Singapore sustains momentum in M&A, doubles VC investment

A total of 485 deals were recorded in Singapore.

The latest data from Duff & Phelps revealed that there is a total of 485 deals in Singapore comprising of mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments, and initial public offering in the first half of the year.

The total value of the said deals sits at US$46.1b ($63.2b), up from US$43.4b recorded last year from 383 deals. M&A comprised the bulk of the deal volume in Singapore registering 383 deals valued at US$42.6b in H1 2017, compared to 339 deals valued at US$40.5b in H1 2016.

Whilst Singapore M&A deal volumes grew 13% in H1 2017, deal values grew by 5% compared to the same period in H1 2016. In H1 2017, there were a total of 294 cross-border M&A deals in Singapore registering US$37.1b, with the bulk of total deal values coming from 190 outbound deals (Singapore-based companies or SWFs acquiring overseas companies) worth US$29.2b contributing to over 68% of the total deal value in H1 2017 for M&A deals. Domestic deals contributed to 13.0% of total M&A deal value with 89 deals valued at US$5.4b

The largest contributor to M&A deal values in Singapore was the Real Estate sector which has remained the top sector since 2016. Real Estate contributed approximately 29% to the deal values, while it also contributed the most to deal volume, accounting for over 23.6% of the deal volume in Singapore with a total of 90 deals. Based on M&A deal values, the top 3 sectors (Real Estate, Healthcare and Technology) accounted for 64% of total deal values.

Singapore contributed to over 70% of M&A value in the region comprising of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, PE/VC investments in Singapore companies for H1 2017 have recorded their highest value based on their 6-month performance at US$3.2b compared with US$1.6b in H1 2016. Some of the notable PE/VC investments in H1 2017 were the investment in Grab Taxi Holding Pte. Ltd. by SoftBank Group and other investors valued at US$1.5b; Innovation Network Corp and Khazanah Nasional Fund’s US$600m investment into eDtocto Group Sdn Bhd. Most of the notable PE/VC deals were minority investments.

Malaysia and Indonesia recorded 256 and 118 deals (M&A, PE/VC and IPOs) worth US$13.6b and US$4.7b, respectively for H1 2017. This compares to 222 and 90 deals worth US$9.4b and US$2.6b for Malaysia and Indonesia respectively for H1 2016.