Ventures (free to read) Singtel on the hunt for new 5G tech with extra $100m (free to read)For subscribers: What is strategic investing for a telecoms company in 2022?Investments in telecoms startups halved in value last yearTelecoms incumbents part of $50bn worth of exits in 2021A resurgence in telecoms funds?Fundraising by university telecoms spinouts picks upSoftBank creates ripple of job moves in telecoms sector Telecoms companies saw a bumper crop of exits from their investment portfolios in 2021. On calendar year-on-year we registered an increase in the number of exits by telecoms corporates last year, which reached 91, up 69% from 54 in 2020. The total estimated capital in those exits stood at $50bn, up significantly from the $35.65bn in 2020. However, as in many other sectors, exits have slowed in 2022 when we look at the exits data on a quarterly basis. In particular, for 2022, we see how the number of exits for telcos going progressively down. The Q2 figure (12 in total) was half of that of Q1 (26). The total estimated dollar figures are only a fraction of what they were a year ago. Corporate VCs from the telecoms sector completed 70 exits between August 2021 and July 2022 – 52 acquisitions, nine initial public offerings (IPOs), six other transactions (including reverse mergers with Spacs), one merger of equals, one stake sale and one buyout. The biggest exits The biggest deal was the $1.9bn acquisition of US-based edge computing technology provider Pensando by AMD. It provided an exit for telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and other corporates like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Equinix, Alphabet, NetApp, Oracle, Liberty Global and Qualcomm to exit. Pensando has developed a distributed, programmable processor and software platform to help customers’ existing network architecture function more like cloud networks in order to support high-velocity applications. The purchase would help AMD compete with the likes of Nvidia and Intel’s data centre chip businesses. Another big exit came for French telecoms operator Orange, when Deezer, the France-headquartered online audio streaming service agreed to a reverse takeover with I2PO, a special purpose acquisition company that floated on the Euronext Paris market in July 2021. The feal values the music service €1.05bn ($1.13bn) pre-money. As well as Orange, corporate investors including Access Industries, Rotana, ProSiebenSat.1, Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony and…

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Kaloyan Andonov

Kaloyan Andonov is head of analytics at Global Corporate Venturing.