Deal activity in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region contracted during the early months of 2026 amid heightened economic challenges and shifting investor priorities. The total number of deals (comprising mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity and venture financing deals) announced in the region decreased by around 6% during January-February 2026 compared to the same period in the previous year, according to GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.
An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database revealed contrasting performance across deal types. The total number of M&A deals announced in the APAC region fell by 32% during January-February 2026 compared to January-February 2025, while private equity deals volume reduced by more than half. Meanwhile, venture financing deals volume registered a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 28%.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “While the growth in venture financing is encouraging, the significant declines in M&A and private equity highlight the challenges facing the APAC deals landscape, reflecting broader economic uncertainties that have dampened deal-making sentiments.”
The deal activity trend across the key markets in the region also remained a mixed bag. China stood out, with a 47% jump in deal volume during January-February 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier. This growth helped offset the declines faced by other APAC markets to some extent.
India, Japan, Australia and South Korea were among some of the key APAC markets that registered declines. These markets saw respective deal volume fall by 5%, 51%, 17% and 26% YoY during January-February 2026.
Note: Historic data may change in case some deals get added to previous months because of a delay in disclosure of information in the public domain
