Dealmaking in Asia Pacific hits the worst drop since 2014

The volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Asia-Pacific plunged by more than 40% from last year to about USD156bn in Q3 of 2022, the worst such period since 2014. The decline has been global, but China, Asia’s biggest market, saw the weakest M&A of any third quarter in a decade. Kerwin Clayton, co-head of M&A for Asia Pacific at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said some boards are taking a wait-and-see approach before pursuing transactions, particularly big acquisitions, and have instead shifted their focus towards small-to-mid sized deals. Clayton said several firms have been busy hunting for deals outside the region. Clayton, however, expressed confidence that despite the grim data of the last three months, dealmaking activity in Asia Pacific could pick up in the next few quarters in sectors such as clean energy.