Bankers get boost in Asia-Pacific as M&A growth tops US, Europe

The Business Times, April 2, 2025

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

[NEW YORK] The race is far from over, but the Asia-Pacific has come out of the blocks much faster than the US and Europe in dealmaking activity this year.

The volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Apac is up 19 per cent from the first quarter last year, helped by pending blockbusters such as the sale of CK Hutchison Holdings’ ports and convenience store operator Seven & i Holdings. That growth rate outshines the US’s 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 have seen in the past three years,” said Raghav Maliah, global vice-chairman of investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

The heftier size of deals is an encouraging sign for the rest of the year, 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 this year.

China calling

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