Despite the threat of an impending third wave of COVID-19 looming large, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region saw a notable month-on-month growth of 56.6% in deal activity in June 2021. A total of 1,190 deals (comprising mergers & acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing deals) were announced in APAC during June 2021 compared to the 760 deals announced during the previous month, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on businesses all around the world. The APAC deal activity is no exception. Despite the month-on-month growth, the deal volume is still less than the monthly average of 1,212 during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. However, deal activity appears to be on the path to recovery with investor sentiments gaining confidence due to the progress in vaccination in most of the key APAC markets.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that deal activity grew month-on-month across most of the key markets such as China (142.3%), India (30.2%), Japan (11.8%), Australia (59.6%), South Korea (43.7%), Singapore (31.1%), Malaysia (77.8%) and Hong Kong (29.4%).

Venture financing, merger & acquisitions (M&A), and private equity deals volume grew by 91.3%, 24.9%, and 15.6%, respectively, in June compared to the previous month.

Mr Bose concludes: “Deal activity in APAC has remained inconsistent ever since the COVID-19 pandemic broke. However, 2021 is showing some signs of improvement in business sentiments with deal activity registering growth in June. Any growth in deal activity for the rest of the 2021 will depend on how successfully the regional governments contain the COVID-19 pandemic and fuel a sustained economic rebound.”