New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS): In January, the total value of global private equity and venture capital entries decreased 16.8% to $24.45 billion compared to $29.37 billion during the same period a year prior.

It was the lowest January total in at least five years. The number of deals also declined to 959 from 1,134 a year prior, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data & analysis.

January deal value was the lowest monthly total in the last 12 months and was down by 30.4% from December 2023. Deal volume was up slightly to 959 compared to the month prior.

In terms of deal count, Asia-Pacific reported the biggest number of announced deals in January at 396, compared with 334 transactions in the same month in 2023. The US and Canada recorded 299 announced deals in January, while Europe saw 222 deals.

Technology, media and telecommunications was the most invested sector in January with 331 private equity-backed transactions.

Within the sector, application software companies had the highest number of deals with 165, although deal count dropped from 202 transactions in January 2023.

The electronic equipment and instruments subsector and systems software subsector tallied 30 and 26 deals in January, respectively, the report said.