New data released by Refinitiv has revealed that deal-making activity involving the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan dropped by 36.8 per cent in 2022 to US$980.3 billion.
According to Refinitiv, this was the lowest volume of M&A activity involving the region since 2019 and came after the record high of US$1.55 trillion reached in 2021.
Target Asia Pacific M&A was down 32.2 per cent to US$830.7 billion. Of this, Australia accounted for US$91.3 billion, behind China (US$362.4 billion) and India (US$157.9 billion).
Refinitiv reported that the majority of deal-making activity involving the Asia Pacific region targeted the Financials sector, with an 18.3 per cent market share worth US$178.9 billion, down 15.6 per cent compared to 2021.
“This was bolstered by the US$60.4 billion HDFC Bank’s pending merger with Housing Development Finance Corp, the largest Indian-involvement deal on record and the region’s top deal in 2022,” the firm said.
Industrials had a 14.9 per cent market share and energy and power had a 13.1 per cent market share. Meanwhile, the 12.8 per cent market share of the high technology sector was worth US$125.8 billion or 42.8 per cent less than a year earlier.
In the top 10 M&A deals with any Asia Pacific involvement in 2022, three were targeted at Australia: Origin Energy in fifth, The Lottery Corp in ninth and Oz Minerals in tenth.
In November, Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management and US-based EIG submitted an indicative, conditional and non-binding proposal to acquire all the issued shares in Origin for $9 per share, valuing the energy company at an enterprise value of $18.4 billion.
Origin announced in late December that it had agreed to extend the consortium’s exclusivity to 16 January 2023 to allow it to finalise its due diligence over the holiday period, with the aim of signing binding transaction documents “as soon as possible thereafter.”
Also in late December, BHP announced it had entered into a scheme implementation deed with Oz Minerals to acquire 100 per cent of the company by way of a scheme arrangement for a cash price of $28.25 per share, corresponding to an enterprise value of $9.6 billion.
