The Asia-Pacific (APAC) deal landscape has demonstrated a relatively resilient trend among all the regions in 2025. While the overall deal activity has experienced a slight year-on-year (YoY) decline during January-May 2025, it was relatively lesser compared to all other regions. During January-May 2025, the total number of deals announced in the APAC region has seen a marginal YoY decrease of around 2%, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that global deal activity was down by around 4% YoY during January-May 2025. It is noteworthy that other regions also experienced relatively higher declines compared to the APAC region.
North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, South and Central America saw their respective deal volume fall by around 4%, 6%, 9% and 12% YoY during January-May 2025.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Some APAC markets have shown promising growth, indicating a nuanced environment for investors and businesses alike. Meanwhile, the resilience of certain deal types, particularly M&A, has also provided a silver lining in an otherwise challenging landscape.”
The number of M&A deals announced in the APAC region has shown a modest increase, rising by around 4% YoY during the first five months of 2025. This uptick suggests that companies are actively eyeing acquisitions to bolster their market positions amid economic uncertainties.
Conversely, private equity and venture financing deal volumes have experienced a decline, with their respective deal volumes drop by nearly 10% and 8% YoY. This reduction highlights a cautious approach among PE/VC firms, which seem to be reassessing their investment strategies in light of the fluctuating market conditions.
A closer examination of key markets reveals a mixed bag of performance. China, traditionally the top APAC market, has experienced a decline, with deal volume falling by around 8% YoY. In contrast, India and Japan have emerged as bright spots with YoY increase in deal volume of around 7% and 23%, respectively. Meanwhile, Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia faced challenges, with their deal volumes registering decline.
Bose concludes: "While the overall APAC deal landscape has faced slight downturn and challenges persist, the growth in M&A activity and the resilience of markets like India and Japan highlight the region's potential.”
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.
