Singapore M&A's hit third consecutive quarterly decline

Mergers and acquisitions in the region plunged 24.6% from 4Q11 to US$5.7b.

According to Thomson Reuters, deal activity for announced M&A involving Singaporean companies witnessed its third consecutive quarterly decline with a 24.6% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2011 to US$5.7 billion – the lowest level for quarterly deal activity since the second quarter of 2009 (US$4.9 billion).

Here's more from Thomson Reuters:

Total cross-border transactions declined 40.2% to US$3.2 billion from the first quarter of 2011, despite improvement in Singapore’s overseas acquisitions to US$2.9 billion which increased 12.3% from the first quarter of 2011 and 39.9% from fourth quarter of 2011. Dropping significantly by 91.6%, the value of inbound M&A deals stands at US$224.3 million to date, the lowest quarter since the first quarter of 2004 which saw levels drop to US$194.6 million. Domestic M&A activity declined 56.9% to US$1.1 billion from the comparable period last year.