The Hindu Business Line : `Asia to witness more M&As'

Market liberalisation is expected to drive merger and acquisition activity in the Asian financial sector over the next five years despite regulatory roadblocks, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in association with Economist Intelligence Unit.

The study was based on the views of 130 senior executives in the financial services industry from 19 Asian countries. More than two-thirds of the participants predicted that their organisations would come under significant M&A activity in the next five years. An equal number agreed that their joint ventures and partnerships would be the key to their expansion plans in Asia, said a press release from PwC.

In 2005, the value of M&A totalled $38.7 billion, a decline over the previous two years which saw large deals in Japan. However, the number of deals remained high at 194, with China picking up momentum as activity in Japan tapered off.

China major target

China is likely to remain the major target for M&A in the Asian region, the release said.

Out of the companies that were polled, 52 per cent said that they expected to conduct M&A in China over the next five years and over a third, or 36 per cent said they would target India.

No other region was selected by more than 20 per cent of the respondents.

The release also quoted Mr Jairaj Purandare, executive director and country leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Financial Services, as saying, "India ranked at the top of countries with 39 per cent of respondents expecting financial services companies to most likely set up outsourcing arrangements."

More Stories on : Mergers & Acquisitions

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
`Asia to witness more M&As'

Banks may lose about Rs 1,500 cr CRR income

New IDBI executive directors