APAC M&A Outlook 2021

Last year, we expected APAC M&A activity to fall slightly for largely cyclical reasons, and that, if Asia was negatively impacted by the (then novel) coronavirus for a prolonged period, the drop in M&A activity could be more material.

In fact, despite its many challenges, aggregate deal value in APAC in 2020 actually increased by more one fifth to US$855.1 billion. However, below that headline, as we say in this report, the picture is a less rosy one in a number of respects, and there is more uncertainty as to what is in store for 2021 than usual.   

In that context, we have set out in this report five key regulatory themes that we are already experiencing and expect to see impacting M&A in the major markets in APAC in 2021.