A blistering 2016 fourth quarter for mergers and acquisitions has paved the way for significant deal flow for lawyers and bankers this year, perhaps shaking off the dearth of deals following the mining boom slump.
A report by technology and dataroom company Intralinks, that tracks early-stage mergers and acquisitions (M&A), has found fourth quarter activity increased by 47 per cent in 2016 compared with the prior year, the highest growth for 19 quarters.
2016 was a modest year, with Australia inbound M&A spend falling 15 per cent year-on-year to $39.1 billion from 416 deals, according to Dealogic. Photo: Michel Bunn Against concerns about the potential backlash against Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which saw the collapse of the NSW Ausgrid deal and the Kidman cattle station deal last year, the Asia-Pacific was the best performing region, with 44 per cent year-over-year growth for the last quarter of 2016.
Elsewhere in the region, India has enjoyed a 100 per cent uptick in early-stage M&A activity, Southeast Asia which is up 49 per cent and Japan recorded a 33 per cent jump.
Intralinks vice-president of strategy Philip Whitchelo said the Australian results were most promising for M&A activity in the financials, consumer & retail and healthcare sectors.
"Australia may also finally be shaking off the drag on M&A activity caused by the slumping metals and mining sector", he said.
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