Mergers and acquisitions involving companies in China plunged by 35% to $266 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to data from Refinitiv.
The fall in deals involving China, to the lowest level since 2013, mirrors a worldwide trend, Refinitiv said, as M&A activity this year is down 35% worldwide and 36% in Asia, because of factors such as the war in Ukraine and the surge in interest rates to contain inflation.
Bankers and lawyers said the outlook in China is cloudy currently, with some international firms looking to divest holdings because of the geopolitical tensions, plus strict Covid-19 curbs as well as uncertainties over its policy direction ahead of the Communist Party’s leadership reshuffle next month.
“A major uncertainty affecting the 2023 outlook for China-involved M&A activity is where China’s zero-Covid policy is heading, which currently lacks a clear signal,” said Jeffrey Wang, partner and co-head of the Shanghai office of investment banking adviser BDA Partners.
Some are eyeing divestment opportunities, while others are hoping that India and Southeast Asia will offer greener pastures for them despite the headwinds and spectre of a possible global recession next year.
ALSO SEE:
Beyond China
Alan Wang, a Shanghai-based partner at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, said the level of market activity in China would likely remain subdued until after the first quarter next year given the uncertain domestic and global economic outlook.
“Right now, people don’t know if we hit the bottom yet,” he said. “If you were the seller, you probably wouldn’t be willing to sell because you think that there should be prospects for an improved valuation in the not-too-distant future.”
Strategic sectors including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, healthcare and new energy vehicles are likely to be among the most popular sources of deals involving Chinese companies, the bankers and lawyers added.
Private equity firms, the region’s major deal driver with over $500 billion of unspent capital, have pivoted from China to look at other markets in Asia, particularly India and Southeast Asia, bankers and investors said.
India M&A shot up 55% by end-September to reach $145 billion, Refinitiv data showed, thanks to its largest private lender HDFC Bank Ltd’s $40 billion acquisition of its biggest shareholder in the country’s biggest-ever deal.
Southeast Asian startups are also enjoying a boom in fundraising exercises by venture capital and buyout funds that are chasing bigger returns outside China.
Within China, dealmakers said they expected opportunities for transactions involving multinational companies as the country’s economic growth outlook remains uncertain, the zero-Covid policy hits business confidence and Sino-Western geopolitical tensions linger.
“They are reviewing what to do to their China business by either bringing a Chinese investor or exiting it,” Samson Lo, co-head of Asia Pacific M&A at UBS Group, said of global firms.
Packaged food giant Kraft Heinz is selling its baby food business in China, valued at around $150 million, with second-round bids due soon, said people with knowledge of the sales process. They declined to be identified because the information is confidential.
Kraft Heinz did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
ALSO SEE:
Global Mergers, Buy-ups Smash All-time Records, Hit $5.6tn in 2021
Tech firm mergers and buy-ups double in worth to $136 billion
SPACs and Covid spark M&A frenzy not seen since the dotcom boom
