A total of 9,228 deals (mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity and venture financing) were announced in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region during January to August 2024 period. This was a year-on-year (YoY) decline of 8.1% compared to the announcement of 10,046 deals during the same period in 2023, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: "APAC region's deal-making landscape has contracted, but it continues to be of interest due to its relatively better performance compared to other regions. The varied country-specific performances, with notable improvements in India and Japan, suggests that the impact of economic headwinds on deal activity is uneven across the region."
An analysis of GlobalData's Deals Database revealed that North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America experienced respective deals volume YoY fall by 18.9%, 16.2%, 10.4%, and 27.3% during January-August 2024.
Deal activity across several key markets within the APAC region remained a mixed bag. China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and New Zealand reported YoY decline in deal volume by 22.4%, 22.5%, 10%, 17.1%, 30.4%, and 8.8%, respectively, during the review period, whereas India and Japan demonstrated an uptick in respective deal volume by 6.1% and 11.7%. Deal volume for Australia and South Korea remained mostly flat.
Meanwhile, the number of M&A deals announced in the APAC region declined by 6.1% during January-August 2024 compared to the same period in previous year whereas private equity, and venture financing deals volume experienced a YoY decline of 24.3% and 9.6%, respectively.
Bose concludes: “The resilience shown by markets like India and Japan suggests that APAC remains a key focal point for global investors. While markets such as China and Singapore face significant headwinds, this divergence in performance presents both challenges and opportunities. Investors who strategically navigate these variations can still find value, particularly in emerging sectors and markets with stable economic outlooks.”
