M&A deals in Singapore slow down in Q3 by 27% from a year ago

CORPORATE activity in Singapore slowed over the third quarter with deal value of announced mergers and acquisitions (M&A) down 27.2 per cent from the previous quarter and lower by 26.7 per cent from a year ago, according to latest data released by Thomson Reuters.

The value of M&As announced over the period reached US$12 billion, down from US$16.4 billion in the second quarter and US$16.3 billion over last year's third quarter.

This brings overall deal activity in Singapore so far this year to US$37.5 billion, down 17.1 per cent compared to the first nine months of last year, according Thomson Reuters Deals Intelligence.

The average M&A deal size for disclosed deals dropped to US$100.5 million compared to the US$104.2 million in the first nine months of 2015, as fewer transactions above US$1 billion were witnessed by Singaporean companies this year versus last year.

Total cross-border deal activity so far this year amounted to US$22.6 billion - down 15.6 per cent from the same period last year. Singapore's inbound M&A activity fell 18.6 per cent in deal value while outbound M&A activity reached US$12.5 billion, down 13.1 per cent in value from over a year ago.

Domestic deal making grew to US$9.2 billion, up 19.1 per cent in value from the comparable period last year.