Deal-making activity in Asia-Pacific speeds ahead of US, Europe

SINGAPORE – The race is far from over, but the Asia-Pacific has come out of the blocks much faster than the US and Europe in deal-making activity in 2025.

The volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the Asia-Pacific is up 19 per cent from the first quarter in 2024, helped by pending blockbusters such as the sale of CK Hutchison Holdings’ ports and 7-Eleven operator Seven & i Holdings.

That growth rate outshines the US’ 13 per cent and leaves Europe firmly in the shade, with volumes sliding 14 per cent there, data compiled by Bloomberg show. 

“Companies and financial sponsors across Asia are more actively pursuing M&A than we’ve seen in the past three years,” said Mr Raghav Maliah, global vice-chairman of investment banking at Goldman Sachs Group.

The heftier size of deals is an encouraging sign for the rest of the year, Mr Maliah said, adding that corporate governance reforms in countries such as Japan and South Korea are also helping to lift positivity in the region. 

Goldman, the only investment bank working on Hutchison’s ports sale, tops the global league table for deals advisory in 2025. 

China calling

“There’s now more appetite for M&A across the region, and particularly more so in China,” said Mr Samson Lo, Hong Kong-based co-head of Asia-Pacific M&A at UBS Group.

“Companies, and even more so financial sponsors, are under increasing pressure to deploy capital and also exit some of their investments.”

While the numbers are encouraging, market volatility and geopolitical turbulence are sowing some doubt. 

“Companies are still assessing the impact of new political measures, including tariffs, and how that’s going to affect global businesses,” said Mr Richard Wong, head of Asia-Pacific M&A at Morgan Stanley.

“In general, deals are taking longer to materialise.”

Take-private deals are de rigueur in Hong Kong, even with the Hang Seng Index climbing more than 15 per cent in 2025, putting it among the world’s top performers. 

China Mobile and I Squared Capital are vying to acquire Hong Kong broadband provider HKBN, Bloomberg News has reported, while the top shareholder of ENN Energy Holdings has made an offer that values the Chinese gas distributor at about HK$90.5 billion (S$15.6 billion).

Hong Kong is the world’s second-biggest market for share sales in 2025.

In March, the financial hub had its two largest stock offerings since 2021, with Xiaomi – on an expansion into electric vehicles – and BYD raising about US$11 billion (S$14.8 billion). Second listings are also a strong source of deals, including Contemporary Amperex Technology’s potential US$5 billion share sale.

Hot topics

Further west, in India, activity may start picking up later in the year after a lull in early 2025, according to Mr Rahul Saraf, head of investment banking for Citigroup in the country.

India had a record year for initial public offering activity in 2024, and the benchmark Sensex hit an all-time high in September. But it is down about 11 per cent since then.

“Geopolitics has been the hottest topic at every dinner or coffee table, and rightly so,” Mr Saraf said, adding that he is “quite optimistic for more deal flow” with three quarters to go in 2025. 

Mr Arun Saigal, head of financing and M&A for Barclays in India, said M&A could pick up in the next 12 to 18 months amid a volatile equity market. 

Volatility may lead to some opportunistic transactions elsewhere, said Mr Antonio Puno, head of South-east Asia investment banking at Bank of America. Sectors to watch include healthcare, digital infrastructure and financial institutions, he said.

Overall, the picture is improving, Morgan Stanley’s Mr Wong said.

“There’s definitely some good momentum,” he said.

“Now the question is how much of that will eventually translate into deal announcements.” BLOOMBERG