Private equity deals continue decline

PRIVATE equity (PE) deal-making activity in the region saw another down year in 2013, with firms closing 900 deals, totalling US$11.4 billion in disclosed private equity investments, according to latest figures from Thomson Reuters.

That is a 46 per cent decline from 2012, and also the lowest annual period for PE investments in the Asia-Pacific ex-Japan region since 2005 (US$8.8 billion).

PE investments in selected South-east Asian countries, however, grew. Singapore, in particular, saw a 25…