Asia-Pacific Reports Increase in Deal Value Despite Decrease in Global M&A Value

HONG KONG, 10 MARCH 2010 – M&A value in the Asia-Pacific region rose by 6% in 2009 compared to 2008, with a total of 2,218 announced deals worth $419.6bn. Regional deal volume fell by 4% from 2008 levels; a relatively modest figure when comparing it against global decline in deal volume of 26%. Is Asia-Pacific leading the road to recovery, and if so, what next for M&A in the region?

IntraLinks, the leading provider of critical information exchange solutions, has partnered with mergermarket, the global M&A intelligence company, in order to promote discussion on Asia-Pacific M&A trends and outlook, investment and sector opportunities. All events will feature leading industry speakers from the corporate, financial, legal and investment M&A community.

“We are pleased to partner with mergermarket as they provide unrivalled knowledge and expertise on the M&A market and our events will provide an opportunity to provide client insight and facilitate the M&A discussion in 2010,” said Jeremy Jackson, senior vice president of marketing, EMEA & APJ, IntraLinks.

Heather West, editor of mergermarket Asia-Pacific, added “We are already seeing an increase in M&A, with some sizeable transactions in media and telecoms, and a number of deals in financial services and consumer retail. And perhaps more encouragingly for advisers and M&A market practitioners, private equity activity is also expected to pick up, particularly in the middle market.”

During the past year, much of the deal value in Asia-Pacific stems from the Energy, Mining and Utilities sector, with five out of the top ten deals being announced in this space. The global financial crisis spurred deals in the Financial Services sector with foreign companies selling off their Asian assets, as exemplified by Citigroup and Bank of America. Looking ahead at the deal pipeline for 2010, a few Asia-Pacific Financial Services deals are already looming on the horizon. IntraLinks and mergermarket have planned events in strategic locations around Asia with the aim of capturing the appetite and conveying the outlook for M&A in each region.