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Singapore leads region in corporate deals in first half

With 143 deals worth 18.7 billion USD recorded in the first half of this year, Singapore outpaced Malaysia and Indonesia to become a stand-out performer in the region.
With 143 deals worth 18.7 billion USD recorded in the first half of thisyear, Singapore outpaced Malaysia and Indonesia to become astand-out performer in the region.

AmericanAppraisal, a global valuation and advisory firm, said that deal makingin Singapore fell slightly compared to the same period last year,which notched up 179 deals valued at 22 billion USD.

Mergers and acquisitions made up a bulk of the activities with 116deals valued at 17.5 billion USD, while private equity (PE) and venturecapital (VC) numbered 21 worth 442 million USD, nearly 90 percent of theregion's total deal value in the PE and VC space.

InitialPublic Offerings (IPO) on the Singapore Exchange was a pale spot, withonly six listings worth 694 million USD.

Srividya Gopalakrishnan, American Appraisal’s Managing Director, expectsdeal activity over the second half to click higher if the ongoingtake-over offers materialise, including OCBC's takeover of Wing HangBank and Frasers Centrepoint Trust's offer for Australand Property.

She also hopes that IPO activity will pick up over the next few months.-VNA
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