Early-stage mergers & acquisitions (M&A) announcements are expected to be flat in Q4 2016 compared to the same period last year, due to reduced levels of early-stage M&A activity in Southeast Asia and South Korea. Specifically, Southeast Asia which includes Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, is demonstrating a 47.8 per cent decrease, while North Asia which includes China, Hong Kong and South Korea, is showing an 8.3 per cent decline in early-stage M&A activity.
The Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the only region along with North America (NA), showing flat or negative growth, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM) are showing positive growth at 15.7 percent and 10.7 percent respectively. This is according to the latest Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor (DFP) report released by Intralinks® Holdings, Inc., a global provider of software and services, including virtual data rooms (VDRs), for managing M&A transactions.
The Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor forecasts the volume of future M&A deal announcements by tracking early-stage M&A activity – M&A transactions across the world that are in the preparation stage or have reached the due diligence stage. These early-stage deals are, on average, six months away from their public announcement.
If we look at key countries across the APAC region, the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor shows the following growth in early-stage M&A activity compared to the same period last year:
- Southeast Asia (which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), is down 47.8 per cent;
- North Asia (which includes China, Hong Kong and South Korea) is down 8.3 per cent, due to declining levels of early-stage M&A activity in South Korea;
- India is up 64.7 per cent;
- Japan is up 5.9 per cent; and
- Australia is up 6.9 per cent, the first quarter of growth after four consecutive quarters of flat or declining activity.