A total of 1,417 deals were announced in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region during December 2020, which is a decline of 15.7% over the 1,681 deals announced during the previous month, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that the deal volume during the month remained above the first quarter (Q1) monthly average but lower than the second quarter (Q2) and third quarter (Q3) monthly average levels.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “December is also the third consecutive month of decline in deal activity. While the fear of second wave of COVID-19 in some of the key markets is affecting deal-making sentiments, the threat of a new virus strain seems to be making things even worse.”

Key markets such as Japan, Malaysia, Australia, India, Hong Kong and South Korea witnessed decline in deal activity by 19.7%, 22.5%, 25%, 25.2%, 29.2% and 43.5%, respectively, during December compared to the previous month, while Singapore and China witnessed improvement in deal volume by 13.7% and 2.6%, respectively.

Deal activity also remained inconsistent across different deal types. The number of partnerships, equity offerings and debt offerings decreased by 33.3%, 56.1%, and 65.1%, respectively, during December compared to the previous month while licensing agreements, private equity, venture financing, and merger & acquisitions (M&A) deal volume increased by 44.4%, 43.9%, 15.9%, and 15.8%, respectively.