Strong growth expected in M&A
This year will see a significant rise in M&A activity in Australia and across the globe, a new report has found.
![Philip-Whitchelo](/images/Philip-Whitchelo300.jpg)
The Q3 2015 Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor report, which forecasts changes in the volume of M&A deals, shows that activity in the Asia Pacific region will increase over the next six months despite a slowing of economic growth in China and some weakness in Japan.
“2014 was a year of recovery in global M&A markets and 2015 has started strongly”, said vice president of strategy and product marketing at Intralinks Philip Whitchelo (pictured).
“Globally, we expect the first half of 2015 to show a mid-single digit increase in the volume of deal announcements compared to last year.
“Excluding Japan, the [Asia Pacific] region and Australia are off to a flying start, with the value of announced deals in Q1 up over 50 per cent year-on-year.”
Last year, Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia and South Korea saw the strongest growth in M&A activity in the region, with Australia and New Zealand experiencing a 14 per cent increase in early-stage M&A.
Asia Pacific has seen a 4 per cent growth in early-stage M&A activity over the last 12 months, with a 286 per cent increase in early-stage high technology sector deals.
In addition to the report, Intralinks surveyed 600 M&A professionals during Q1 2015. Over 60 per cent of dealmakers expected deal volumes to increase in the coming year.