These should have been lost years for Asia’s M&A bankers. Covid’s rapid spread led many of the region’s big markets – among them, China, Singapore and Australia – to all but close their borders to business travel.
M&A volumes should have collapsed. Instead, 2020 and 2021 have been strong and, in some cases, banner years.
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It’s easy to forget now, but this corner of the financial markets was already in trouble when the pandemic hit.
Total M&A activity for Asia ex-Japan in 2019 was $679 billion, down 10.3% year on year and a five-year low, according to Dealogic. Tech and property did well, but other sectors were hit by sluggish global growth and a US-China trade war.
Activity slowed sharply in the first months of 2020, as would be expected, but then quickly picked up speed.
In 2020, Asia ex-Japan M&A activity came in at $779.7 billion. The 2021 number is set to be even higher, with deal volume totalling $751.4
