Deal activity in the Asia-Pacific region experienced a 9.9 per cent year-over-year decline in the first seven months of 2024. A total of 7,966 deals were announced in the region during this period, down from 8,840 in the previous year, according to research firm GlobalData.
This decline was observed across all deal types, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity and venture financing.
The number of M&A deals declined by 8.3 per cent year-on-year, whereas the volume of private equity deals and venture financing deals fell by 25.4 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively, during the period.
Despite the overall slowdown, India emerged as a bright spot, with deal volume increasing by 2.4 per cent y-o-y. This growth was in contrast to the declines seen in other major APAC markets such as China, Australia and Singapore. Other markets that defied the trend were Japan and Thailand, with deal volumes increasing by 5.7 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively.
The decline in APAC deal activity was part of a broader global trend, with all regions experiencing a decrease in deal volume. However, the APAC region fared relatively better than others, with North America, Europe and South and Central America experiencing steeper declines.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, noted that while most APAC markets saw a decline in deal volume, the impact was offset by improvements in markets like India, Japan and Thailand.